Kids & Family

'Ride of Silence' To Honor Decatur Bike Fatality

Decatur police are still investigating the April 30 death of bike rider Paul Taylor.

The death of Paul Taylor, will be fresh on the minds of fellow bike riders Wednesday, May 16, during the annual "Ride of Silence."

Riders will gather at 6:30 p.m. at the 10th Street/Charles Allen Drive entrance to Piedmont Park and ride about 90 minutes to honor bikers who were injured or killed on the road. Rides of Silence are held across the country that day.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to Atlanta area bikers and heard many of them complain about poor biking conditions throughout the metro area.

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While hard and up-to-date data is difficult to find, between 2003 and 2008, 28 people died in bike related accidents in Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties, according to the Atlanta Bicycle Association. The association reported 1,476 accidents and classified 137 of those as serious.

“Some drivers see us as nuisances,” said Ken Rosskopf, a semi-retired Decatur lawyer who is an avid cyclist and specializes in bike injury cases. “But we can share the road, as long as everybody recognizes the roads are there to share.

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Meanwhile, Decatur police say they have not completed the investigation of just west of the intersection with Willivee Drive. No charges have been filed.

The police report says Taylor's GT Series 3 bike and a 2004 Ford Ranger truck driven by Jorge Mercado-Perez, 57, of Snellville were both in the inside, eastbound lane of North Decatur Road.

The report said Mercado-Perez "stated the bicyclist appeared to be kneeling in the roadway as if he had fallen."

in neonatology and a champion of women’s health at Grady Health System for over twenty years.

He ran marathons, participated in triathlons and was well-known for supervising the annual fund-raising barbecue at Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Decatur.


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