Atlanta traffic was terrible. That’s why Satya Bhan never drove but instead walked or biked wherever he went. Sometimes, he rode his electric scooter.

But on May 28, 2023, on the way home to Atlantic Station from a fun night out, a driver struck his scooter on a dark stretch of Cheshire Bridge Road, a four-lane thoroughfare lined with businesses and apartment buildings.

Satya Bhan near where he was struck by a driver, holding a photo of himself after the collision. Photo: Justin Blaine Miller

Satya came to, hours later, confused and in pain in the Grady Memorial Hospital ER. Quickly, he felt for his phone and snapped a selfie to understand why he couldn’t move his head. The screen revealed a bruised, swollen, and bleeding face — along with a neck brace. The crash left him with a facial fracture, a brain bleed, and a “foggy” thought process – he would have difficulty making sense of things for months afterward. 

“But at least I was able to walk away,” he says.

The stretch of Cheshire Bridge Road where Satya Bhan was hit by a driver. Photo: Google Streetview

The police report detailing the crash is four lines long and lists the driver who hit Satya as “unknown.” It also lists no witnesses, although Satya says a number of people saw the crash and at least one called 911. He has followed up and asked about an investigation, or camera footage from surrounding businesses from that night, but each visit, phone call, and email to authorities has led only to dead ends.

Satya’s crash left him rattled, and the lack of responsiveness from the police left him frustrated. Then, similar events in his own neighborhood sparked him to take action.

During his months of recovery and physical therapy, Satya learned that his Atlantic Station neighbor, Kevin Mason, had been struck and injured by a driver on 17th Street. Then, months later, Jerry LeDoux, another neighbor, was taking his dog on a morning walk and crossing 17th when he was struck and killed by a driver.

Satya and Propel ATL executive director Rebecca Serna pose for a photo before an interview at WABE 90.1FM.

Satya quit his job in tech to take on pedestrian safety in his neighborhood full-time. As president of the Atlantic Station Civic Association, he is working to build a coalition of HOA boards and residents to push for improved pedestrian safety on 17th Street.

“There was just a general consensus that residents do not feel safe on 17th Street. It has been designed like a raceway, and people drive down that street going way over the speed limit.” 

He and his neighbors have asked for reduced speed limits, protected bike lanes, and a road diet to slow drivers. 

“It makes no sense,” Satya says. “How in the world is the right-of-way of a car more important than a life?”