Call

Blog

Law
02

Blog

Memorial Ride, New Orleans Style

Come join us celebrate Iain's life in New Orleans, Sunday March 20th.

Iain Gerrard would have finished his 1,500 mile bike tour with a fun, slow-paced ride through the French Quarter, but sadly, the opportunity was taken from him. His parents, William and Jean Gerrard, are coming to New Orleans to experience the bike ride that their son was never able to finish.

08e59536-e2e7-4498-9c55-802c5ec92e7f

On Sunday, March 20, 2016, Bike Easy and Bike Law would like you to help us welcome William and Jean to New Orleans with a ride to celebrate Iain’s life. Join us as we meet on bikes in Crescent Park at 1 p.m., to ride with a brass band through the Bywater, French Quarter, and Warehouse District, and pause for a moment of silence at the future site of Iain’s Where Ya’ Rack bicycle rack and honorary ghost bike, then ultimately honor Iain’s life at a celebratory get together at Wood Pizza and Taphouse (404 Andrew Higgins Drive in New Orleans). Attendance is free. Beverages will be provided, as well as spoke cards and other in memoriam remembrances of Iain.

In July 2014, 23 year-old Iain Gerrard (pronounced “EE-uhn”) set out from Toronto to New Orleans on his bicycle. Over 1,000 miles into his journey, Iain approached the town of Tunica, Mississippi on U.S. Highway 61. As he neared the small town, Mr. Atma Gill, an 18-wheeler driver, approached Iain in his truck – following closely behind.

For reasons that will never be understood, Mr. Gill hit Iain from behind and killed him instantly. At the time of the 3:00 p.m. accident, the weather was clear and the roadway was straight and free from any visual obstructions. Despite these ideal driving conditions, the Mississippi Highway Patrol blamed Iain for his own death. This was largely due to Mr. Gill’s statements that Iain was riding against traffic and pulled right in front of the truck. Such statements were nearly too much for Iain’s parents to handle as they attempted to cope with the loss of their only child.

A forensic analysis ultimately showed that Iain was riding with traffic and was rear-ended. The Mississippi Highway Patrol received this analysis and revised their report to show that the crash occurred because Mr. Gill failed to safely pass Iain. At best, Mr. Gill was not paying attention to the road for at least 15 seconds prior to impact. At worst, Mr. Gill falsified his story to protect himself from culpability. Unfortunately, however, the glaring misinformation that he provided, the police still refused to issue Mr. Gill even a minor traffic citation.

This situation proves, once again, why we oppose the term “bicycle accident.”  There was nothing accidental about it.

To prevent a similar tragedy from occurring again, William and Jean want to do everything in their power to raise awareness about equal and safe access for all roadway users, including adequate enforcement when someone loses a life on a bicycle.

31a54005-9863-448c-841b-68d510857153 Please email me ([email protected]) if you have any questions and we’ll otherwise look forward to you taking Iain’s ride with us on March 20. To learn more about Iain’s story, please read the article published in The Toronto Star.

Comments

Ann Groninger Jan 04, 2024

Many of our cycling clients find themselves having to interact with the criminal justice system. Typically, it’s because the driver who hits them (or their family member) is charged with a crime or traffic offense. Occasionally bicyclists themselves are charged with traffic offenses! Every state’s criminal laws are different, but there is a lot of […]

Read More
Bike Crash Road Defect Georgia
Peter Wilborn Jun 14, 2023

We recently shared the story of a trial victory from the State of Texas where a bicyclist was injured due to a defect in a road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. Texas Road Defect   We now can tell the story of another huge win in a road defect case, this time from […]

Read More
Road defect dangerous to cyclists
Charlie Thomas Mar 14, 2023

Recently, attorneys with the Bike Law network took a case to a trial against a titan of a defendant: the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT was represented by the Attorney General’s Office, one of Texas’ largest legal teams. We had a great client, but it was a tough case to prove. So tough, in fact, […]

Read More
bike path charlotte
Ann Groninger Jan 13, 2023

  2023 got off to a rough start for Charlotte, North Carolina, particularly in the context of road safety. Within about a week, we lost a young woman who was riding her bicycle, a pedestrian killed in the same area of town, and four people were killed in a car wreck on I-85 in the […]

Read More
North Carolina Bike Crash
Ann Groninger Dec 06, 2022

Unless you’re a very recent follower of ours, you’ve heard us talk before about “contributory negligence.” To recap: “pure contributory negligence” is the law in North Carolina and only 3 other states (Alabama, Virginia, Maryland). In pure contributory negligence states, if a person is injured by someone else’s fault and the injured person contributes even […]

Read More
Is It Illegal to Ride Your Bike on the Sidewalk bikelaw
Peter Wilborn Aug 01, 2022

The laws dictating whether you can ride your bike on the sidewalk differ depending where you live. Different states have different laws on this matter, and local ordinances also vary. Let’s take a look at the legal framework behind various state laws related to cycling on sidewalks. The laws of sidewalk-riding can be very complicated […]

Read More
Ebike crash
Bruce Hagen Apr 26, 2022

DRIVER ON METH KILLS 17 YEAR OLD BICYCLIST, BARROW COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY REFUSES TO CHARGE DRIVER WITH FELONY.   On August 23, 2020, at approximately 8:40pm, 17-year old Obianuju Osuegbu was on her way home from her summer job working at a grocery store. She had earned enough money that summer to buy herself a […]

Read More
Stop as Yield
Brian Weiss Apr 25, 2022

Finally, “Stop As Yield” (the much sought after common sense traffic law for bicyclists) is coming to Colorado in 2022, likely July 1st.   Stop as Yield, aka the “Safety Stop” After the Governor Polis signs the law and the Safety Stop becomes effective, anyone who rides a bicycle or scooter on public roads will […]

Read More
Contributory Negligence
Ann Groninger Apr 25, 2022

It took losing at trial and a long appellate process, but it ended in a blow to contributory negligence in North Carolina. We just won an appeal on a bicycle crash case that happened in 2016 and came to us in 2018. The case went to trial during the spring of 2021. Our client was […]

Read More
Load More