CRASH INVESTIGATION: A Preventable A1A Crash Fatality.

It’s said that even caveman eventually made the connection between sex and babies. It’s 2024 and in a state that ranks #1 with the highest bicyclist fatalities per capita and has seven of the ten most dangerous counties for cycling in the country, it’s time to make a connection. The December 15 crash was a preventable A1A crash. It clearly demonstrates that pedestrian and bike infrastructure designs from county and state transportation agencies cannot be depended on to be as safe as we want. The Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (TPA) and Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer should be screaming bloody murder and immediately act to both force and fund the difference between the “discount store design” of state and county agencies and known modern safe designs. We’ve provided one such example and a way to make your voice heard at the end of this article.

The situation on A1A is getting more and more dangerous by the day.

Florida Share the Road Coalition

A case in point for Boca Raton is the Florida Department of Transportation’s plan for our stretch of A1A from Deerfield to Highland Beach. It’s been 20 years since FDOT last worked on the road and what they do next will be what we live with for another 20. The FDOT plan has been reviewed and criticized by many as insufficient. Cameron Oster of The Florida Share the Road Coalition adds “The situation on A1A is getting more and more dangerous by the day.” We agree and documented as much in our April 2024 article “Planned A1A Bike Lane Upgrade in Boca Raton is Dangerous by Design“.

Boca Raton should not accept “discount store designs” from state and county agencies with demonstrably failed track records of #1 most dangerous state and 7 of 10 most dangerous counties in the country.

About Boca’s Preventable A1A Crash.

I obtained two public documents on the incident and visited the crash site. A BocaFirst Bike Advocate and certified crash investigator helped me correlate the investigation markings with the crash description in the Probable Cause Affidavit document. Here’s what the document says happened:

• Around 7:09am on Sunday December 15th, Thomas Vayianos drove a Chevy Equinox north on A1A.
• A couple hundred feet north of the entrance to Red Reef Park (1400 North Ocean), Vayianos struck and killed Felipe Soares de Morales.
• A witness (Richard Raschdorf) to the crash was riding a bicycle behind Felipe at roughly 1200 N Ocean Blvd.
• Below is what the Boca Police reported that Raschdorf said:

The Grey Equinox passed Raschdorf “so closely he could touch the vehicle”. As the vehicle passed, Raschdorf observed the vehicle swerving within its lane entering the marked bicycle lane multiple times. Raschdorf could see Felipe on his bicycle up ahead of him. Raschdorf watched as the Equinox struck Felipe sending him airborne where he came to final rest within the Northbound shoulder of A1A.

The Boca Police preliminary crash investigation provides more details. These paint the picture:

• Felipe was riding in the right half of the northbound travel lane
• The Equinox’s front right end struck Felipe from the rear
• Felipe was thrown 65 feet
• Felipe rolled/tumbled an additional 71 feet
• The bicycle was embedded in Equinox front bumper
• Vayianos was observed by Boca Police to have “pinpoint pupils” and looked “through” the officer
• Vayianos had to be asked questions multiple times, would not answer the question or go off topic
• When not able to use his vehicle for support, Vayianos was immediately unsteady and swayed when standing
• Vayianos had no clue that he had struck someone
• Vayianos indicated he was currently taking Adderall, Vyvance and Gabapentin because he was in rehab
• Vayianos was charged with DUI / MANSLAUGHTER WITH A VEHICLE

There is a way to prevent these and other crashes on A1A. But does Boca Raton have the will?

A1A Crash Details

There are more details in the affidavit along with the results of Boca Police conducting various field tests. You can read the full affidavit here.

Here is a 4K video walking the crash site from point of impact to final rest. Dashed lines indicate car or bike travel. Circles mark crash evidence locations. H/L stands for Head Light.

What caused the crash?

Based on the reports and interpreting the accident investigation markings, I’ve extracted the causes that come to mind as the key contributors to the crash (in no particular order):

1. Vayianos, is alleged to have been driving under the influence.
2. As witnessed, Vayianos swerved in the travel lane and crossed into the bike lane.
3. Vehicle and bike traveled in the same direction. The distance Felipe was thrown (65′) and tumbled (another 71′) points to a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed.
4. Felipe was riding in the right half of the travel lane.
5. The road design of A1A has travel and bike lanes adjacent to each other and no separation or protection from conflict.

