Clarkston Cyclist Mourned
Decatur Metro | October 17, 2008The AJC reports on the death of avid Clarkston cyclist Richard C. Baker (nickname “Chris”), who was killed on Othello Ave outside of Clarkston this week. DeKalb County says that Baker ran a stop sign, but friends find that hard to believe.
This is very close to where we used to live before moving closer intown a few years back. From my recollection, Othello is a residential road. So how fast was the car going? Apparently fast enough to kill someone. Yet no mention of that in the article.
Perhaps this is a good time to mention the Confident City Cycling Class being held at the Rec Center tomorrow. 231 Sycamore has all the details. UPDATE: KC says that the class has been cancelled due to lack of interest.
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Sort of off-topic, but what is up with cyclists NOT using the bike paths in Decatur? It irritates me to no end to drive down W. Howard, for example, and have to go around/past cyclists who are riding on the road next to the bike path. Is it just “not cool” to use the bike path? Is it because there are too many children and pedestrians on the bike path? I am all about setting good examples especially for kids, and I often point out to my kids that the cyclists really ought to be riding on the path in order to keep everyone a little safer.
The PATH is not a mandatory bike lane but an alternate route. The section that goes through Decatur is also heavily used by families with strollers, children and walkers/runners who can get seriously injured if hit by a cyclist. Also, you obviously haven’t been on the PATH to notice that it ends at the Ice House Lofts!! In order to get back on the PATH you need to travel through a heavily congested section of the city. Having dedicated bike lanes on every road would remind drivers that the LAW allows cyclists to be on any road, regardless of other alternate routes.
“Also, you obviously haven’t been on the PATH to notice that it ends at the Ice House Lofts!! In order to get back on the PATH you need to travel through a heavily congested section of the city.”
No, it doesn’t. It continues at the Avondale MARTA station, which is less than a mile from the Ice House Lofts. The notion that you have to navigate a congested section of the city betwen those two points is ludicrous. It’s a short ride down a quiet section of Sycamore.
The law may well allow you to ride on any road you want, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do it. I have biked the PATH next to Dekalb Ave many times, and only rarely had to get around walkers, etc. It’s not much of a problem because the PATH is really quite wide.
The idea that we’re going to build dedicated bike lanes on every road is a pipe dream and a waste of taxpayer money. There are not nearly enough cyclists to justify such a huge public investment. And besides that, there are already lots of safe alternative routes for bikers to get just about anywhere they want to go.
Acutally, the Confident City Cycling Class in Decatur has been CANCELED because not enough people registered. I was one of the three people who signed up, but there is a 5-person minimum. =(
I have wondered about the cyclists not using the PATH, as well. I live a block from the PATH (near the Citgo) and walk one of my kids to and from school on the PATH, twice a day, and I travel down W. Howard by car several times a day. Often I see a cyclist in the street, with the PATH wide open…
emilyk,
You have a valid question about bikers choosing not to utilize the PATH that may be only a few feet away. The biggest problem with the PATH running along streets, is it’s really only a sidewalk with dashes painted on. As a cyclist, one of the places where I am least safe is on a sidewalk, because drivers simply aren’t looking there for other vehicles. Cyclists are safest when they’re visible, and, unfortunately, to the chagrin of some drivers, is on the road.
dem is right about bike lanes being a waste of taxpayer money. All cyclists need is a decent shoulder. This allows bike and car to maintain a healthy interaction, while producing minimal obstructions to faster moving traffic (which during rush-hour, is generally the bikes).
While I certainly feel bad for this loss, I will chime in about what I take issue with cyclists. I don’t really mind them on the road even if it can be difficult to navigate around them, but MANY do not follow the rules of the road. Some do, yes, but it seems to be the exception. Decatur is full of cyclists who think that stop signs, stop lights, and other common road rules do not apply to them. This drives me crazy! I am happy to share the road with you, just follow the rules like I have to in my car. We will all be alot safer.
Amen, Kenneth.
Thanks for the update KC.
Maybe these comments would go better in another thread as this thread is about mourning a resident who died while biking. I can’t imagine that his family would appreciate the generalized victim blaming, however accurate the arguments about bike lanes/the PATH and wider shoulders may be. Just my two cents.
“And besides that, there are already lots of safe alternative routes for bikers to get just about anywhere they want to go.”
There is no such thing as a safe alternate route! Those routes you suggest are public roads open to automobile traffic. Besides, not everyone wants to go were the PATH takes them. If one needs to go South of the RR tracks, the only alternative is to use W. Howard or other side roads.
How many motorists follow the rules of the road? Most stop signs are treated as yield signs and most motorist are generally not enthusiastic about yielding to a crossing pedestrian in a crosswalk. How many times have you been at an intersection that was blocked by another motorist who decided he/she could squeeze through as the light changed? Why are cyclist held to a higher standard? I believe Bicyclist behavior is not unlawful but entirely consistent with traffic behavior in general. Remember, It’s the bicyclist who assumes the primary risk; unlike the motorist with their 3,000 pound vehicle who creates a danger for others.
