PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — If you're out and about in Clearwater, you'll likely see more police patrolling major roads and intersections. It's all part of an effort to keep everyone safer—especially those on bike or foot.
"It's geared towards protecting the pedestrian as well as the bicyclist. But also to make the vehicles understand, 'look, they're there too.' so it's important," said Clearwater Police Sergeant Daniel Negersmith.
Clearwater had 18 traffic fatalities in 2021.
So far this year, there have been six.
Sgt. Negersmith tells ABC Action News they'll keep writing citations and educating folks in order to keep that number down—and to avoid giving another family the worst news of their life.
"It makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck and you feel gut-wrenched," he said.
In the end, Sgt. Negersmith says he'd like to see cooler heads prevail on Clearwater roads.
"Patience is what's going to make the difference for you. And that's whether you're walking, riding a bicycle, or in a vehicle," he said.
It's a message that cyclist Brent Lloyd echoes after being hit twice while on the roads.
But he says that paying attention is also key.
"Most collisions is somebody coming out of an intersection, out of a driveway and they won't look at the person coming this way. A lot of times, people will come past you in a bike lane and turn in front of you," said Lloyd.
And he adds that the burden doesn't just rest on drivers.
"It's really just keeping your head on a swivel and having respect for both sides of it," he said.
In addition to increased patrols, he says getting more cyclists onto the 85-mile Pinellas Trail could be a good way to cut down on the danger.
"It goes around almost the entire county," he said.
And Lloyd says the next step in safety should be linking the trail to neighborhood bike paths.
"Connecting those community trails and bike lanes still needs to be done to make everybody safer, gives us a safe place to ride," he said.
Clearwater Police got a $21,000 grant to help fund the extra patrols they're doing around town and they say the initiative will run until May 12, 2023.
