Shout Out to SCSO Deputy—You made our day!

If you drive your bicycle on the roads long enough, you are bound to witness a motorist doing some over-the-top, outrageously stupid and unsafe thing as a result of your presence. More than likely you will have to watch in frustration as they disappear over the horizon, never to face any consequences. It’s a fact I’ve begrudgingly made peace with in an effort to preserve my stomach lining.

But today was our day to be avenged!

Returning from a lovely 50 mile ride with tired legs, Lisa, Cindy and I decided to cut off some miles by taking SR 436 from Winter Park Dr. to Lake Howell Rd (rather than the common route down Kewannee). Many cyclists wouldn’t consider riding on 436, but it’s completely safe and legal. You simply must control your lane.

After we made a left onto 436 and occupied the rightmost of the 3 lanes, a motorist behind us began honking. I could see that she was following in our lane rather than using one of the other two to pass. I assumed she was planning to turn right. Suddenly, she dashed into a right-turn only lane, through it, onto the shoulder and passed us on the right!

We were shaking our heads in disbelief when we heard it:

“BWOOOOOP!”

We pulled onto the shoulder to give way as a Seminole County Sheriff’s Deputy sped past us TO PULL HER OVER!

We could not believe our eyes. All three of us pumped our fists in the air and cheered. He caught her as she turned right onto Lake Howell and was standing by her window when we passed. We gave him thumbs up and expressions of gratitude. I seriously wanted to stop and give him a big fat kiss!

To illustrate the stupidity of what this woman did (here’s a satellite view):

On Winter Park Dr., we were queued behind one car. When the light turned green, we made the right onto Red Bug into the rightmost of 2 left-turn lanes. The light is timed so that the arrows remain green on Red bug for the Winter Park Dr. traffic. SR 436 has 3 lanes — a guiding line directs the leftmost left-turn lane from Red Bug into the leftmost lane on 436. The rightmost traffic generally flows to the middle lane, but there is no line guiding it there. We rode into the rightmost of the three lanes. We think she was behind us from Winter Park Dr. If so, she could easily have driven into the middle lane, passed us, merged back to the right in front of us and been on her way. If she was on 436 already, she could easily have changed lanes. Traffic was not heavy. It’s a good 1/4 mile to Lake Howell Rd where she intended to turn right. Why she chose to do what she did is a complete mystery.

I would loved to have stopped just to find out what the hell she was thinking. But figured it better to stay out of the Deputy’s way and let him do his job.

Behavior this asinine is, thankfully, uncommon. But it’s even more rare to have it witnessed by a law enforcement officer. It’s a moment I’ll always remember fondly.

2 replies
  1. fred_dot_u
    fred_dot_u says:

    WoW!!! What a great report. I’ve a number of YouTube videos of drivers doing exactly what you describe and it’s fabulous to see law enforcement providing “back-up” where it’s needed. It’s sad to have all the negative comments in my video posting, but this really compensates for all of those and then some.

    I looked at the google map and saw your intersection. I’ve driven in that area before they “upgraded” the intersection and really didn’t find it pleasant, but I think I’d enjoy it more on a bike.

    It’s too bad that you didn’t get the officer’s identification in some way, because it would be great to provide recognition for being in the right place at the right time.

  2. pmsummer
    pmsummer says:

    Write the sheriff a thank you note, explaining why what his deputy did was so important, and how much you appreciate ENFORCEMENT of the laws that are in
    place for all of our protection.

    Request that a copy of the letter be placed in the deputy’s file (time and place will make it easy for the Sheriff’s Department to ID the officer).

    I smile. 😉

Comments are closed.