On a bridge connecting Aventura to Key Biscayne, Florida, 58-year-old Fred Medina fell to his death when he missed an opening in the structure. The father of two failed to clear an opening in the bridge that spans across the Miami River between downtown Miami and Brickell. Despite warnings from a warning sign and a whistle, the cyclist attempted to cross it anyway, resulting in his demise when he fell through a gap.
Medina sped toward the bridge and ignored the warning barriers and siren. He attempted to cross the South Miami Avenue Bridge, despite all of the alarms. Fallat, a Miami Police spokeswoman, talked to reporters about Medina’s bizarre accident during his early-morning bike ride through Miami.
The South Miami Avenue Bridge has plenty of warning signs for both motorists and cyclists, yet Medina chose to ignore them. He felt confident he could clear the rising bridge because he took the same bike route every morning with friends – even though they never once ran into this issue before.
Stephen Tannenbaum, who rode the same route as Medina and another Steve, said that the second Steve managed to clear the drawbridge ahead of Medina. Rather than waiting for the bridge to finish rising, Medina tried crossing it and was left clinging to it.
“Our friend Steve, the other guy who was there, turned back and waited, and he looked up, and Fred was on the bridge on the draw bridge section as it was going up,” stated Tannenbaum.
When asked if Steve had tried to contact the bridge operator, Tannenbaum responded that he had. He was unable, however, to get the attention of the operator, so the bridge continued to rise.
“I don’t know if [Medina] realized he had gone too far, and I guess the bridge tender didn’t hear my friend yelling as he was up in the air,” he stated.
He tried to cling to the bridge, but he was unable to do so. He plummeted to his death on the road below after failing to keep a grip on it.
“He slid down the bridge and fell in between the section of the bridge that moves and the fixed part of the roadway,” stated Tannenbaum.
Medina was unresponsive when police arrived.
The South Miami Avenue Bridge was closed for only three hours after the accident. Police launched an investigation and made pedestrians, motorists, cyclists, and others take a detour to reach their destinations.
The city of Miami Shores was attempting to enhance safety at the bridge by putting up gates that would prevent Medina from slipping on while it is rising. The Downtown Development Authority and the Florida Department of Transportation could not come to an agreement, leaving the bridge vulnerable to mishaps like this one.
After the recent tragedy, Miami Commissioner Ken Russell took to promoting bicycle safety.
“To me, this is about cycling safety and making sure the city, county, and state have the right infrastructure to make cycling safe for everyone in the city,” the commissioner stated.
