Decatur Cyclist Hit By Car Pushes For Safer Road Environments
Decatur Metro | April 22, 2011Decatur cyclist Ben Gerhardstein was hit by a car running a red light in downtown Decatur two weeks ago. The car was traveling around 30 mph.
“Lucky to survive”, Gerhardstein wrote an opinion piece in yesterday’s AJC detailing the experience and insisting that we – as a society – should accept nothing less than zero traffic fatalities. Sound like an impossible goal? Gerhardstein makes an interesting point…
Zero traffic deaths may sound unrealistic. But, consider our approach to air travel. We do not tolerate aviation fatalities and when a plane wreck occurs, we expect government investigations and changes in laws. Further, to ensure aviation safety we accept long security screening lines.
In contrast, when we are behind the wheel, we expect lenient traffic law enforcement and no delays. Too often, the unintended consequence of our lax attitude toward road safety is an injury or death of an unprotected road user.
He goes on to RIGHTLY point out that pedestrians, cyclists and drivers all make mistakes – something I continuously try to bring up in the ongoing DM debates between transport-parties – and goes on to assert that our energies should instead be focused on investing in safe road environments that “account for our human propensity for error.”
Implementing Georgia’s 2010 Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Action Plan is just one step, according to Gerhardstein, but he’d also like to see reduction of speed limits in “high pedestrian and bicycle areas” and a further separation between bicycles and cars and pedestrians.
Quite a well-reasoned op-ed from a guy who was almost killed by a car a couple weeks ago.
h/t: Lain Shakespeare (via Twitter)
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The trouble is that neither cyclists or drivers consistantly follow the law so it becomes unclear what the rules really should be. I do not make claim to know all of the laws personally, and I grew up intown Atlanta riding my huffy without a helmet wherever I pleased (of course that was a different day and age).
As someone who likes to ride a bicycle, but gets irritated by many of the actions I see it would be great to get some clarification/insight from someone in the cycling community on some of my very recent observations….
1. This morning there was a cyclist who appeared to be following the law riding east on ponce from Lullwater towards Decatur during the morning commute. Obviously they were much clower than auto traffic causing all the cars to switch lanes to pass them. My question is… why in the world would someone ride on the street on ponce when there are actual paved bike trails through Olmstead Park and all the way down Ponce?
2. Earlier this week, I watched a cyclist pass all of the cars at a red light then proceed to ride down the middle of the lane slowing down all the cars he just passed. Is that proper cycling law?
I have to ditto your question. Why ride in the street, when there is a paved bike path (no, bike sized road) along Dekalb Ave/ West Howard? There has ben at least one rider killed by a car on Dekalb Ave.
Depending on where you’re starting on where you’re going to, that PATH path along the railroad tracks is often not a viable option. If you’re going to be turning onto Commerce past the HS, or onto a whole bunch of the other streets along the North side of Howard, you need to be on the road, not the PATH. (Likewise if you’re coming from those roads onto Howard.) That PATH, like many of the PATHs, is a lot better for recreational cycling rather than using you bike as a method of transportation.
I fully agree with your post here. I was driving down Edgewood Sunday morning, which has a clearly marked bike lane, yet a group of 5 or 6 cyclists were riding abreast, with 2 of them outside the bike lane and completely in the street. I always thought the law stated they must ride single-file, but maybe I”m wrong. But in any case, I can’t imagine why any of them would have been outside the bike lane.
I find it odd that the article is about a person almost killed by an at-fault driver, but here we find a long list of complaints about bicyclists, as if that makes it more understandable that Ben was hit by a car running a red light. But, then again, unless you have commuted by bike, I don’t think you would understand how this conversation sounds to someone who has been hit by a reckless car.
Let me put it another, likely more helpful way:
If a bicyclist acts recklessly and causes an accident with a car, the bicyclist probably dies.
If a driver acts recklessly and causes an accident with a bicycle, the bicyclist probably dies.
