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E-bike crash on unlit Wonderwood Bridge leaves woman with critical injuries; attorney demands accountability
A woman suffered life-altering injuries when an e-bike rider struck her on the dark Wonderwood Bridge, where stolen copper wiring has knocked out lights. Her attorney is calling for better security and prosecution of the thieves, while agencies remain silent on a long-term fix.
A Jacksonville woman is fighting for her life after being struck by an e-bike rider on the Wonderwood Bridge, a span that neighbors and her attorney say has been dangerously dark for weeks due to stolen copper wiring.
Kelly Lund, a mother of three teenagers, was hit on the night of Oct. 17 while walking on the bridge, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office report. The report states that the e-bike rider was traveling at about 35 mph on a sidewalk in an area where many of the bridge lights are out.
Lund's attorney, Curry Pajcic Sr., described her injuries in stark terms.
"She has multiple facial fractures. The top of her face is broken off from the bottom of her face. She almost lost her eye. They're hoping to save her eye; she's had surgery on her eye. Her right leg was crushed; she had plates and screws inserted into her leg to hold it back together," Pajcic said.
Pajcic placed blame not only on the rider but also on the conditions that made the crash more likely.
"He was driving 35 miles an hour on a sidewalk in a dark area. He could have killed a child. This is a grown woman with three teenage children who's now incapacitated three surgeries later," he said.
The darkness on the bridge stems from the theft of copper wire from the lighting system, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. The agency previously acknowledged the problem after residents raised safety concerns.
Pajcic is now calling for stronger measures to protect the public and to catch those responsible.
"Our lights that we have to protect our people, yeah, there are thieves out there stealing copper from these lights. They need to be caught and prosecuted," he said. "Maybe we need cameras to monitor these bridges to show these people who are stealing, and they need to be prosecuted and put in jail for stealing from the public."
Questions remain about who is responsible for restoring the lights. JEA, the city of Jacksonville, and FDOT were all contacted for comment on the crash and the outage. JEA said it had not received requests to restore the lights. FDOT referred questions about the incident to JSO and said it "continues to work with its partners to address the outage and identify a long-term solution." JSO has not yet responded to requests for comment.
None of the agencies have been able to say whether a permanent fix is in place to keep the bridge lit. For now, Lund remains hospitalized, her family and attorney pressing for answers as the investigation continues.