Virginia Murray, 25 Was Killed Riding a Divvy After Being Hit By a Truck 07/01/16


On Streetsblog:

A female bike rider was critically injured by a truck driver this morning at about 9:10 a.m. at Belmont Avenue and Sacramento Avenue in Avondale, according to Officer José Estrada from Police News Affairs. The cyclist was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital, Estrada said.

According to an employee of a nearby business, the bike rider had been using a Divvy bike-share vehicle.

This appears to be the second case of a bike-share rider being critically injured in Chicago. In November 2014, medical student Travis Persaud was struck by two different drivers while riding a Divvy bike on Sunday, November 22, at 2:50 a.m. on Lake Shore Drive. He suffered a broken leg and a dislocated shoulder, and was placed in a medically induced coma. Family members believed he had been trying to cross Lake Shore Drive on his way home. Persaud’s current medical condition is unknown.

Full Article: http://chi.streetsblog.org/2016/07/01/police-divvy-rider-critically...

Update on Chicago Tribune: 

A 20-year-old woman riding a Divvy bike who was killed Friday morning in a crash involving a flat-bed truck in the city's Avondale neighborhood is believed to be the first person killed riding a bike-sharing bicycle in the United States.

The crash happened about 9 a.m. near Sacramento and Belmont avenues, said Officer Jose Estrada, a police spokesman, citing preliminary information. The truck and the woman were both going north on Sacramento, when they both turned east at Belmont and collided, Estrada said.

Initially, the woman was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center but later was pronounced dead, Estrada said.

Full Story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-female-bicycli...

Our thoughts are with Virginia Murray's family and friends. 

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on July 1, 2016 at 5:20am
Permalink Reply by Josh L. on July 1, 2016 at 5:49am

Tribune is reporting she was killed. How tragic.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-female-bicycli...

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on July 1, 2016 at 5:52am

Thanks for the update. Really sad news. 

Permalink Reply by V W on July 1, 2016 at 6:08am
I've been through that intersection many times and it's one of the more uneasy feeling spots to bike through, cars just drive very aggressively in this area, and it's a highway underpass with lots of shadows and the street is very bumpy.
Permalink Reply by Heather on July 1, 2016 at 6:21am

I think you are thinking of Belmont and Kedzie, which is indeed very dangerous. This was Belmont and Sacramento.

Permalink Reply by V W on July 1, 2016 at 9:53am
Ah yes I stand corrected.
Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on July 1, 2016 at 6:37am
http://abc7chicago.com/news/man-on-divvy-bike-hit-by-truck-in-avond...

ABC7Chicago news has this story as a man on a Divvy. Terrible to hear.

Just updated by ABC7CHICAGO - Deleting . . . . .
Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on July 1, 2016 at 6:55am

Heartbreaking. She may have been the first bike share cyclist to die. This summer has been brutal for cyclists.

Permalink Reply by Jon Cunningham on July 4, 2016 at 12:18pm

Brutal is right, Yasmeen. Not naming names, but I think a certain presidential candidate has stirred up the brutal worst in many people, who take that behind the wheel with them. I have been cycling on the roads since 1985, racking up over 114,000 miles, and I have never seen it this bad before. Disrespect, and possibly even hatred, for cyclists seems to be rampant. Cyclists have become just another hated minority for many of these people. Cars blatantly running stop signs, cutting me off when I'm already in the intersection, is something that I hadn't seen before this year. But I've had it happen to me in 2016, a least a half dozen times. Sometimes with the driver looking right at me as they pass. Oddly enough, this also seems to coincide with a higher number of drivers who are very courteous, and wave me through intersections when it is actually their turn to go. (Two party system at work?) It's a crap shoot at every intersection. I have taken to wearing a GoPro whenever I'm out there anymore. If something happens to me that keeps me from speaking, maybe the GoPro will. Freeze frame HD does great with license plates, even on fast moving cars. 

Permalink Reply by Paul Lazzaro on July 4, 2016 at 12:41pm

There is definitely an air of incivility at the moment.  As for why,  I won't speculate.  But it's sad.

Permalink Reply by millenial removing Bernie tattoo on July 4, 2016 at 12:49pm

I'm sorry, but what was ever civil about calling people ignorant, bigoted, nazis, or "on the wrong side of history"?

Permalink Reply by OldGuyCyclist on August 1, 2016 at 6:59am

+1, millennial

Additionally, it's in poor taste to exploit someone's death to promote a political bias.

Ginny was a close friend of my wife, and a delightful young woman. May her loss remind us to transcend pettiness and appreciate the preciousness and relative brevity of ALL lives.

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