The Ithaca Journal recently ran a story, “Friends step in to help injured Ithaca cyclist” about Greg Lourey, a client of mine who was involved in a VERY serious bicycle accident in August.

Greg’s injuries were extensive. As the newspaper reports, he had a fractured pelvis, kneecap, thumb and vertebrae, a concussion, wrist ligaments tears and lacerations. He had to be airlifted to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre – a $12,000 trip his health insurance is balking at covering.

Greg, who is a great, caring person with a large community of friends, has been through a horrible experience. He was a maintenance mechanic at the Ithaca City School district. The accident happened when he was on his regular morning bike commute to work.

The Journal ran a follow-up story because Greg’s friends recently hosted a benefit for him, to help complete home renovations he has been unable to finish since his accident. (Although the benefit was Jan. 9, the website Gregsbenefit.com is still up. It has information about making donations to Greg and his wife Mary Ellen through their church, the Oasis Christian Fellowship in Ithaca.)

Greg is my client, as I mentioned, and the Journal called me for comment. I told them: “People aren’t really looking for bikes, and the biggest thing that I would like to come out of Greg’s story is that motorists need to be aware that there are more cyclists, and they need to be aware of objects smaller than cars.”

I continued with: “In Ithaca there are a lot of commuter cyclists, and the community is somewhat nervous about the day-to-day safety of riding a bike to work.”

Despite his awful experience, Greg is a brave guy who says he will commute to work on a bike once again some day.

“I’m coming along good and I’m ready to come back,” Greg told the Ithaca Journal. “I just hope people will pay more attention to us bicyclists.”

That’s why I write the NY Bike Accident Blog and advocate for clients such as Greg. I’m an avid bicyclist myself. I believe we need to keep discussing the dangers bicyclists face. And I hope we can find more ways to make bike commuting MUCH safer.

Thanks for reading and RIDE SAFELY,

Jim

P.S.: See my related post about Greg’s accident on my NY Injury Law Blog: Ithaca Car-Bike Collision Puts Bicyclist in Hospital.

_______________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
NY & PA Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Ziff Law Firm, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14901
Tel: (607) 733-8866
Fax: (607) 732-6062
Toll Free: 1-800-943-3529
Email: jreed@zifflaw.com
Web: www.zifflaw.com

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