In both instances, the bicyclist is the one who gets hurt. Saying “bicyclists and cars both act recklessly” ignores the crucial point: the car is the dangerous thing on the road, not the bike. I have never heard of a story of a bicyclist killing a driver in a car. I have never heard of a pedestrian hitting a car and totaling it, while remaining in one piece. Never. Yet we have several bicyclists commenting on this blog who have been hit by a car. Unless we drop the hackneyed false equivalency and own up to the fact that cars are really, really dangerous things, and bikes and pedestrians are rarely going to hurt anyone, then we will fail to assess the problem in a helpful way. We need to figure out how to keep cars from hitting bikes and pedestrians. Educating bicyclists is an important but very small part of that answer. Thinking of ways to keep cars from hitting things is far more consequential.
Agree. The person driving the two ton machine has the greater moral/civic responsibility to look out for pedestrians and cyclists, even the pedestrians or cyclists who act carelessly.
And the way we plan our roads and cities should reflect that fact. Airplanes have the potential to be very deadly for the people in tham as well as people on the ground. So we plan accordingly. We don’t do that with cars…
We need to figure out how to keep cars from hitting bikes and pedestrians.
I’m pretty sure this is one of the major reasons why we have dedicated bike lanes, which was the whole point of that response. As you said, the cars are the dangerous things on the road. But as they do have to share with cyclists, how are motorists supposed to NOT endanger the lives of bicyclists when they are blantantly ignoring the very measures and safety laws meant to keep them safe? Just a legitimate question, and in no way meant to make light of the subject of the post.
Multi-use trails like the PATH system and bike lanes are under-utilized IMO. The bike tool on Google Maps has been a great way for me to discover routes like residential side streets that are more conducive to cycling than, um, Ponce.
1. It’s not a “bike path” it’s a MUP which is often very unsuitable/unsafe for cycling.
2. It is legal to pass stopped and slowed traffic from the right. Also,”taking the lane” is how a cyclist indicates to drivers that conditions at that point are unsafe for cars to pass.
Personally, I avoid cycling on E Ponce past the post office but some don’t have that choice.
MUP? Come on, now. We don’t all know the jargon.
I’m guessing a “Multi User Path?” I guess drivers feel the same way about roads.
Sorry Jeff, I should have offered a definition there.
Multi Use Paths are often used by government agencies to subvert transportation dollars to linear park facilities that also happen to require lucrative concrete contracts.
They rarely coincide with the needs of people using a bicycle for actual transportation and are often quite dangerous to those that try.
Cycle commuters sometimes refer to MUP as standing for “Many Unaware Pedestrians”.
It doesn’t matter much what the speed limit is when the state severely restricts where and how police can enforce speed limits. The exceptions are big enough to drive an SUV through at high speed.
Police could strictly enforce signal compliance (for all road users) that would be a nice start.
See Section 40 of the Georgia Code for answers to your questions. http://www.gohs.state.ga.us/gabikelaws.html
This discusssion would be better over a beer than on this forum.
Thanks for posting, DM!
Thanks for classing up the conversation with a link to the actual bicycling laws in GA!
Bikers do need to abide by the laws better! I almost hit someone on a bike this morning at Atlanta Ave. He came from behind me and cut in front of me as II was turning right on red. It’s scary! I’m a very cautious driver. Some bikers need to be too!
Drivers need to abide by the laws better. I was almost hit on Monday by someone in a car on Ponce de Leon who turned in front of me. I was almost hit by someone in a car later on McLendon who pulled out of a side street in front of me. I was overtaken on the same stretch of road by someone in a car who passed terribly close to me, and by someone in a car who was speeding. Then someone in a car ran the red light at Boulevard.
It must have been the full moon.
Apologies to Mini, but your complaint cuts both ways.
Good Ol’ Boy Law: You don’t learn anything the second time a mule kicks you in the head.
Very good point. And a good rule of thumb is still to drive/ride defensively.
