Georgia Motorcycle Accident Kills One, Injures Another

We read in yesterday’s paper where one motorcyclist was killed and another seriously injured after their bikes were involved in a multi-vehicle wreck just outside of Atlanta in Cherokee County. According to the news accounts, the bikers were among a group of 40 to 50 taking part in a charity bike ride when the crash occurred. The news report indicates that a teenage driver struck a lady who was sitting stopped at a stop sign waiting for the motorcyclists to pass her when, after being hit from the rear by the teen, she was forced into the path of the motorcyclists. This tragic negligence by the teenager resulted in the death of a 42 years old man and serious injury to another.
This tragedy unfortunately is not one unfamiliar to this firm. Our lawyers have handled many other cases involving either deaths or injuries involving motorcyclists, including a wrongful death case filed last week on behalf of a pregnant widow. As is well known, motorcyclists have no protection from a motor vehicle accident other than a helmet. As demonstrated by this collision, even a helmet cannot prevent death or serious injury when a vehicle strikes a motorcycle in such fashion as to cause the driver to be thrown from it. In this particular case, the death and serious injury were caused by the negligence of a teenage driver who struck a stopped vehicle pushing it into the path of the oncoming motorcyclists.
What is particularly tragic about this accident is that the deceased individual and his biker companion were on an annual fund raising ride by Bikers Against Cruelty To Children. Thus, we have a situation where two individuals were literally doing a good deed at the time of the death of one of them and a serious, life altering injury to another. We are, of course, saddened by this news but reminded of the fact that motorcycle accidents, when they do occur, typically involve very serious injuries and/or death. Once again, the watchword remains “vigilance and safety first and foremost.”
We offer our condolences to the families of these fine men who were serving their community in a most laudable way.