Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog
New Georgia biking law General Assembly House Bill 101, which went into effect July 1, provides for safer bicycle riding for bicyclists and the motoring public.
It also spells out minimum safety guidelines for bicycle lanes in Georgia.
Georgia bikers say they hope the new law encourages motorists and bikers to be more careful. Reports of accidents between motorists and cyclists in 2009 and 2010 faulted cyclists at 48 percent of the time and motorists around 39 percent of the time. The remaining percentage was for no fault or when both parties (the cyclist and motorist) were both to blame.
Good Georgia Lawyer is encouraged that new biking laws were instituted which seek to protect bikers but urges city council and the legislature that there is more to be done in order to protect Georgia citizens. We encourage the city of Atlanta to institute a public service campaign that promotes biker safety and requires bikers to wear helmets as many other cities do. All too often bikers have suffered death or irreversible brain damage due to a head injury that might have been preventable with a helmet. All too often we see bikers riding the streets of Georgia on a death wish: weaving in and out of busy traffic lanes without a helmet, running red lights, and riding in the dark without visible clothing or lights.
Williams Oinonen LLC supports our biking clients and want to make sure cyclists’ safety is protected at all times. We encourage all bikers to take the right precautions (wearing helmets, obeying road rules, staying to the right as much as practical) to avoid dangerous situations that put their life at risk.
For motorists–it is not worth putting a cyclist’s life at risk and having to live the rest of your life knowing you were at fault for injuring or killing another human being. We encourage motorists to always give cyclists space, as though they were another car!
Sharing the road is a two-way street: motorists and cyclists need to look out for each other!