Atlanta drivers are the very, very worst when it comes to sharing the road with cyclists and pedestrians. I’ve ridden all over the country, but I’ve never seen the preponderance of utter yahoos I see here. I braved it for seven years to commute by bike to work, but about two-dozen-too-many close calls persuaded me to finally pack it in last year. I had cars come into contact with me several times; endured endless harassment; and in perhaps the worst case, had a guy slam a full tall-boy of beer into my leg as I rode uphill on McClendon Avenue, knocking me down on the street in the face of oncoming traffic. One guy (Cobb plate) even pulled a gun on me because, he said I was “impeding interstate commerce.” I guess it goes with the libertarian nonsense that’s so prevalent here — the attitude that nobody has rights but you. Ultimately, the homicidal hostility that finally got to be too much to take.
You need to read a little more about the libertarian nonsense.
You wrote: “I’ve never seen the preponderance of utter yahoos I see here”. You forgot where you live.
Atlanta drivers need to read the damn laws. I’m sure someone in our goofy-for-gumballs state legislature will soon introduce a bill to decriminalize assault on anyone who you think is in your way. But for now, it’s still illegal in Georgia to try to kill people just because you think they’re impeding what you believe is your God-given right to get from point A to point B at maximum velocity.
As someone who has also been hit in Decatur by a driver, I wonder how much of this has to do with laws as it does with paying attention. My critique of Atlanta drivers is that they tend to be oblivious of not only cyclists, but motorcycles and pedestrians, as well. For every person that gets hit by a person breaking the law, I would suspect an equal number are hit by people on the phone or doing something else instead of paying attention. I’m not sure how you fix that problem, but I think it goes beyond law enforcement.
Just because you are a cyclist doesn’t mean you are smart, or necessarily well informed.
the cyclicst mentioned in the first post may not know or realize that there is a bike path. Frankly, I never cycle on Ponce de Leon as I think it’s taking my life in my hands. However, the bike lane on the side there is clearly not for commuters — it meanders around and isn’t a very efficient means of getting from one place to another.
It’s actually rather tricky going straight west from Decatur on a bike. Either you can go on Coventry, which has killer hills and isn’t very much a straight away, or you can go on McLendon, which has some strange little bump outs that push you into traffic from time to time. From my house, I have to ride on the sidewalk (technically againstthe law, I think) to make it to a bike lane or a street that seems safe for bikes.
In regard to bike lanes, frankly, they sometimes don’t seem well thought out. For instance, there are many bike lanes in town that suddenly end — with no indications as to the best route if you need to keep going. Exhibit A — the new Decatur bike lane on West Ponce de Leon ends suddenly at the city limits and puts you right into killer traffic on Ponce de Leon.
Also in regard to post one, being in front of the cars probably is the safest place for a cyclist. At least you know they see you. Doesn’t mean you should impede traffic, but I am just sayin’.
Those who use a bike for basic transportation sometimes appear to me to have no other alternatives — they are the ones on the beater bikes with no helmet and no fancy bike duds. It’s likely they just aren’t very well informed as to bike alternatives which are rather new to our metro area.
More intersections should be roundabouts. Traffic lights encourage reckless behavior –people speed up when they should slow down. Roundabouts make drivers slow down. Roundabouts, narrower lanes, and more bike and ped facilities will give us safer roads for bikes, cars and foot traffic.
I agree with most comments that the public–drivers and bikers alike–are misinformed about laws affecting bicyclists and divers. But, that’s not an excuse for drivers to act recklessly, as in this case of an idiotic driver running a red light and almost killing a friend of mine.
I have no patience for folks who suggest that bicyclists should stick to the sidewalks. It’s simply ignorant to suggest that’s the law–it’s not the law in Georgia or anywhere else in the U.S. for that matter. Legal issues notwithstanding, such a practice would endanger bicyclists and pedestrians alike.
