Traffic was rerouted for about two hours Thursday afternoon after a woman ran into a bicyclist with her vehicle in front of Cabana Beach Apartments, 1601 SW 51st Terrace.
At about 3:30 p.m., the driver — a 20-year-old Santa Fe College student — was driving home from class when she turned across traffic into the entrance of her apartment complex at the intersection of Southwest 20th Avenue and Southwest 62nd Boulevard. She hit a 44-year-old man who was passing through the intersection on his bike.
Witnesses reported that the traffic light was green at the time of the collision, wrote Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias in an email. Witnesses also said the man hit the right side of the windshield. He and his bike were thrown over the car.
The man was taken to the hospital after the crash, and Tobias said he may have sustained life-threatening injuries. The driver was not harmed.
A few hours after the collision, the bike lay on the rain-soaked sidewalk near the scene of the crash with orange paint encircling its position.
The driver emerged from an ambulance at about 5:30 p.m. with tear-swollen eyes, wet hair and trembling hands.
“She’s just shaken up,” said Carlos Fernandez, the driver’s friend and a 21-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology junior. “She literally lives right there.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 11/22/2013 under the headline "Traffic delayed after bicyclist hit at Cabana Beach"
Police service technician Robert Fox carries the victim’s bike from the scene of the collision Thursday evening. The victim was transported to the hospital following the incident, but the driver was not injured.
