So you’re speeding down the MacArthur Causeway in your beat-up Toyota when you spot a Miami Beach Police cruiser. Only it’s the same cop car you’ve seen there for the past month. It hasn’t moved an inch. It’s been glistening in the morning, slumbering at night — but there’s no…
Last week, county officials removed a mounted “ghost bike” — the cycling equivalent of a tombstone — from Bear Cut Bridge, near Virgina Key. The spray-painted road bike had been dedicated to Christophe Le Canne, the 44-year old who was killed by a wealthy, drunk-driving musician named Carlos Bertonatti one…
Cyclists flooded the Rickenbacker Causeway this past Sunday for a memorial ride in honor of Christophe Le Canne, the 44-year-old biker killed in a horrific hit-and-run accident last weekend. As you can see in the video — shot by a Riptide reader — hundreds rode in the memorial, which began outside Mast…
Bart Sherwood passes the grisly photos around the Miami-Dade County Commission chambers.In the first image, his face is scraped and swollen, his arms are wrapped in plaster, and IVs run into his body. In the other, one ass cheek is completely covered in gauze, and his back is a mess…
Three days after drunkenly killing a biker on the Rickenbacker Causeway and speeding away to his high-end Key Biscayne condo, would-be pop star Carlos Bertonatti is a free man this morning.Bertonatti posted a $100,000 bond late in the afternoon yesterday, Det. Rebecca Perez, a Miami-Dade Police Department spokeswoman, tells Riptide.At…
The surprise here is not that a Miami-Dade road was named in the top ten of The Daily Beat’s “75 Worst Commutes” listacle. The real surprise is that there are actually nine commutes in the country that are worse, and that only one South Florida road-way made the cut. Airport…
On Riptide’s message boards and across the web, Miami’s bikers have raged about Sunday’s gruesome hit-and-run accident near Key Biscayne that left 44-year-old cyclist Christophe Le Canne dead on the Rickenbacker Causeway. Carlos Bertonatti, a wannabe professional singer and all-around horrific driver — with more than 40 citations in 12…
It’s pretty rare that a major traffic accident in the road-rage-prone streets of Miami ends with both drivers heading to the spa together, but most accidents don’t involve singer/actor/model Tyrese Gibson. TMZ has photos of the car wreck, which took place on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown. It involved Tyrese’s Dodge…
At this point, it’s probably optimistic to say there are more than 100 Florida panthers left in the wild. Especially considering as many as 17 of them were killed by drivers last year, according to the Defenders of Wildlife. That eclipses 2007’s record of 15. The 16th dead panther was found…
It figures: The only time construction doesn’t render portions of Biscayne Boulevard clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic is when the road is closed completely.As part of the two-year reconstruction plan, the portion of Biscayne currently under construction from NE 29th to NE 33rd streets will be closed between 9 p.m. and…
I remember the first time I saw a fixed gear bicycle. It was 2003 in Berlin, and the kid had had it for a week and had already been in like six accidents. No brakes? I thought he was nuts.But now the movement’s pretty much universal, and here in Miami…
Using your own two feet as your primary means of conveyance in Florida won’t just get you drenched in sweat most of the year, it’s also more likely to put you in the path of danger.According to Transportation for America’s Pedestrian Danger Index, the top four most dangerous metropolitans in…
A rare sight at the intersection of Biscayne Boulevard and NE 35th Street today: no traffic.That’s because southbound Biscayne is blocked off between NE 33rd and 36th streets following a water main break caused during reconstruction along the road…
Remember that movie Falling Down, where Michael Douglas goes on a violent rampage against the everyday nuisances and obstacles of urban life? If you believe a police account, Miami-Dade Public Schools elementary substitute Rolanda Benjamin is Miami’s real-life William Foster — although, thankfully, instead of an arsenal, teach was armed…
Suha Monem makes a mean falafel sandwich. As the head chef at Oriental Bakery & Grocery — and the owners’ daughter — she has spent most of her life surrounded by pita, lamb, and tahini. After one Yelper tried her grub at the Coral Way shop a couple of years ago,…
What are the odds? A K-9 cop on the Hialeah Police force was on his way to an emergency call earlier today, heading northbound on Fourth Avenue, when he collided with a civilian’s car heading southbound. The two vehicles ended up in a nearby canal along 36th Terrace. The officer and his dog…
We know there are lots of reasons Miamians haven’t yet adopted bicycling en masse. Chief among them is the very real chance we could wind up as a hood ornament on someone’s Escalade, followed closely by the fact that it is hard to effectively pimp out a bike. Well, here’s a…
The Venetian Causeway is scheduled to be closed for most of May while it undergoes maintenance. While this is an inconvenience for motorists who regularly use the bridge, it could pose major safety issues for pedestrians and bicyclists who rely on the causeway as a safer means of traveling between…
Let’s face it. Miami is one of America’s worst places to ride a bicycle.Guys on two wheels get whacked on Brickell, nailed in the Redland, and steamrollered on US 1. Bicycling magazine placed us at the bottom along with Dallas and Memphis not long ago. And Florida is clearly the…
Jacob Katel This past Saturday one of two group-bike-ride events in Miami that carry the Critical Mass name met at Vizcaya Metro Rail station to traverse areas of downtown, Brickell Key and Coconut Grove via self propelled motion…
There’s a beautiful progression underway to create more accessible routes for bicyclists around the City of Miami. I’ve been singing my praises to the Coral Way and Miami Avenue projects and wistfully dream of one day seeing a complete circuit from Downtown to the Grove. Now, amidst the jam-packed speculation…
Why are we taxpayers wasting $330 million to build Lexus lanes on I-95 north from downtown Miami? They are supposed to reduce congestion, but all they have accomplished so far is create confusion and traffic back-ups — sometimes even more in the express lanes than the regular ones. The state…
