I was just about to post this as I went accounting for all my woodstock peeps. Can we please have a roll call?

Brett?

Courtney

Kraig?

Who else?

I am ok.

92 is a bad place to be on a bike.....

Both of us are ok. Barely got off the couch the entire day....sick. 

Man, very sorry to see this post.  Did a Sunday ride out there a couple of months ago and that part of Woodstock was particularly uncomfortable, esp. as we were rolling through at church rush-hour.  Lots of traffic, too many streets coming into play, and everybody in too much of a hurry to get to church or wherever they were headed.

Hoping none of our BT/NAMC peeps were involved.  Very, very sorry for the cyclist, relatives, and the automobile driver. 

We're all assuming that the cyclist was riding with the flow of traffic.  If the cyclist was riding against the flow of traffic, the car made a right turn and the cyclist went into the passenger side of the car, then I don't think that would be the driver's fault.  Until there is more information provided, it's hard to tell who was at fault. 

I heard some rumors that the cyclist was riding on the sidewalk. Not sure if that is really true or not, but I believe cycling on a sidewalk is illegal in Georgia which means fault would lie with the cyclist. Either way it is tragic.

According to the article the van was coiming out of the Bank parking lot so the cyclist would not have been passing on either side.

I had not really been thinking of fault, but I was wondering how the cyclist was killed running into the van.  I would assume most of the force came from the cyclist because I assume the van was not moving very fast if it was just leaving the parking lot, of course a cyclist can can be killed by hitting a stationary object.

Sorry for the repeat of Meredith's post here.  It does not show up in the editor, but it does on the thread.

In the AJC -

I think the above posts sums it up ... regardless of "fault" each person has been affected by the situation.  My concern was not necessarily as to who was to blame but the police officer and report filed after the investigation of the scene.

Two years ago there was a man named Tony Serrano who was riding up Peachtree Industrial Blvd at first light with a training partner.  A 19 year old boy struck and killed him while also injuring him training partner.  Despite riding close to the white line along the travel lane and in the right turn only lane, the surviving cyclist and not the driver was cited. (Story below)

First, let me say that there is no stronger supporter of those who put their their lives in harm's way to protect perfect strangers from the dangers posed by others.  That said, I do think that the cycling laws are something that could stand a little more outreach and education as they are not often used and probably not part of the core cirriculumn taught at the police academy. 

Cyclist charged in road death
Police allege misdemeanor violations by victim Serrano's companion

By JOHN GHIRARDINI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/04/05

Gwinnett police filed charges on Monday against a bicyclist whose riding
companion was struck and killed by a car on Peachtree Industrial
Boulevard in August.

Cyclist Brian Mock was cited on misdemeanor charges of riding too far
into a through lane and not having a red reflector on his bike, said
Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Dan Huggins.

Anthony Serrano, 35, who was riding with Mock, was struck and killed
about 5 a.m. Aug. 26 by a 1987 Honda Prelude driven by Luke Joseph
Nicolosi, 19, of Alpharetta. Mock received minor injuries; Nicolosi was
unhurt.

According to police investigators, the collision occurred at a part of
Peachtree Industrial where two through lanes adjoin a right-turn-only lane.

Serrano was in compliance with road rules, police said.

Mock was at least 5 feet out into the right through lane, police said.
When Nicolosi tried to evade Mock, he struck Serrano.

Investigators deemed the collision unavoidable, Huggins said, and did
not charge Nicolosi, who was driving within the speed limit. "It was
just a tragic accident," Huggins said.

A local bicycle advocate questioned the charges against Mock.

"My concern is a cyclist being wrongfully charged," said Dennis
Hoffarth, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign.

State law allows cyclists to occupy a lane further to the left than
normal if there are unusual circumstances, Hoffarth said. Those include
width of the lane and possible hazards on the road.

The Bicycle Campaign intends to meet with Gwinnett police to clarify the
department's interpretation of the law, Hoffarth said.

I have to say that I too have been seeing a lot of riding on the sidewalk and riding without a helmet lately.  I run all over the suburbs in Roswell, Ecobb and some in Woodstock and nearly every time I run I am forced off the sidewalk by a cyclist on the sidewalk. More often than not they are not wearing helmets. But even crazier to me is the cyclists I see I riding in traffic without a helmet. In the past few weeks I have seen several cyclists--in bike kits--riding on 92 or in various places along the Roswell route sans helmet. I know that a helmet is no assurance of safety but it just seems common sense.

And FWIW, I looked it up last night. Seems that it is illegal for anyone under the age of 12 to ride on the sidewalks in GA. Children are allowed and should ride on the sidewalk, according to the law.

I live two miles south of the accident site and on my way to the gym last night around 6-6:15 PM I passed the site and they still had  10+ police cars and three or four fire trucks and had the southbound lane of Hwy 5 closed even more than two hours after the accident occurred.  The TV news said witnesses stated that Martinez [they hadn't said his name last night] was riding on the sidewalk and he slammed into the Van as it was leaving the bank and entering hwy 5 and Martinez fell down and then got run over by the back wheel of the Van. Apparently Martinez didn't see the van pulling out...or was going too fast and couldn't stop in time and apparently the Van driver didn't see Martinez on the sidewalk either.

 Terrible, just terrible...my heart sunk as I drove past the site. 

 We need to pray for Martinez' family as well as for the driver of the Van who will have to live with the horror of having run over and killed another human being..that memory may haunt them forever.

 Please consider using a blinking headlight and taillight even during daylight hours..it might have caught the eye of the Van driver in time to stop?!?!  We need to do everything that we can do to bring attention to ourselves while riding on the road; it's our responsibility. .. my opinion. It was overcast and dingy even at 4 PM yesterday and we can't assume our clothing will attract enough attention while riding, especially for cross traffic that might pull out in front of us.  I'd rather be considered a sissy by having lights a blazing..than a dead cyclist.

 Regards,

Ron Seidel

Let me preface this by saying that it is not intended to be anti immigrant or racist, etc. in any way shape form or fashion.

That being said I live over in that area and I see a TON of immigrant types on mountain bikes riding on the sidewalk to get to and from without a helmet or any type of reflective gear. To their credit the majority of them ride on the sidewalk (and out of traffic on Bells Ferry, Towne Lake Pky, or Hwy 92) but they do not follow the state laws regarding bicycle traffic.  I feel badly for Mr Martinez's family but sadly it was only a matter of time before something of this nature happened.