CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – A 14-year-old boy from Lake Asbury is dead following a crash late Thursday night in Clay County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred just after 11 p.m. on Sandridge Road west of Verbena Parkway.
According to FHP, the teen was stopped on an e-bike that looks like a small dirt bike in a westbound travel lane on an unlit stretch of Sandridge Road. Troopers say the scooter had no lighting on it at the time of the crash.
A 16-year-old driver from Green Cove Springs, traveling westbound, did not see the stopped scooter and was unable to slow in time to avoid it. The front right of his sedan struck the e-bike.
A third vehicle — an SUV driven by a 17-year-old girl from Green Cove Springs — was also traveling westbound and struck the rear of the sedan following the initial impact.
The 14-year-old was thrown from the scooter, suffering fatal injuries. FHP later confirmed with News4JAX that the teen was not wearing a helmet.
While there is a bike lane on the road where the crash happened, FHP said the teen was in the road and not riding in the bike lane.
The drivers of the sedan and the SUV were not injured.
Josef Szwabo is a neighbor and father of a 14-year-old himself. He said his son likes to bike down the road and he’s gone to the authorities multiple times with safety concerns.
“I think it’s a real important thing that we should be stressing safety with these bike lanes, a lot of people unfortunately are speeding down the road,” Szwabo said.
He said his concerns haven’t been met with change.
“It’s either, ‘Oh it’s a private road,’ or ‘This is a public road,’ or ‘It’s up to the CDE to enforce these stop signs,’... no one wants to take accountability,” he said.
FHP told News4JAX that the teen was riding an e-bike that looks like a small dirt bike. News4JAX is also working to determine who is responsible for this particular stretch of roadway and to ask more questions about safety concerns from neighbors.
The crash remains under investigation.