Call

Blog

Law
02

Blog

Atlanta Highway Collapse Creates More Dangers for Local Bicyclists

The recent collapse of a large chunk of interstate highway in one of the most heavily driven areas of Atlanta, Georgia has caused an unprecedented panic on our roads. The powerful images of the massive fire and bridge collapse were quickly followed by finger pointing, scapegoating and lamenting that Atlantans car-dependent lifestyles were about to be severely disrupted.

What followed was an investigation that resulted in the arrest of 3 people who allegedly set fire to some conduit and other materials that the Georgia DOT had stored under a highway overpass for years. The resulting calamity was well documented. Atlanta’s lack of a well-developed public transit system was immediately apparent as MARTA parking lots were overwhelmed and filled up before 7 am on the following Monday.

Atlanta Highway Shutdown Help Bicycle Commuting
A solution that was obvious to many yet alien to most emerged: bicycles. The closed stretch of road in the area surrounding the collapse became the best dedicated stretch of bicycle infrastructure that this city has seen. Although temporary, the closed off areas of major traffic arteries have been a boon for cyclists. People who have never before commuted to work on a bike have gotten out of their cars and taken to two wheels. How great!

New Traffic Creates Distracted Drivers

A serious problem has emerged, one that has the potential to be very dangerous to anyone who rides a bike. In the wake of the interstate collapse, many drivers who are unfamiliar with city streets and neighborhoods are leaving the highway and using cell phone apps like WAZE and Google Maps to navigate their way. In the process, drivers will have their attention locked to their phones, distracting them from the task of safe driving. Combine that with being blindly led by an app through unfamiliar neighborhoods and you have a recipe that can be toxic to bicyclists.

Bruce’s PSA of the Week

As you ride around town in the coming months, particularly in areas that are seeing an increase in car volume due to the highway closure, please be hyper vigilant and watchful for drivers who may be more distracted than usual, and who put all of us at risk by their bad behavior.

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