It is not safe, but I have biked to work daily since fall of 2005. It would be nice to have an environment where biking is safer by offering more bike paths, signage, awareness, and more adherence to laws by both motorist and cyclist, but that is probably never going to happen. As long as bikes and cars co-mingle together on the roads, accidents will happen.

There is a reason why a minimum speed limit is posted on interstate highways; it's not safe for slower traffic to mingle with faster. Why would it be different for bikes on streets? Cyclist should band together and buy property for cycling. The majority of cyclists I see are not going anywhere, just riding. Try Stone Mountain's dedicated bike lane. We, the majority, have already paid for that.

When I ride, it's recreationally or for fitness. I choose to use dedicated paths such as the Silver Comet or PATH (which still has many sections of shared facilities and is quite dangerous). I live in a community where bicyclists ride through our neighborhood all the time, but I don't feel safe enough to join up with them. If you ride on public streets in Atlanta, you really are taking your life into your own hands.

I've commuted by bike for 10 years throughout midtown and downtown. The only times I've felt unsafe were when drivers were using their cell phones instead of paying attention to driving. I've been in exactly one accident and that was when a driver was not paying attention t-boned me. Luckily I was paying enough attention for the both of us and only lost my ride instead of my life.

Terry, do everyone a favor and give up your drivers licence. Attitudes like yours are the problem.

Can we get better polling options next time?

How about a choice in the middle "I feel safe to ride in certain parts of Atlanta" rather than all or none.

I ride fairly regularly to work in Buckhead and I tend to stay on the sidewalks there due to the tight lanes and speed of the drivers.

If there were a bike lane I would feel safe enough to ride in that and it would be much more convenient than riding on the sidewalk.

This poll is not constructed so that I can answer it. I want to answer no, that metro Atlanta is not safe for bicyclists but it's not true that "There's no chance at all I'm getting out there on two wheels." I think that it's a terrible shame that a warm weather city like Atlanta does not support cycling more, which would increase the city's livability and attractiveness to potential new residents and tourists. But I do cycle anyway, carefully. Just because metro Atlanta is way behind the times in terms of promoting cycling, and just because some cyclists are foolish riders, doesn't mean that anyone should be allowed to hit and kill a cyclist without consequences.

The speed and aggressive driving that occurs on Atlanta streets are out of control. I am not a bike rider, but often enjoy running and walking with my children in the stroller on the sidewalk, using only crosswalks correctly, etc. I used to walk my son a mile or so to school most nice days, but I fear for our lives and now stick to paths like the South Peachtree Creek Trail. It is such a shame! I also fear for the safety of bike riders, motorcyclists, scooter riders, and even Smartcars. As a mother, nothing pains me more than to see bike riders on the roads without helmets - death wish!

If you ride a bike in Atlanta you have to ask yourself is this a safe road to go down and be smart about it! Some people make very dumb decisions and others only learn the hard way.
The physics are very simple. When car vs bike, car wins every time.

1. How about offering other answers to your survey question, like "Atlanta is getting better / has been improving over the past 10 years, etc.".
2. How about providing information to residents about how they can become a member of or volunteer for the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition at: http://www.atlantabike.org/. To continue moving forward, it takes grassroots advocacy, people participating and being active in their communities and engaging with their elected and city officials.
3. At the state level, support Georgia Bikes. http://www.georgiabikes.org/

Have you met your city councilperson and talked about this? Do you go to public input meetings? As this happens, you'll see more change.

The glass is half full. I lived in Metro Atlanta since 1984, left in 2001 to Europe and returned in 2007. When returned, I decided not to complain, but to participate. Things ARE getting better. But we need YOUR support.

Did you know that revenues from motor vehicle fuel taxes and other fees only account for just over 50% of the cost of building and maintaining roads and bridges? The remaining amount comes from property taxes, general fund allocations, bond issues, etc. It has been the government's role at all levels for the past several decades to heavily subsidize and reallocate wealth to support motor vehicle transportation.

