- May 2, 2024
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A 51-year-old Flagler Beach man was killed Tuesday while riding his bike along State Road 100, according to troopers.
Fredrick J. Martinez was riding in the marked bicycle lane around 2:35 p.m. eastbound on State Road 100 when Robert Little, 32, of Palm Coast, was also traveling eastbound on State Road 100 in a Ford van.
The accident happened months before the planned sidewalking of State Road 100 from Flagler Beach to Bunnell. The project is not the result of Martinez’s accident; it has been in the works for months and will be paid for by grant funds. However, this accident, opened a conversation among Palm Coast residents about the need for pathways along State Road 100.
“I hope as a community we can begin a discussion about bike and pedestrian safety in the area,” Becky Meyer Pourchot said of the accident in a comment on The Observer’s Facebook page. “These fatalities are happening way too often.”
According to County Administrator Craig Coffey, the sidewalks will increase the safety for bikers and pedestrians on the road. Coffey said that he — and other county officials — see students and other pedestrians walking along the road each morning as the officials drive to the Government Services Building for work.
Coffey said stretches of sidewalk between Bulldog Drive and Wadsworth Park and from Belle Terre Parkway to Bunnell should be done within six to eight months. The county has received a bid for the first of those projects, and is about to go out to bid for the second two.
At the same time, the county is planning to add a sidewalk on U.S. 1 near Royal Palms Parkway and improving safety on Old Kings Road by adding a turn lane and a sidewalk by the entrance of Old Kings Elementary School.
After the accident, Little said he sneezed right before the collision, causing him to swerve into the bicycle lane. Little hit Martinez and dragged him before running over Martinez’s head, according to a commander’s report from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene at approximately 2:45 p.m. Martinez was pronounced dead on the scene at 2:46 p.m.
The bicycle was mangled by the impact, and came to final rest on the bicycle lane line facing west on its left side.
Martinez was ejected and landed in the bicycle lane east of the bike and west of Little’s van, which had by then stopped on the south shoulder of the road.
Charges are pending. One lane of eastbound traffic on State Road 100 was closed during the traffic homicide investigation.
