Scott Hager was not expecting to be hit by a car on a Thursday morning ride in Cherokee County, Georgia. He was part of a group of ten cyclists on a 33-mile route along Sugar Pike Road, organised by Shaune Huysaman, owner of Whitetail Bicycles and Coffee Company. They were riding two abreast, as Georgia law permits. They were staying as close to the right as the road allowed.
Then a Honda Pilot pulled up behind them with its horn blaring.
"This guy was angry," Hager told WSB-TV Channel 2 Atlanta.
What happened next is on video. One of the riders had a cellphone mounted and recording. The footage shows the Honda Pilot passing the group at close range despite a completely clear oncoming lane. It shows the vehicle making contact with two riders. It shows the Pilot continuing without stopping.
It also shows the licence plate.
What the sheriff's report says
Deputies used the plate to locate Jerry Ross, 72, of Woodstock, at his home. The incident report that followed is worth reading carefully.
Ross told investigators he was "very frustrated with the cyclists" and had repeatedly called 911 on them prior to the incident, filing complaints with the sheriff's office about them using the road. He told deputies it was not "reasonable" for cyclists to take a whole lane, so in his words: "he drove them."
When a deputy told Ross there was cellphone video of the incident and offered to show it to him, Ross said he did not want to see it. Because, he explained, he knew he had done nothing wrong.
He was arrested and booked into Cherokee County jail with no bond.
Ross now faces two counts of aggravated assault, hit and run, reckless driving, aggressive driving, and failure to maintain a safe distance from a bicycle.
One cyclist fell from his bike and was treated at the scene by paramedics. Scott Hager was hit but not seriously injured.
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What the law actually says
Georgia law is unambiguous on this. Cyclists are considered vehicles. They have a legal right to use the road. Motorists are required to provide at least three feet of clearance when passing a bicycle. Two cyclists riding side by side is legal in Georgia provided they do not impede traffic in a manner prohibited by law.
Ross had reportedly called 911 on these cyclists multiple times before the incident. The sheriff had received his complaints. The cyclists were not behaving unlawfully. The complaint had produced no action because there was nothing actionable.
What was actionable was what Ross allegedly did next.
Huysaman, who organised the ride, keeps his groups to no more than 25 riders. There is no law mandating group size on public roads, but he follows the informal guidance of no more than ten. He says his groups stay right and ride two abreast as required.
"Even when you ride solo and not impeding any traffic, people are still super angry toward cyclists for some reason," he told WSBTV.
Hager's message for the driver who hit him was measured in a way the circumstances did not require: "I know you're upset. We're out here to have fun. We're out here to get exercise. Just give us a little bit of time, you'll be able to get around us."
The thing about the video
The detail that closed this case in hours rather than days is that a cellphone was recording on one of the bikes. It captured the licence plate clearly enough for deputies to run it immediately and drive to Ross's home.
This is increasingly how driver accountability cases are resolved. Not by witnesses, not by reconstruction, but by footage. A camera on a handlebars in southeastern Cherokee County was the difference between a crime with an unknown suspect and an arrest the same day.
Ross said he did not want to see the video because he knew he had done nothing wrong. The charges currently against him describe a rather different version of what he did.
We cover cases like this at GaukMotorBuzz.com/drivers-revenge.
Sources:
- WSBTV Channel 2 Atlanta — 'This guy was angry': Driver charged with crashing into cyclists
- Carscoops — Georgia Cyclist's Phone Video Leads To Arrest Of Driver Who Hit Two Riders
- Cherokee County Sheriff's Office incident report via WSBTV