Atlanta

Woman nearly 8 months pregnant says scooter riders knocked her down on BeltLine

ATLANTA — Lauren Sorrell told Channel 2 Action News she planned for a lot during the nearly eight months of her pregnancy, but she never prepared for a run-in with scooter riders that could make her unable to hold her baby girl when she's born.

“This is my first baby,” Sorrell said. “It makes me worried about my ability to care for her the way I wanted to when she first got here.”

Sorrell has a broken elbow after she said two women on one scooter lost control and knocked her down while she walked on the BeltLine.

“I fell straight on my hand and kind of on my stomach and rolled,” Sorrell said.

Sorrell said it happened May 4 on the eastside trail at around 6 p.m.

She told Atlanta police that when it happened, a friend of one of the women on the scooters taunted her before the group left without leaving their names.

“One of the girls who was with them, she said, ‘Quit crying. Get up. You’re not hurt,’” Sorrell said.

Sorrell eventually got up and went to a hospital, concerned only about her baby.

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“It was terrifying. It was very, very terrifying,” Sorrell said.

Doctors told her everything was fine.

But she said scooters don't belong on the BeltLine.

“If they’re not going to create a specific lane or have implemented policies and people to enforce the policies, there should be a ban,” Sorrell said.

Earlier this year, the city of Atlanta passed regulations that allowed for scooter use on the BeltLine.

However, it's against the ordinance for more than one person to be on a scooter.

Sorrell hopes her case leads to at least more enforcement.

“You'll get a lot more collateral damage like me,” Sorrell said.

Channel 2's Matt Johnson checked in with City Councilman Amir Fourkhi, who said he requested the city look into limiting scooter speeds from 15 mph to 8 mph.