This story has been updated.
DECATUR, Ga. — Ken Rosskopf, an attorney known for his work on cycling-related cases, died Friday from injuries he received after a cycling crash.
His law partner, Bruce Hagen, said Rosskopf was 85 when he died. Decatur Police did not immediately provide details about the crash, which occurred on Thursday evening, Aug. 21.
Hagen said Rosskopf lived on Ponce de Leon Place and was turning left from Clairemont Avenue when he collided with a vehicle. The circumstances are unclear. Hagen, who had not seen the police report when he spoke to Decaturish, thought Rosskopf had been hit by the vehicle. An incident summary released by the city of Decatur says that Rosskopf collided with the vehicle. The incident is still under investigation because it resulted in someone’s death, a Decatur Police spokesperson said.
The driver was not cited. Hagen said Rosskopf was on a route he knew well.
“Ken had been out on a bike ride that evening and was on his way home and got hit as he was trying to turn to go on to the street where he’s lived in Decatur for the last … 30 plus years,” Hagen said. “It’s a ride that he’s done thousands of times.”
A spokesperson for Decatur Police said officers responded to the crash around 7:44 p.m. on Aug. 21.
“The initial crash investigation revealed that a Mazda B2200 was traveling northbound on Clairemont Avenue in the center travel lane,” the spokesperson said. “A cyclist was also traveling northbound on Clairemont Avenue in the curb lane. The cyclist attempted to turn left, westbound, onto Ponce de Leon Place from the curb lane of Clairemont Avenue. This action led to the cyclist striking the passenger side of the Mazda.”
Rosskopf was mostly retired and had slowed down a bit since a mountain biking crash in Utah when he was 80.
“That set him back, certainly physically for a while, but he regained his strength, got back on the bike,” Hagen said.
Rosskopf was well versed in cycling law in Georgia and wrote a book on the subject titled “Representing Injured Bicyclists” and also made contributions to “The Georgia Law Enforcement Pocket Guide” and “Georgia Bike Sense.”
He gave lectures on the topic of bicycle law and safety, his law firm’s website says.
Hagen worked with Rosskopf for more than 20 years.
“It’s because of him that I developed an interest and expertise in bicycle law,” Hagen said. “He was doing that for years before I ever came along, and so he introduced me to help me sort of make it my own passion.”
Hagen said Rosskopf was conscious following the crash and was able to say goodbye to his family before he passed. His son, Joey, is a professional cyclist.
Joey Rosskopf.
Photo provided by Hincapie Development
The day of the crash, Hagen said Rosskopf helped one of his clients find a bike.
“We had a client who had an adult son that had had some health problems and needed a bike to get around,” Hagen said. “And this client didn’t have the right bike, and so we connected him to Ken, and Ken spoke to the guy.”
Rosskopf met the man and his son at Hagen’s office and brought an old bike.
“We swapped it out for one of the donated bikes that we have at our office, and Ken fixed up the bike, got it all ready to go for him,” Hagen said. “They had a 20-minute conversation about how to ride and safe cycling practices. We gave him a handbook on Georgia laws. Ken couldn’t have been happier to have taken two hours out of his day to try to help this total stranger, just to get him on a bike.”
Rosskopf was also instrumental in starting a “yellow bike” initiative which was a free ride-share program for anyone who needed a bike.
“They took a bunch of donated bikes and parts, and they fixed up these bikes and painted them all yellow and then left them around Decatur,” Hagen said. “It was, it was like the first ride-share, but it was never meant to be a paid service. It was just a labor of love to leave bikes out for people to use when they needed a bike.”
Funeral services have not been announced, but will likely include a memorial ride, Hagen said.
“He was just the kindest, nicest, most genuine, caring person,” Hagen said. “He would go out of his way to help anybody. Anybody who knew him in the cycling community loved him.”
This story will be updated when more information is received.
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