It's bad enough when any motorist's vehicle strikes any cyclist. It's even worse, at least in some ways, when said motorist does so intentionally.
What can be worse than that?
An account that came my way provided an answer. On Saturday, in Florida (surprise, surprise), on the Gulf Coast specifically, two men were cycling when they heard a car behind them. Before they could react, a driver them and knocked them to the ground.
Tire marks where a motorist struck--and shot--a cyclist. (From WINK news.)
What makes this incident especially galling is that, according to investigations, the driver deliberately left the road to hit them. Both cyclists saw that driver pilot the SUV past them, in the opposite direction, before circling around to approach them from behind, at a high rate of speed.
Oh, but it gets even worse. After driver struck them, the cyclists leapt and tried to flee. The driver then got out of the SUV and shot one of the cyclists before getting back in and driving off.
Luckily for the cyclist who was shot, his injuries are non-life threatening.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office says it has a "person of interest" but did not mention any suspects or a description of the shooter.
That this happened in FL is no surprise at all. No state can challenge Florida's leading spot in the competition for most incidents of cyclists struck by motorists. FL also excels in some other unenviable rankings.
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