The number of bike riders in Buckhead and the Metro Atlanta area is increasing and so is the number of riders being hit by cars. As I was mulling over whether to ride my 10 year old Mongoose Trail Bike to work to help the environment, I ran across this Atlanta Journal Constitution article by Thomas Stinson entitled “Rookie and rusty cyclists hit streets … and hospitals” published in late July. Mr. Stinson profiles a local rider that ended up with both elbows being fractured for his efforts at reducing his carbon signature.
All joking aside, bike riders have long know that Atlanta traffic is notoriously unfriendly to riders. There are very few dedicated lanes and none on the major thoroughfares. When I was a younger lawyer, I used to ride from Midtown Atlanta down to the Public Defenders office on Peachtree Street downtown and remember getting nailed by several errant motorists. The only long term cure to the problem is oddly, more cyclists. The more common the practice is, the better motorists will be at avoiding collisions with them.
As you might imagine, injuries are way up due to the flood of riders. The best thing you can do as a rider is to wear your helmet, ride in the daylight and make sure that your Atlanta uninsured motorist lawyer is on par with your liability coverage. If you are hit by a car while riding your bike in Atlanta, Marietta or Sandy Springs and you suffer from an injury, be sure you work with an attorney that has handled bicycling cases before as their are nuances to them that a generic lawyer will not appreciate.