A man died after being hit by a car when riding a bicycle Saturday, July 2.  Kurt Lang Frankel, 33 years old from Atlanta and a Georgia Tech assistant professor, was riding a bicycle along the shoulder of U.S. 98 in south Walton County.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Frankel was struck by a Mercedes.  He was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.  Frankel died about 45 minutes later at Sacred Heart Hospital.

In 2000, Frankel earned his bachelor’s degree in geological services from North Carolina.  In 2002, Frankel earned a master’s degree in geological services from Lehigh University and a PH. D. in geological sciences from the University of Southern California in 2007.

This tragic accident occurred in Florida.  Georgia Bicycle clubs and lobbyists have been working hard to help campaign for stronger bike safety laws to help prevent what happened above.

Bicycle clubs around the state of Georgia have recently been celebrating a great victory in bicycle riding safety.  A traffic rule aimed at reducing close calls and collisions such as what happened above, between bikes and vehicles whizzing past them was just passed in Georgia.

According to Channel 2 WSBTV News, the Georgia law now requires motorists to maintain at least three feet of distance when passing bicyclists.  The law before only required that drivers keep a safe distance.

Frank McIntosh of Savannah, the director of Savannah Bicycle Campaign, says this change comes as more Georgians are riding bikes to work and the grocery store as gas prices continue to climb higher.  This is the first major change in bike safety laws since the 1970’s. 

According to Georgia Department of Community Health, bicyclists were involved in about 795 road crashes throughout the state in 2007.  Eleven of those 795 were fatal.

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