Until roads are privatized, with drivers paying tolls and other direct forms of payment to use such, bicycles will be able to use them.

Walking & Biking make up 12% of all the trips in the US, sadly account for 14 percent of all fatal traffic crash victims on our nation's highways. Yet only receive 1.2% of the total Federal transportation funding. Fatalities of pedestrians and bicyclists happen at the local, state and national level. A death or injury affects us all, especially one that could be prevented through better engineering and design by accommodating all users of the road network.

Nearly 25% of trips within the US are less than 2 miles; bicycles use no gas or cause pollution; American's obesity rate has doubled in the last 15 years; and it's a great way to get a bit of healthy and family-friendly exercise.

Also, as we know that "Rome wasn't built in a day", it takes long-term planning to add bike lanes and other accommodation. Heck, when I was a kid, it used to be safe to ride my bike to school.
In every state in the nation, bicycles are legally protected and are able to use the publicly owned right of way on our roads -- which we all own together.

Across the nation, you're finding parents and elected officials coming together to add bike lanes and paths so their children can choose to walk or ride their bike to school. That makes one less car on the road in the morning if the parent normally drives their child to school. Multiply that times the tens of thousands of parents each day driving their kids back & forth to school across America, and that adds up to REAL dollars we're sending to the Middle East each day to feed our fuel addiction and pay for the terrorists to attack our country. Let's get to work today and fix our OWN main streets, creating jobs here in America, instead overseas.

I lived in Italy for two years and in Germany for one, believe me you really do not want a lot of bikes using the same roads as cars in the US! Over there I saw a lot of problems with traffic and the slower bikes & scooters. There were a lot of deaths from bikes and scooters too, crazy stupid stuff you do not see here yet!
Joe, be very careful what you wish for, as it may become your worse nightmare!
I personally would never support any of the groups you posted about above.

I think bicyclists ought to have to buy a road tax sticker for $1000 to use public rights of way. Then they should learn how to 'share-the-road,' as I see many militants riding two by two or lane-hogging.

I would love to feel safer biking around Atlanta. Doubt that is going to happen in my lifetime.

I also practically lived in Germany for several months at a time - several times, and often rode bicycles. I can tell you that the US is pretty much a third-world country when it comes to transportation options. Riding a bike was a dream over there - they have an extensive network of bike paths at least in the region I was in. It is not worth having a car there. Compared to here, I found it very safe. In the US biking is seen strictly as a recreational thing - over there it is a normal mode of transportation to the point where it does have to be regulated as part of the traffic laws. But by sheer virtue of the number of people riding bikes there are alot more accidents involving cyclists. In the local paper where I stayed (I still read it online occasionally) a week never goes by without a report of a cyclist in a serious accident (usually kids or elderly on the bicycle involved in the accident). In recent years the number of bicyclists has grown dramatically over the years - here is an article on the issue to give you an idea what's coming here one day: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-battle-for-germany-s-roads-tempers-fray-as-bikes-and-cars-vie-for-supremacy-a-786254.html

Whenever American cities are compared in terms of bicycling, Atlanta comes in next-to-last. Houston, where I previously lived, is last.

The attitudes of motorists on this thread are why. They really, honestly think that my life is worth less than the few seconds or minutes they might be inconvenienced by watching out for me. They would rather run me over than slow down, even a little.

I find their attitude infuriating, and I find their refusal to contribute to bike lane construction even worse. Because every car that is replaced by a bike on their precious road means more room on the road for them, and faster movement.

Last weekend I'm riding my bike through Inman Park, a very bike friendly hood. And a guy comes up behind me honking his horn, comes up along side of me and says, "Get out of the f'n road! Get up on the sidewalk a-hole!" I was shocked that there are still morons out there that think bikes don't belong on the road. Hope he enjoyed my middle finger.

