A teenage girl from Florida has reportedly died in a horrific car crash on Santa Barbara Boulevard, Florida, last Wednesday afternoon, according to local law enforcement. The young girl, who was described as “sweet and bubbly” by her closest friends, was identified as 15-year-old Kendra Ahrens.
As Ahrens traveled home on her bicycle after finishing a work shift at nearby Sun Splash Family Waterpark, a U.S. Mail Carrier truck struck her. The crash prompted an outpouring of love and support from members of the local community who described her as being “loved by so many people.”
Speaking to WINK News, the girl’s parents said that she was a varsity cheerleader at Mariner High School.
The incident was reportedly noticed by people playing putt-putt golf at the nearby Tropical Breeze Fun Park. According to Joey Milligan, a member of staff, three golfers could hear the crash when it happened.
“They didn’t see anything,” he said, adding that they heard the slamming of brakes and a crashing noise, prompting them to stop playing golf and check out the scene.
The incident remains under investigation by police officers and little extra information has been provided so far, but the incident certainly impacted the local community enough that people felt compelled to write kind notes on an online obituary and on social media.
We don’t know the full cause of Ahrens’ death yet, but what we do know is that Florida leads the United States for bicycle fatalities. The data shows that in 2021, there were 183 fatal bicycle crashes in the state, with just under one-third of those crashes taking place in Tampa Bay. The figures come from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The data indicates that Florida is the state with the highest number of bicycle fatalities in the country per capita.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also knows that as of 2021, there was an increase of 10.5% in bicycle fatalities compared to the year before.