As a group, causes 1-4 are: Human Error. Cause 5 however, is failure of the road design. Sadly, there are road design principles that could have prevented this crash. And unlike Gulfstream, Boca Raton actually has the resources and space on A1A to do so. But that is not the direction of the new FDOT design scheduled for completion in 2028. Unfortunately, as of yet, Boca Raton has been unable to change the FDOT direction. There is a way to prevent future crashes on A1A. But does Mayor Singer, City Manager Brown and city council have the horsepower and will to make the call to Tallahassee?

Make Vision Zero and Complete Streets more than a PR slogan.

The Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency plans, prioritizes and funds the transportation system in Palm Beach County within public right of way on state and federal roadways. Through efforts by Boca Council Members Drucker and Nachlas who serve on the TPA, Boca Raton became a Vision Zero city two years ago and a Complete Streets city a year ago. Three core tenants of those initiatives are:

1. Quality bicycle facilities include spaces comfortably shared with traffic, clearly marked bike lanes (or appropriate separation based on speed and volume of vehicle traffic)
2. Unlike traditional roadway planning where users are assumed to follow the rules, Vision Zero assumes roadway users will make mistakes.
3. Human error is inevitable, so the transportation system should allow for it to happen without death or serious injury

The 20 year old FDOT design for A1A fails these 3 tenants. And, in my opinion, the new FDOT design also fails them. Others in the biking community do as well. Calling it a “discount store model” is, well, a charitable description.

In a nutshell, FDOT’s plan adds another white line on the vehicle side of the bike lane to technically shrink the travel lane to 11′ and create a visual “buffer”. This sleight of hand is embarrassing. As for bike lanes, the FDOT plan stretches it from the current 4 feet to five feet [insert twirling finger here]. It would be funny of not so tragic.

The year is 2024 not 1999. Modern solutions to the dangers that plague residents of Florida cities abound. The world has solved the A1A design failures and the City of Boca Raton has the staff with the skills, the monetary resources and the space on A1A to do it. The City of Boca Raton and TPA should no longer accept “discount store designs” as-is from state and county agencies with demonstrably failed track records of #1 most dangerous state and 7 of 10 most dangerous counties in the country.

Make driving safe again.

In the science fiction novel “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, the narrator gives this advice regarding the art of flying: “The knack to flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” The design solution for A1A is similarly obvious and simple: “Prevent drivers from hitting cyclists; Make it so drivers will … well … miss.”

Rather than the milk-toast FDOT design, the A1A upgrade should be a design that uses the available space to separate road users from crashing into each other by using effective neutral zones that give users warning, space and time to correct inevitable human errors. Here is one such design to prevent the many A1A crashes and conflicts between drivers and cyclists:

1. Create an eight foot neutral zone separation between travel lanes and bike lanes.
2. Provide an ample ten foot wide bikeway to accommodate pelotons and passing space for cyclists.
3. Delineate the bikeway with a grass shoulder on the outside and neutral zone inside.
4. Use raised zebra stripes to disincentivize cyclists from straying into the neutral zone.
5. Install raised reflective pavement markers on vehicle travel lanes to increase right side lane visibility and warning of lane departure.
6. Use low height armadillo barriers in the neutral zone for exception situations where the 8′ neutral zone cannot be maintained.

Drivers will make mistakes. Cyclists, joggers and pedestrians will make mistakes. But Boca’s A1A can be made safe against deadly crashes. The A1A design for 2028 should separate vehicles and cyclists so that cyclists are neither forced or tempted to utilize travel lanes and vice versa. Lacking an intervention by the TPA and City of Boca Raton, the FDOT is going to do its “discount store plan”. It is now incumbent on government officials to make them change course. If you agree, make your voice heard.

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UPDATE JAN 7 2025: Fixed inconsistent naming of TPA and specified its role.