So glad the Georgia DOT passed the Complete Streets policy today!!

http://georgiabikes.org/index.php/blog/266-advocacy-works-gdot-adopts-complete-streets-policy

You put yourself in a position to get hurt, you get hurt sometimes. I'm personally more in favor of wheelchair lanes

ges your attitude sucks. and i find it infuriating. if thirty cars don't have 5 extra minutes to spare, leave earlier. just because your car can go fast, aren't you the one driving? shoot at a bike you might be surprised. do*che. don't get me wrong, I don't want you to drink a tall glass of stfu. I just wish you could open your mind enough that i wouldn't feel like wishing for that. *middle*finger*

Only took a day to become like monkeys throwing their feces around in a cage....

Bicycling in metro Atlanta has its dangers, and so does driving an automobile. I commute by bicycle instead of an auto for three reasons. It's more fun, it keeps me fit and I save money. If you have an open mind, then try it. Free classes are available to help your commute be safe and enjoyable: http://www.atlbiketowork.org/

Unfortunately no gym, no shower at my office. Unscented baby wipes do the trick. On the days I have to wear a suit, I drive or take MARTA.

Sharing the roads is a great idea, and hopefully it will one day happen in a safe manner for all. I don't find cyclists an inconvenience - I like people using a more health and environmentally considerate option but, I must say sometimes it's not the motorists who are at fault. So often cyclists do not obey the traffic rules yet, they expect motorists too. You can't have It both ways. You cannot run red lights, turn without signaling, dart in and out of cars, etc. When you do, and you get hit, you are at fault.

Both drivers and bike riders need to pay more attention to safety and the law. I believe that the 3 foot rule that applies to cars passing bikes must also apply to bikes passing cars, yet every day I see bikers passing cars at lights and stop signs without a 3 foot distance. I also see most bike riders in Midtown ignore or just slow down a little at stop signs. I personally rarely ride on anything more busy than a side street in Atlanta.

This weekend I ended up behind 20-25 cyclists. I patiently followed them for about 2 miles going 15 mph because they were riding 2-4 wide, taking up the entire lane to the double yellow. I had the extra 5 minutes the commenter above mentioned. However my patience in waiting for them to share the road grew very thin and I began to gently honk for them to move over. As I passed the slower ones, they would then re-pass me at the stop sign. And all of this took place as we were following the PATH with none of them even considering using it.
My cycling support/patience gets impacted each time I experience this kind of cycling behavior.

Maybe we can start making up some of these funding gaps by ticketing bicyclists who are disobeying traffic laws. Just this morning, I had one swerve in front of me into a turn-only lane so that he could swerve in front of the car waiting at the red light for the lane to go straight. I don't wish (much) physical harm to him, but I hope his bike gets mangled under a truck.
I see bicyclists every day breezing through stop signs, running red lights, passing in between lanes...if you want to pretend you have the same rights as cars on a street, then you need to admit you need to obey the same traffic laws. A few $100 fines here and there might start to pay for a bike lane.

I have only been biking in Atlanta for a few months and have already had two skirmishes.

1) I live on 14th, and on a Sunday morning decided to go for a leisure ride. Hardly a car on the road. Finally as I was heading East on 14th towards the park about to pull in, a guy in his shiny white Bimmer runs me off the road (honks, revs engine, nearly hits me, etc). I admit I about had a heart attack, then was angry and shouted at him as he revved off. Of course there was no other car on the road and about 80% of the lane left, as well as 3 more lanes in other direction to pass me safely by (and I was literally pulling into my home). He tried to fight me afterwards...car parked in street, coming at me. I think he may have been doped up (roids), but he had a WA plate! I thought people out there respected cyclists and were more laid back. I should have reported him...very intense.

2) I'm cruising in the 2nd to right lane on Juniper heading to downtown around 4th St (cars were parked in right lane). It's about Saturday at noon, so not that much traffic. I'm really clipping along behind about 3 cars. Some lady riding in far right lane gets stuck behind parked cars. Well I suppose she thought me the biker should slow my pace to let her in (there were no cars behind me). I didn't. Later she clipped me in my lane (of course no cars in left 2 lanes). Should have reported her, too...could have killed me!

The attitudes of the posters on this site and my 2 experiences!!!