A bicyclist hit near 1779 Tobacco Road on Monday night is in critical condition, according to a sheriff's deputy.
The bicyclist suffered head trauma when his bike was rear-ended by a utility-type truck as he traveled west on Tobacco Road, said Richmond County Sheriff's Deputy Terry Skinner. The accident happened about 8:52.
Skinner said charges are pending against the truck driver, Willie Ferrell. Witnesses said the truck attempted to swerve to avoid hitting the bicyclist, the deputy said.
The name of the biker has not been released. He was taken to Medical College of Georgia hospital.
Was the victim walking on a sidewalk when s/he was struck?
When will they learn not to ride on dangerous fast roads?
Common sense dictates that wearing lots of special safety reflective clothing and add-ons, along with the addition of powerful front and rear bicycle lights, and light add-on accessories will make for a safer bicycle ride for those who find it absolutely necessary to bicycle at night. Attention to constant safety awareness and regard for front and rear traffic will decrease the chances for a serious accident--unless drugs or alcohol is involved!
And yet another terrible accident for both parties - hopefully, the cyclist will recover.
If the driver was not speeding and attempted to avoid the cyclist, then potential charges need to be greatly reviewed before issued.
Drivers often have a hard time seeing bicyclist with reflective gear and a light so when they don't have this they are even more of an accident waiting to happen. Heck, even cars now days have 3 brake lights, etc. for added safety.
I passed a cyclist last night around 1130pm on Washington Road wearing black clothing with a dark colored back pack, no reflective gear and no lights on his back - and yet, if a driver ACCIDENTALY hits this person whom they can barely see, they will have to live with it for the rest of their life along with possible charges.
Enough is enough. If cyclists demand to share ALL of the roadways with the motoring public then the laws need to greatly change to include reflective clothing standards (such as hunters), lights on the front and back of the bikes that are required to be at least as bright as car tail lights, and some certification process such as tags to ensure they meet the proper standards for roadways.
In reality though, no laws will make bicyclists safer on roadways that are built and designed for motor vehicles. Until such time that this changes, cyclists should be banned from roadways with speeds in excess of 25mph.
There is no "right" to the roadways and there are already laws on the books that keep bicyclists off of many roads. Those laws need to be expanded upon and can exclude roadways that have 3' or more of a shoulder on the other side of the white line which can be used as a bike path. I am not anti-cyclists but our roads weren’t built or designed for bikes and when they are using roads where vehicles are traveling at 45mph or so accidents will continue to happen - even to caring, law abiding drivers.
Asitisinaug,
You're right. I love to cycle but I'm not getting on most roads in CC to do so. Now, I understand that there are wonderful places to ride in the more rural areas of CC, but Belair Road, Evans-to-Lock Road, Hardy-McManus Road, Hereford Farm Road, Flowing Wells Road, Old Petersburg Road, Old Evans Road, the Few Parkway, Furey's Ferry Road, Owens Road, Cox Road, Gibbs Road and Washington Road are among the large number of CC roads which are not, as they are presently configured, safe places to ride bikes.
To Asitisinaug:
I hope averybody would share your point of view but unfortunatelly people still ride regardless of the risk involved.
To the bycicle riders on Columbia Rd and Hereform Farm, you must really love to ride to let a stranger have your life on his/hers hands, not just that your family wellfare too. I thank you for your trust but I don't want it, so please stay out of the road and do it where is safe for me.
Two of the people who've been killed work where I do. They were absolutely wonderful people. When I was a kid we all rode bikes on the street, but we didn't ride on highways. This is a relatively new concept that is dangerous regardless if it is legal. Back then a cop would get you off the highway if he saw you riding there.
When I was overseas a bike was the only transportation I had and it was great in small city streets where traffic was slow and sparse, but I never rode on the highways. We need bike paths for long rides to connect locales.
I dont care what the law is. Bikes and cars dont mix. Just because you make a law doesnt mean its any safer. you people who ride these bikes need to use better sense. you may have the law on your side but please tell me how that will help you at point of impact? All this law does is allow the person to be punished for hitting you even if your dead. Bike paths, Bike paths, Bike paths is all I can say
Was this rider riding with traffic so he couldn't see the truck approaching him from behind, or facing traffic and just slow to react?
How about this? Why don't drivers slow down when they see a cyclist (or pedestrian) ahead. You don't know what they might do.
It's like being a defensive driver, you wouldn't run up on a logging truck and not slow down.
Of course, I don't know the details, but drivers...be careful.
If someone is driving a car extremely slow and impeding traffic they can be charged. What's the difference if a bike rider is riding their bike along the same road going slower than that slow moving car and impeding traffic?
I actually have mixed feelings about this bicycling law giving bikes the same rules of the road as a motor vehicle. Every accident I worked in EMS involving a bike was usually very bad news for the bike rider. The highways of today were not designed for bicycle traffic plain and simple. I used to ride my bike all over and it did not bother me one bit to move my bike to the shoulder of the road to let traffic go by when I saw more than 2 cars wanting to go around. I considered it a courtesy to the cars as well as safe habit for myself and the traffic going by. Common sense needs to come into play when putting your bike on a heavily traveled highway or road. I think they went a little to far with the bicycling laws for the road and it's showing in the statistics of accidents and serious injuries and deaths. It makes me wonder if these bicycling laws were the 1st type of politically correct laws we are seeing trying to get passed?
I hope this cyclist recovers. That time of evening--late dusk--is especially dangerous for pedestrian traffic, no matter how attentive and careful drivers are. It's just hard to see them in half-light.
I had to really work Sunday to avoid three cyclists in tutus (not kidding) on Walton Way heading west of MCG. They took up the whole right hand lane and kept veering into the left hand lane as well. Just three riders. But they were so busy enjoying their conversation with each other that they were obvious to the cars slowly, carefully trying to get past them in the left lane.
That's the kind of inattentive behavior and self-absorbed attitude that makes for dangerous encounters. The cyclists are always going to be the losers, on the road and in the lawmaking process. It just makes it harder for the rest of us to get out and ride when some use poor judgement.
I know it's not the "legal" side to ride, but the issue here is the "safe" side. Said another way, I think there is ample evidence the law is exacerbating the problem, not minimizing it.
Obeying the law forces you to turn your back on the approaching peril and hope for the best.
Personally, I would NOT ride a bicycle on public roads with the current laws in place.
With all due respect, dougk, that may be a useful illustration of a difference in philosophies.
I'm not looking to assign "blame" here. I'm looking for saving lives. If I'm dead, does it really matter whether the law was a good one, or even who's at fault?
I'm a big believer in personal responsibility. I don't want to depend on laws, or even other people to save and protect my life because I know of too many instances where they fail. I suppose it's very much like my belief in carrying a concealed weapon. I know the law is supposed to protect me and my family, but there's ample evidence it doesn't.
So I choose not to ride a bicycle on public streets where I'm required to turn my back on approaching danger and I choose to carry a concealed weapon so that when I'm threatened I can react.
In both cases, I'm doing all I can to protect myself and not relying on some faceless, nameless other person to do it for me. I know he has much less at stake in my survival than I do
Over on the WJBF web-site they're saying this:
Officers say the driver will likely be charged with following too closely.
I'm having difficulty fitting the charge with what has been reported so far. Following too closely? The bicyclist was most likely doing no more than 15 mph. If the truck attempted to avoid hitting the bicycle (as witnesses reported above), then you have to figure that the truck was not tailgating, but rather coming up on the bicycle at a rate of speed faster than 15 mph. This charge seems bogus to me.
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