A 65-year-old man riding an e-bike behind a Starbucks near State Route 34 in Coweta County was struck by a driver who sped off without stopping, and he died a week later from his injuries. Stan McShane was hit on Winn Dixie Drive on Sept. 22, and his wife, Annette McShane, is now pleading with the public for help identifying the driver who left him there.
McShane was initially rushed to Piedmont Newnan Hospital before being transferred to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where he died on Sept. 29, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. The crash site sits directly behind a Starbucks near GA-34, a stretch of roadway described by WSB-TV Channel 2 as a commercial corridor in the county. Annette McShane and Georgia State Patrol have both appealed to the public for information about the fatal hit-and-run, according to Fox 5's reporting.
No Witnesses Saw the Impact
Troopers who responded to the scene interviewed multiple bystanders immediately after the collision, but none of them actually saw the vehicle strike McShane before it fled, according to a report cited on Facebook by Crime Watch America. There were no useful videos.
Georgia State Patrol Post 24 in Newnan and the agency's Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team are leading the investigation, and they're asking anyone with dashcam footage, home security video, or knowledge of a vehicle showing sudden, unexplained damage to come forward. A prior Hoodline report also covered a separate Coweta County hit-and-run.
A Lawful Ride on a Public Road
Under Georgia law, e-bikes with motor outputs capped at 750 watts are treated the same as traditional bicycles, meaning riders don't need a driver's license, vehicle registration, or liability insurance to use public roadways, per Velosurance. If McShane's e-bike met those requirements, he would have been legally entitled to ride on Winn Dixie Drive with the same rights afforded to any cyclist on a Georgia road.
If the driver is identified, Georgia Code § 40-6-270 classifies leaving the scene of a crash that results in serious injury or death as a felony, punishable by one to five years in prison, along with steep fines and license suspension, according to Weatherby Law. Georgia State Patrol Post 24, based on Turkey Creek Road in Newnan, holds primary traffic enforcement and crash investigation jurisdiction over Coweta, Fayette, and Heard counties.
Part of a Troubling Statewide Pattern
McShane's death adds to a grim statistical backdrop. Non-motorists, including bicyclists and pedestrians, account for roughly 17 to 18 percent of all traffic fatalities in Georgia despite making up less than 1 percent of overall traffic crash participants, according to the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety. The state recorded an average of 23 bicyclist fatalities per year from 2017 to 2021.
This isn't the first time GSP's reconstruction team has had to piece together a fatal hit-and-run in Coweta County without a cooperating driver. In July 2024, the same unit investigated a crash on State Route 154 in which a hit-and-run left a pedestrian dead after being struck again by additional oncoming vehicles. That case also involved a reconstruction investigation.
For now, the driver who struck Stan McShane and drove away remains unidentified. Georgia State Patrol Post 24 and the Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team continue to ask anyone with relevant dashcam or security footage, or knowledge of a damaged vehicle, to come forward as Annette McShane waits for answers about the morning that ended her husband's life.
