A golf cart driver took off after forcing a Villager to flip her low-rider trike on the multi-modal path.
Ann Marie Milot, 72, who lives in the Village of Dunedin, was riding her tricycle with her husband, Bob, Wednesday afternoon north bound on the path on the east side of Morse Boulevard. Ann Marie was ahead of her 81-year-old husband as they approached the hairpin turn where Morse Boulevard meets Deskin Lane near the Village of Osceola Hills. Two carts were behind them. One cart passed Bob and then Ann Marie just as three carts moving southbound entered the blind turn. The second northbound cart turned directly in front of her and slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the carts. Ann was forced to the side and slammed on her trike’s brakes to avoid colliding with the other cart. Her 57-pound trike flipped over on top of her, pinning her underneath.
Several Villagers stopped to help her. The man who caused the accident made a show of helping pick up some of the items which had ended up on the path. He said he would pay for any damage to the trike, but never even asked her about her bloody arm or leg. She heard him say his name which was either “Clint” or “Cliff.” When she asked for more information he did not provide any until the crowd, which had seen the accident, had dispersed. When asked to move off the path so that they could exchange information, the man got into his cart and fled.
Ann Marie noted that there has been a rash of hit-and-run accidents in The Villages and urges cart drivers to exercise caution on the cart paths and while driving their cars.
She is urging golf cart drivers to exercise care in passing pedestrians, cyclists and slower-moving carts.
