The police report states that the driver received two citations.
“It’s kind of a miracle that we left after,” Dozier told the AJC.
Even though he is shaken, Dozier hopes that Rayna won’t be deterred from sharing his passion for cycling when she is old enough to ride alone.
He must, however, consider the dangers of negotiating Atlanta’s streets, which were not designed with bicycles in mind, much like other parents who favor other forms of transportation to move around the city.
“Regardless of what happened last week, I want my daughter to be a cyclist one day,” he said. In order to make our city a more bike-friendly place, I hope that this occurrence leads to more significant change.
The event occurs at a time when Atlanta’s leaders are trying to reduce the city’s car-forward mentality by expanding their well-liked e-bike voucher program.
Brandon McKeown is credited.
Brandon McKeown is credited.
The City Council’s proposed legislation would allocate extra funds to sustain the initiative that assisted over 500 Atlantans in purchasing e-bikes the previous year.
Both normal and cargo e-bikes are available to applicants; the latter is preferred by parents of small children since it can support more weight.
According to Rebecca Serna, executive director of PropelATL, a parent’s worst nightmare is getting struck by a car while riding a bike with their child.
According to Serna, whose youngest child is ten years old, biking generally offers numerous safety, health, and social advantages. Although I am aware that it is generally beneficial for my children, there is always that fear in the back of your mind.
Serna recalled having to swerve on her bike to avoid a car performing a U-turn on the same road while she was pregnant after watching the shocking video of Dozier’s accident.
“Twenty years ago,” she said. Furthermore, the passageway has not yet been made better.
Ben Gray of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is credited.
Ben Gray of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is credited.
Safety upgrades nixed in some infrastructure projects
When Jessica Estep and Johann Weber were working as bicycle safety activists, they met. For years, they have been working on the case.
According to Estep, they now primarily go to work on bikes, as well as to drop off their five and seven-year-old children at school or other events near their house in Ormewood Park.
She remarked, “I tell everyone that our electric cargo bike is like our minivan; it’s how we get around the city.” It’s really liberated and freeing.
In parts of the city with bike-friendly infrastructure, Estep said she feels comfortable biking with her kids. Additionally, Boulevard Complete Street and other projects with promised improvements would revolutionize the lives of families just like theirs.
“I feel safe when the infrastructure is safe,” she remarked. I feel really safe riding with my kids when we’re on a path, in a protected bike lane, or in a park.
Many believe Atlanta still has a long way to go before it can be considered a bikeable city, despite the fact that municipal officials have stepped up their efforts to improve infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes.
Thanks to Miguel Martinez
Thanks to Miguel Martinez
After suffering irreversible shoulder damage in his first accident, Dozier was already a vocal supporter of committed improvements to bicycle and pedestrian safety.
He expressed his hope to the AJC that the recent collision involving his daughter will put more pressure on the city to redesign its streets, especially in the vicinity of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where hundreds of thousands of people are anticipated to congregate for the FIFA World Cup next summer.
According to him, anyone may experience something similar if it happened to a member of the City Council who works tirelessly to make our streets safer.
It’s just one of several recent instances of how dangerous it is to walk or ride a bicycle through Atlanta’s congested streets.
On Peachtree Street in Midtown, two pedestrian deaths recently happened a few blocks apart.
Michael A. Crabtree, 71, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in May while crossing Peachtree and Baker streets. Pradeep Sood, a 67-year-old businessman, was struck and killed on Peachtree Street in February while he was crossing the street from the AmericasMart to the Peachtree Center at a dilapidated crosswalk.
When Atlanta hosts eight soccer matches for the international competition, including a coveted semifinal match, the already heavy traffic on downtown’s streets is only going to become worse.
According to a recently published survey by ParkMobile, a significant distributor of parking tickets, one in six Americans want to travel to host cities, which will increase the number of automobiles on the road.
Before the games, Atlanta expects to spend $120 million renovating its downtown roads. The funds will be used to restore 14 miles of sidewalks, restrip 200 junctions, install 150 new lighting, and resurface 25 kilometers of streets.
Last autumn, council members changed a law that mandated that all previously authorized infrastructure projects be upgraded with safety improvements in line with Vision Zero.
Through speed control, better roadway design, and other tactics, the Vision Zero program seeks to eradicate traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
However, Atlanta DOT Commissioner Solomon Caviness informed the City Council members during the transportation department’s annual budget briefing in May that the bond package solely covers resurfacing and that the department does not currently have plans to incorporate new safety measures into construction.
At the time, Council member Matt Westmoreland stated, “I voted yes on this $120 million with the understanding that it wasn’t quote just for resurfacing.”
Miguel Martinez-Jimenez is credited.
Miguel Martinez-Jimenez is credited.
Councilman Alex Wan then informed the citizens of his district in June that the long-awaited Monroe Drive Safe Street project would proceed without the bike lanes that the neighborhood had pushed for.
He stated in his monthly newsletter that the department has chosen to move forward with the project as it is now planned because the corridor’s width in some places will not allow for proper bike safety concerns.
During the May budget hearing, Caviness did state that the city intends to invest $3.3 million in the fiscal year that began on July 1 to eradicate road fatalities and serious injuries by 2040.
The city’s incapacity to incorporate safety enhancements into previously planned projects does not boost confidence for transportation advocates like Serna in the run-up to major events like the World Cup.
According to her, many soccer fans also prefer to ride their bikes or scooters for transit. Particularly when there are that many people in the city, they won’t be driving on our streets, and if they do, the situation will be chaotic.