Below, I’ve coped and pasted from the actual Georgia bicycle safety laws. Note that bicyclists are entitled to take up a lane of traffic, so long as they are “moving with the speed of traffic” or “when it’s too narrow to share [a single lane] safely with a motor vehicle.” Unfortunately, because of poor design choices, many of the roads in Atlanta–Dekalb Ave. for example–have narrow lanes that do not allow for bicyclists and cars to share a single lane. That’s why it’s completely within the law–and common sense–for bicyclists to occupy a single lane in such cases.
40-6-294.
(a) Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable, except when turning left or avoiding hazards to safe cycling, when the lane is too narrow to share safely with a motor vehicle, when traveling at the same speed as traffic, or while exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction; provided, however, that every person operating a bicycle away from the right side of the roadway shall exercise reasonable care and shall give due consideration to the other applicable rules of the road. As used in this subsection, the term “hazards to safe cycling” includes, but is not limited to, surface debris, rough pavement, drain grates which areparallel to the side of the roadway, parked or stopped vehicles, potentially opening car doors, or any other objects which threaten the safety of a person operating a bicycle.
http://www.gohs.state.ga.us/gabikelaws.html
Note to drivers: Pay attention. Stop using your cell phone. Stop using your GPS. Don’t eat.
Note to cyclists: Obey the laws. Don’t weave through standing traffic. Please don’t use your cell phone.
Note to all: Be considerate and accepting that both parties want to get from point A to point B. Neither has the right to endanger lives. Relax.
+10
What Bulldog said.
Brennan B is right, in my humble opinion.
I got my first moving violation ever a few weeks ago–for running a red light on my bike! I was being totally safe, but I had to laugh– I mean, how great is it to live in a city where that even matter? The officer’s demeanor was the stuff of bad stereotypes, and most would’ve given a warning, but again, the law is the law.
I agree with those who think bikes should use paths when available. Why be a nuisance and create unnecessary risk just to keep your workout time consistent? Drivers need to pay attention, too. The road is not just for them, and driving is NOT a right. Its a privilege that is not revoked as often as it should be.
FYI: Boston is way worse.
This is always a tough issue. It is a fact that cyclists have the right to use the road – a bicycle is considered a vehicle and there are many cyclists who would rather ride on the road than ride on the PATH (there can be a lot of walkers, strollers, dogs, etc. on the PATH and it doesn’t go that many places. Good if you want to exercise, not so good if you commute).
And it is extremely difficult to work in support of cycling issues when there seem to be plenty of cyclists who treat the roadway as their own private space, never obey one rule of the road and irritate the heck out of us cyclists who do try to exhibit good behavior. And I agree with other posters, it irks me too when I see cyclists cut through traffic, run lights, and generally act like they are superior to anyone else using the road. Bad, bad image! And dangerous too.
BUT – there are plenty of drivers who do incredibly stupid things and cause major accidents and kill people. The papers are full of incidents like these. So it is a two way street (pardon the pun), we all need to use the road correctly and follow the laws. They’re there to bring some order to traffic movements and give users the expectation that others will do things in a certain way.
It seems this cyclist was obeying the rules and the driver ran a red light. I’m in favor of stiff fines for drivers who run lights, speed in school zones, hit pedestrians in crosswalks, etc. Up until the late 1920/30’s, pedestrians, children and others had the use of the street and it was the driver’s responsibility to be careful. Editorials routinely assailed the errant driver who caused a serious accident and they came down on the side of the victim. Automobile clubs and road users started campaigning that the driver (and the vehicle) had a superior “right” to the road and pedestrians should start using crosswalks and kids should no longer play in neighborhood streets – the roads no longer belonged to them.
Attitudes have changed though in recent years and I think there is more acceptance that the roadway belongs to all of us, not just drivers and their vehicles. I think most people like the “walkableness” of Decatur and would be really upset if folks tried to widen a Church St. like the state did in the 1970’s (or thereabouts). So now planners, engineers and users are trying to sort all this out – how do pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers use the road?