So you opened your door into oncoming traffic without checking if it was safe. Would you expect other motorists to stop and let you get into your car or would you have waited until they have passed?

Only three close encounters with "incompetent bicyclists" in as many months? How many incompetent motorists did you encounter on your drive to and from Fayetteville?

By the way, the cyclist that you mentioned probably thought the same about you.

I would agree that if the car owner never bothered to see if anything was coming before he opened his door he would be at fault, providing the cyclist was immediately ready to pass the auto.
It would be stupid to open a car door into a cyclist or anything else.
However I get the notion that the real problem here was the shouting from the cyclist to the auto driver! That is akin to laying on your horn about a car doing something you don't like. It is unnecessary.
Anyway, bikes should not use a part of a lane beside cars to pass. It is dangerous to everyone. Some bikers, like some auto drivers, seem to think that if they have to slow down or stop, they might as well go home since their ride is ruined! Psycho stuff.

Perhaps from the cyclist's perspective then was a real threat. So what’s the cyclist suppose to do? Shouting in this case is all the cyclist can do to alert someone. It's no fun being "doored".

This "unsafe thing" is so very subjective. Maybe we should outlaw motorcycles, econ-box cars, tractor trailers or let’s just outlaw pedestrians walking on the roadway. Hell, I flew airplanes upside down maybe that should be outlawed.

By city ordinance they should use the cart paths everytime they are available.........unless they wear girlie spandex.....then they are above the law!!!

Just my opinion. I haven't had trouble with bikers on the road at all. I can give them a little leeway without causing me any harm. I'll just get to the next redlight 10 seconds later.

Hogging the road??? All roads mentioned are 4 lane. One thing about it, the cyclist did not do anything wrong. It's the driver/passenger that broke the law.

Were you there?

Did you see it happen?

We've only herd one side of the story so far.

Perhaps the peddler crashed and burned on his own and just made the story up. We don't know.

"...intentionally rammed him in the left leg...

The victim showed no signs of visible injuries and refused medical treatment on the scene"

Sounds a little strange to me.

What, no run in the Spandex?

Maybe "Spandex clad peddlers" should stay away from things with four wheels.

I'm personally waiting to get the entire herd that sees fit to blow through a four way stop in our neighborhood every weekend.

It has been my experience that the “Spandex click” are almost always breaking the law and never seem to care.

Maybe if a few end up as road pizza, the rest will start to obey the laws.

Were you there? Did you see it happen? Perhaps, it happen as reported. As for breaking "the law", I witness it all the time by other motorist. But, I guess that’s OK.

I just can't seem to remember the last time a peddler was cited, for anything. Can you?

Maybe we need to hire more police officers to go after peddlers. We can do it right after we hire more police officers to monitor the golfcart paths.

Personally I think that spandex peddlers should have registration numbers prominently displayed so that they can be reported to the police. I have a tag on my truck for just that purpose. After all, “guys in tights”, all look the same to me.

What was he thinking, (NOT), riding a bicycle on Hwy 54 anyway? Don't you think he could have chosen a busier road to peddle on? That's the kind of mental deficiency that will get peddlers turned into road pizza.

Why can't the peddlers simply put their bicycles in there SUV's and go somewhere where there is less traffic? I-85, around the construction in Coweta sounds like a good place to me.

Like I said, maybe after a few more get squashed the rest might learn that peddling their bicycles on a busy highway, while wearing spandex, isn’t such a “healthy” thing to do after all.

Neither is OK. So why are you fixation on cyclists? As for registration so you can report scofflaws – do you report motorists that run stop signs or speed or follow too closely? As for citing cyclists, who knows perhaps the police have enough to do with motorists. If it is such a tremendous problem for you, contact the police and voice your concern.

So why are you fixation on cyclists?

Peddlers usually travel in herds or gaggles and when they break the law they ALL break the law. It’s something akin to a gang attitude.

Why to peddlers tend to think that the laws don’t apply to them? The mentality of “it’s just a stop sign” or “the three of us like to talk while we ride” or “it’s ok for us to hold up traffic as we’re NOT polluting the air while we peddle” and “oh Bobby, that color spandex looks good on you”.

Apparently there are some peddlers that think the laws of the road are for cars only.

It’s not a tremendous problem for me as I drive an F250 four door that would have no problem wiping out an entire herd of peddlers in one shot.

If you and your spandex herd would like to peddle around me while I’m driving, please do. I would have no problem telling the police officer that “the two under the truck ran that stop sign and the couple in the ditch over there never tried to slow down”.

Why not have registration numbers on your toy? Golfcarts have to have them and they don’t go as fast or break as many laws as most peddlers do. If someone caused an accident wouldn’t the police ask if someone got the license plate number?

I wonder if the peddler that fell down and went splat was asked if he got the tag number of the car that scared him? If it really was a car.

Please spare us your "manliness" about your oh so big F250. Mine is a F350 dually to pull my trailer.

As I have said on other posts about the issue, if cyclists are not following the rules of the road then they should be cited by the police. If a cyclist is in an accident and it is his or her fault, so be it. Cyclists are not above the law. Likewise, if you or somebody else hits a cyclist or any other legitimate road user and its the driver's fault then, that driver pays the price. I think we can agree to that.

As for registration, if you think it is such a good ideal then contact your state representative.

You still haven't answered my question about reporting the license numbers to police of motorists that break the law. I guess you don't. It would take too much time.

Bad-Ptc...for once I agree with you. Every morning I go to work, there is a female bike rider riding down Highway 54 toward town from the McDonough Road area, who slows down traffic. I've even seen her run traffic lights (er, bike riders, you're SUPPOSED to obey the same traffic laws and WAIT for the light to turn GREEN)...but, what really makes me laugh is her wide A$$ in the Spandex on that little bitty bicylce seat (all she needs is a circular target painted on it)!!!

Well, atleast she is doing something about it. How big is your ass and whats your health program?

What kind of nut would hit a person on a bike deliberately?
I know they are violating the law going between cars at stops but it is up to the law to ticket them---not shoot them.

The guy is a D.B. who committed Aggrivated Assualt with a Deadly Weapon under O.C.G.A. 16-5-21, punishable by 1 to 20 years in jail.

Lets hope it's his third strike.

Of course not ....he was soooooooo badddddlllllyyyy injured. What kind of question was that???

I have a question how many bikers were riding and were they riding more than 2 across? Which is against GA state law.