In 2012, Atlanta officials made a goal to double Atlanta’s bike lanes to help the city become more bike friendly. They wanted the city to become a top-10 cycling city where cyclists could feel safe commuting. In the years since, Atlanta has doubled their bikeway mileage with more than 116 miles of bike lanes stretching across the metropolitan area.
In 2016, Atlanta was mentioned in Bicycle Magazine’s 50 “Best Bike Cities” for the first time in its history. It entered the list at 43, which was a huge jump. A year later, it climbed to 42nd in the country.
Now, the city features free bike-valets at many of their major festivals and events, including Music Midtown. Buckhead has also built half of the Path400 trail and the Beltline continues to expand to aid cyclists.
From Peachtree Street to Marietta, cyclists have more options than ever before. Atlanta cyclists have more bike lanes, multi-use paths, and cycle tracks to help them cruise the city safely. But just how safe is Atlanta for biking?
Bicycle Injury Crashes in Atlanta
In 2018, 40 cyclists were injured in crashes in the Atlanta area. The majority of those accidents occurred to cyclists under the age of 50. In addition, the highest number of crashes in Atlanta occurred on Fridays.
Reducing the number of bicycle injuries on roads across Atlanta takes a coordinated effort. Over the years, city officials have added a variety of high protection, medium protection, and low protection cycling lanes.
- High Protection Bike Lanes
- Multi-use path
- Cycle track
- Medium Protection Bike Lanes
- Buffered bike lanes
- Bike lanes
- Low Protection Bike Lanes
- Shared lane markings
- Uphill bike lane/Downhill sharrow
To help identify where the problem roads were throughout the city, a high injury network was developed. They found that only 6 percent of the roads in the city were responsible for 72 percent of all fatalities and 42 percent of all injuries. This enabled them to focus their safety efforts on improving those roads. They added 81 percent of the high and medium protection infrastructure to those highly dangerous roads over the last several years.
Where Does the Most Cycling Occur in Atlanta?
Since 2016, the city began installing counters on bike lanes and paths. These counters help city officials track how useful the newly installed infrastructure is. This can help them when making decisions on improvements and expansions.
Some of the most traveled bicycle roads in Atlanta include:
- 10th Street and Monroe Dr – 974 daily cyclists
- 10th Street and Myrtle St – 494 daily cyclists
- Wylie St – 328 daily cyclists
- 5th St. (Tech Square) – 260 daily cyclists
- Edgewood Ave – 239 daily cyclists
- PATH 400 – 124 daily cyclists
- Peachtree Street – 114 daily cyclists
Most of the bicycling on these streets occurred during peak hours of 2-4 pm on weekends and 5-7 pm on weekdays.
When a Bicycle Accident Does Occur
Even though Atlanta is quickly becoming one of the best bicycling cities in the country, accidents do occur. When a bicycle accident does happen, it is important to know what you can do. Seek medical help, Follow all doctor’s order, Gather evidence, Avoid giving a recorded statement to the insurance company, Stay off of social media, Never sign a settlement and speak to an experienced Atlanta bicycle accident lawyer.
An Atlanta bicycle accident lawyer can help you after suffering serious injuries in a crash. Insurance companies will look for any reason to reduce or deny your claim. They may claim that you darted out in traffic or were not obeying the rules of the road. They may even say that you are not as injured as you claim. For these reasons, it is important to have legal representation from the start.
While you struggle to recover from your injuries, your attorney can gather the evidence necessary to hold all liable parties accountable. As your attorney builds your case, they will negotiate with insurers and work with your medical team to evaluate your injuries and how they will affect your life. This will ensure that any settlement you receive is enough to cover all your injury expenses both now – and in the future.
Contact Our Atlanta Bicycle Accident Lawyers
After a bicycle accident in Atlanta, you deserve experienced legal representation. You need a bike accident lawyer that can fight the large insurance companies and win maximum compensation. Our law firm knows how to help injured bicycle accident victims after a crash. To better assist you, we offer a free initial consultation at our office or virtually during this time. We can help you explore your legal options. Call 404-587-8946 or fill out our confidential contact form. Just call and JUST WIN.
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