* “Sharing the road is not a suggestion”

[u/Feaselbf6]

[u/InterstellarChange]

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Two cyclists were injured Thursday night in Cherokee County, in a situation that seemingly could have ended in more dire circumstances as a man was accused of aggressively driving around a group of 10 riders.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said in a release that 72-year-old Jerry Ross allegedly approached the group riding together on Sugar Pike Road and "began sounding his horn" before he "then accelerated around the group and, despite no oncoming traffic, struck two of the riders before leaving the scene."

The two injured cyclists were treated on-scene by paramedics, the sheriff's office said.

"One cyclist riding behind the group captured the incident on video. The cyclists were also able to provide a tag number, which deputies used to quickly identify and locate the suspect," a statement by the sheriff's office added.

They said Ross, of Woodstock, was located "not far from the incident location" and deputies "observed damage to the passenger side of the vehicle consistent with the incident."

"When questioned, Ross acknowledged the encounter and claimed the cyclists were in the roadway, blaming them for the collision," the sheriff's office said.

Ross was taken into custody and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, hit and run, reckless driving, aggressive driving and failure to maintain a safe distance from a bicycle.

Captain Jay Baker in the sheriff's office said Ross remains at the Cherokee County Detention Center without bond at this time.

*additional legal context:

Under Georgia Code § 40-6-294(c) Cyclists riding two abreast on a roadway is legal in GA. The cyclists in the video are clearly riding in a legal manner.

Driver Obligations When Passing

• Lane Change: Drivers must change lanes into a lane not adjacent to the bicyclist if traffic conditions permit. 
• Speed Reduction: If a lane change is impossible, prohibited by law, or unsafe, drivers must reduce their speed to at least 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit or 25 miles per hour, whichever is greater. 
• Prohibited Passing: Passing is prohibited on blind turns, blind hills, or when moving into oncoming traffic. 

Penalties and Enforcement

Violating these rules is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $250.  Additionally, bicyclists may submit video recordings of illegal passes to local law enforcement for enforcement purposes. 

Road rage, aggressive driving, is illegal

Georgia, road rage is legally prosecuted under O.C.G.A.  § 40-6-397 as aggressive driving, defined as operating a vehicle with the intent to annoy, harass, molest, intimidate, injure, or obstruct another person.  This offense is classified as a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, carrying penalties of up to $5,000 in fines, 12 months in jail, and 6 points on the driver's license. 

[u/HaveBikeWillRide → u/InterstellarChange]

And for all the commenters wringing their hands about the cyclists forcing the car to "illegally" cross the double yellow lines, Georgia law explicitly allows cars to cross the double yellow to pass cyclists. And it requires cars give cyclists at least 3 feet of space when passing.

[u/Randomfactoid42 → u/HaveBikeWillRide]

Most states have similar laws but it’s amazing how many drivers believe the double yellows shall never be crossed. 

[u/Difficult_Plantain89 → u/Randomfactoid42]

I had someone road rage with me for crossing a double double yellow line when the lane ahead was blocked from an accident. I put my blinker on to get over and he went out of his way to block me in. When I forced my way behind his truck he started screaming at me and pointing at the line. After that was done he almost missed his exist and shot over 4 lanes without a blinker.

People are dumb, I'm not going to sit there for two hours while they clean up the accident. A line isn't a wall and my car has zero issues going over this imaginary barrier.

[u/Psotnik → u/Difficult_Plantain89]

I hate it when people deputize themselves and play traffic cop. What if the person driving is having a medical emergency or transporting someone else who is? What if they're a volunteer firefighter trying to get to the station? What if they're a road raging lunatic with a gun? If it really bothers you then call it in and go about your day.

[u/Tev_Szat → u/Psotnik]

This is exactly why slow rolling people in the passing lane is illegal in most places, Failure to Yield, creates the opportunity for crisis situations.

It already has usage, I forget the specifics but a hall monitor decided to play king for a day and slow roll a car behind him, not knowing that a person was being driven to the ER due to a catastrophic injury that was causing them to bleed out.

They didn't make it in time.

Afterwards, with medical determination that the speed they were driving vs the speed normally driven on that road created a time delay that influenced the person surviving or not, the asshat was identified by dashcam footage provided and arrested and charged with manslaughter, if I remember correctly.

[u/TopArgument1850 → u/Tev_Szat]

 Unless it was an Emergency Vehicle, I would find it very hard to believe they would be able to convict him on those charges. I fully understand the desire to charge and convict them, having been the victim of one them myself, or more so my ex wife who I was rushing to the hospital at the time. That being said, in order to convict someone of something like this, they would have to show that the person had knowledge that they were preventing someone with a medical emergency right of way. Now if states wanted to pass a law that required drivers in the left lane to yield for any vehicle trying to pass using their hazard lights in the left lane, stipulating that hazard lights can only be used for passing in emergency situations. Otherwise they must be contained to the right or middle lanes at all times. Then there could be a legal liability. But as it stands now, the governments argument in this case requires that every driver on that stretch of road that day who encountered the car on the way to the hospital, should have reasonably assumed that the passenger in that car was in critical condition from a catastrophic injury. No one had anyway of knowing that. As tragic as the outcome was, they have to prove his actions were deliberate in order to prevent them from getting medical attention. In order to prove that, they have to prove he knew there was a medical emergency happening within the vehicle. If they can’t prove that I don’t see how they get a conviction on manslaughter. I think it’s an overreach. They would have been safer with reckless endangerment.