EGG, yes those motorists are wrong too! I have stopped for pedestrians only to be honked at, and watch opposite traffic almost careen into someone. And, I’ve been in crosswalks where I’ve almost been hit. Point is, if we ALL follow the proper rules of the road, tragedies like this can be avoided. Perhaps this can serve as a reminder and lesson so losses can be preventable.
altmod,
Agreed. This death hit home for me and I just could not let emilyk’s post go unanswered. Later.
I really don’t think anyone is blaming the victim here. I have no idea what caused this accident and certainly do not mean to suggest it was even remotely the cyclist’s fault.
I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. And I certainly am not blaming the victim as I was not there and didn’t see what happened.
I know that a cyclist is not going to take the PATH if he or she is not headed in the direction that the PATH goes. I was commenting on those cyclists who ride NEXT to the PATH, especially on W. Howard (it happens almost every time I’m on W. Howard, which is everyday). You can’t tell me that they are somehow safer on the road instead of up on the PATH–at least in this area. Our PATH is so visible (esp. being elevated at least 4 inches above the road and being bordered on one side by median) that it is clearly the safest place to be. Luckily all the kids I see on their bikes each morning are using the PATH.
You’re right emily, maybe for that section the PATH is safer than the street. However, it’s not the straightaways that are dangerous for cyclists, it’s when the sidewalk/PATH forces you to interact with car traffic, i.e., crosswalks, blind driveways, etc (plus PATH forces you to ride against traffic half the time, which makes you even less likely to be seen). As a cyclist, the more predictable to cars I am, the safer we all are. Getting on-and-off the sidewalk makes me less predictable and everyone less safe overall.
Could cyclists make an exception in this situation? Probably. But when you begin to accumulate hundreds then thousands of miles on a bike, you tend to form very ingrained “safety” habits. The more you make exceptions to these habits, the more dangerous your ride can become.
I can’t tell you not to find it irritating, but I do disagree with that riding on the PATH automatically makes everyone safer.
Here is the link to the Georgia Bicycle Law Enforcement Pocket Guide in PDF format.
http://www.georgiabikes.org/Portals/57ad7180-c5e7-49f5-b282-c6475cdb7ee7/GBLEPG%20052306.pdf
Just take a minute to review and there is some good information for both motorist and cyclists.
Also, a friend mentioned that Church Street in Decatur was getting bike lanes. Can anyone confirm and is true when is this supposed to happen?
I think it’s Trinity that will be getting the bike lanes.
It is true tpreed. West Ponce, West Trinity and Church are all scheduled to get bike lanes, though Church won’t be bid on until 2011.
More info here.
I’ll give you a few reasons why we don’t use bike paths. Broken glass scattered on the path that flattens our tires. It most likely from passing cars and not people on bikes. People walking on the path 2 or three abreast with strollers. The paths that cross over driveways where cars pull out into the path without looking down the path. The paths are designed for pedestrians not bicycles! Its always some fat person smoking a cigarette that has a problem honking there horn when they are late. I knew Chris and I know he road safe. Maybe if everyone wasn’t in such a hurry they could respect cyclist right to ride on the road. Do you people even know the law!!!
“DeKalb County says that Baker ran a stop sign” – uh, let me guess the info comes from the guy who hit him? And then the victim blaming starts. (“MANY do not follow the rules of the road”) – What a shame. Share the Road and RELAX.
The volume of broken glass on the path is ridiculous. It’s worst in the section between decatur and Clarkston. A car hit a tree last week in the section of east Ponce heading down the big hill toward YDFM, and glass remains strewn over a 75+ foot section of the path. Just having a street sweeper clean the path once a week would be a big help. And when on the path, you lose the right-of-way, as there are stop signs at many driveways and intersections that are inconsistent with the flow of traffic. It would make more sense to have cars yield to bikes in these cases.
G, the area you reference with the glass is in DeKalb County and they don’t have a street sweeper to my knowledge.
The unfortunate thing is that we live in a car society with a car mentality. I cycle 4000+ miles a year, and I also use a car. I see both sides. When I used the path I was almost hit several times by cars pulling out of apartment complexes. I ride fast, as do my colleagues, and it isn’t appropriate to ride that speed on the path. Regarding stop signs, that’s a tough one to argue. We see cars roll through stops all day everyday and no one comments, but when a cyclist does it’s egregious. A side-note: it’s a lot tougher to get back up to speed on a bike, whereas a motorist just moves the ankle and voila! (of course there is that little thing called mid-east oil…) Maybe motorists should realize that cyclists contribute to a healthier populace, while lessening reliance on oil consumption. Maybe we anger you while you sit in a traffic jam, but there has to be some sort of trade-off for the luxury of single-person occupancy that has become so prevalent in our society.