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Black Belt Instructor Victim of Fatal Temple Terrace Bicycle Accident

February 17, 2011 - Temple Terrace, FL - Robert Niedbalec, 52, was fatally hit by a car while riding his bicycle in the afternoon on February 13, Tampabay.com has reported. 

According to police, 20-year-old Cristina Perenzuela was driving the Ford that struck Niedbalec, an avid bike rider and black belt judo instructor. He was eastbound in a bike lane near the Riverfront Park at the University of South Florida when the fatal bicycle accident occurred.

Authorities at the Sheriff's Office have reason to believe that Perenzuela might have been racing another car. Deputies have reported that she was speeding, as was another sedan, when she ran into Niedbalec. Both cars have been impounded. As of this posting, no charges had been filed.

Florida driving records indicate that Perenzuela had one traffic violation in 2009 for not wearing a seatbelt.

The driver of the sedan, 34-year-old Armando Perez Jr., has two convictions for speeding in addition to convictions for failure to wear a seatbelt, failure to obey a traffic control device, and driving with a suspended license. In fact, his license has been suspended multiple times.

In 1987 Niedbalec emigrated from Poland, where was as a veterinarian. It was in Florida that he worked as a vet's assistant while he studied to become a veterinarian.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' 2009 Traffic Crash Statistics Report, there were 197,214 traffic crashes resulting in injury and 2,563 fatalities as a result of vehicle accidents in Florida.

As a service to the residents of Florida, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents occurring in Florida that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.

Common accidents include, but are not limited to: 

• single-car accidents;
• accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
• accidents caused by distracted drivers or aggressive driving. 

If you have been named in this blog posting or you are the victim's family member or friend and would like it removed from our website, please feel free to contact us and we will promptly accommodate your request.

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