Bike riding can be fun and relaxing, challenging and invigorating. It seems like an American right. I wish cycling were always safe, but on most Milton roads, it’s just too dangerous.
I recently experienced my own dangerous miss on Freemanville Road, a path I’ve driven thousands of times before. About to head downhill, I glimpsed a row of cyclists pedaling uphill from the other direction.
At that moment a pick up truck traveling behind them moved to pass, entering my lane as we both hit the crest. Within seconds I had to choose to run off the road or stay. I held my ground, and my breath. The driver just missed me, jerking back into his lane, a frantic look on his face.
Tragically, there was no such luck in a deadly cycling accident on Freemanville just a few weeks ago. Police are still investigating, but a vehicle hit a group of cyclists. Two riders were hospitalized, and one passed away. The driver has been charged with vehicular homicide.
Freemanville is a narrow main road running through the heart of Milton from Historic Crabapple north to Cherokee County. It feeds major sub-divisions. It gets busy during rush hour. There are no passing lanes, so drivers going around garbage trucks – or cyclist – must make challenging calculations of speed vs. sight vs. safety.
There are few shoulders on Freemanville; in fact, deep ruts run along the sides for drainage. The speed limit is 40-45 mph. Passing a solitary cyclists is scary; passing a row of riders is frightening. I worry about young drivers making bad decisions.
It’s a beautiful ride, though, and I can understand why hard-core cycling teams from all over train on the long, steep hills. What better way to build endurance? In fact, cycling websites promote rides from Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton to the mountains. Just one club I found mentioned risks.
The popular “share the road” movement seeks to mitigate risk by saying bikes are vehicles with the same rights as cars. Milton devised a Trail Plan with this idea in mind as it sought to develop safe routes to school and work. Most Milton main roads were deemed “unsuitable” as trials, however, due to poor visibility around sharp turns.
Another movement to keep cyclists safer resulted in the “3 feet” bill, which states drivers must be at least 3 feet from a cyclist when passing. I’m not sure this is a safety measure on twisty, hilly roads. Cyclists going the same direction as passing vehicles are safer, but vehicles in the opposite lane are not.
Constituents’ concerns of cycling dangers prompted North Georgia legislators to draft additional safety legislation in 2013, but it stagnated when cyclists complained. Now that it’s become clearer present safety measures are insufficient and leave motorists with disproportionate risk on our dangerous roads, it’s time to revisit the issue now before we witness more tragedy.
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