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 w. on July 3, 2016 at 4:03am

Sadly, it is my observation that many- sometimes more than half- of drivers don't seem to feel obliged to signal a right turn. At one particular intersection i often cross (evening rush hour,) most don't bother to signal, and also most don't seem to even look to the right before turning that way. When i once tried to walk with my bike in the ped crossing-with the green and "walk" signal, i was very nearly mowed down. Ten drivers (yes, i counted) blasted through across the crosswalk before one driver looked up and slowed down -didn't stop, mind- for me.

From that day on, i took the lane and stayed to the left of it and if i become the first vehicle at the light i make them wait for me until the light changes.

i'm sure the lesson here hardly bears repeating, but i will- DON'T EVER RELY ON A DRIVER TO BE USING HIS TURN SIGNALS!!

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Permalink Reply by Josh L. on July 3, 2016 at 4:26am

I believe I wrote a mistake in my longwinded missive above. If I am approaching an intersection and the car in front of me is signalling a right I'll get behind it; not to the right of it. Of course depends on the street. On Michigan Avenue given the speed of the street - and the fact that cars have to wait for the many pedestrians to cross - I'll move ahead in the far most right line.

I probably do pretty close to what you do Paul and don't ride in the right lane sometime if it's marked right turn only. When I go into the crosswalk I do bike slowly and always make sure tha the cars behind me and oncoming making a left see me. As the walk signals are on I dont think they have much trouble seeing me. I go out of my way to make sure I stay way out of the way of pedestrians. But for safety reasons I do try and stay to the far right as much as I can. The buses can see me there and if I was to take a fall I wouldn't be run over.

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on July 4, 2016 at 12:52pm

I encounter at least one car per day that suddenly turns right without signaling or providing any other indication that they are about to turn, such as angling toward the turn or looking in that direction. This includes cars that overtake me just short of a green light before right hooking the shit out of me, illegal lane changes, and dangerous parking maneuvers. As a result of this experience, my general rule is to assume that the driver next to me is trying to kill me and to make that as difficult for them as possible. If there is any chance that they might turn into my path, I hang back or prepare to stop short of the intersection. That being said, I'm not going to blame the victim of an illegal right hook at the hands of a driver who wasn't looking where he was going.

Paul said, "The only problem I have doing this comes from other cyclists; even though I am in a turn lane, and I am signalling a right turn, they often pass me on the right to go straight through the intersection."

I avoid this by positioning both my bike and signaling arm in such a way that they can't pass me on the right without getting slapped in the face, sometimes with hilarious results.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on August 1, 2016 at 9:22am

In my travels yesterday, I saw several cars that failed to signal a turn. This was true for both LEFT and right turns. I see this on most days when I'm out and about. Until police start writing tickets for this sort of thing, it seems likely to continue.

Whenever I'm not sure, I wait to see where the driver is going.

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Permalink Reply by OldGuyCyclist on August 1, 2016 at 9:48am

Someone else commented here that about 50% of drivers fail to signal turns, and I -- at my advanced age (50+ years of cycling - yikes!) -- agree. In fact, I often repeat that "50%" mental note when I'm driving my car and see people fail to signal.

And, is it just me (quintessential "get off my lawn" guy), or are there an increasing number of drivers making turns across several lanes of traffic? Particularly our comrades the cab drivers.

There seems to be little traffic law enforcement. I remember seeing a lot of traffic stops in Chicago 35 or so years ago. secondcitycop.blogspot.com has mentioned that there are many fewer Chicago police officers now than there were even 10 years ago. (Trigger warning: SCC is decidedly not politically correct.)

To heck with it ... I'm moving to the desert. You kids can have the city.

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Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on July 3, 2016 at 7:11am

Does anyone know if there is currently any type of memorial for Virginia Murray at Belmont and Sacramento? (Pictures?) I've heard word that a few cyclists who regularly ride this area and came up on the tragic scene that day, were deeply affected and were working at getting a ghost bike ready for installation.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on July 5, 2016 at 8:32am

It seems the only time news reports include information about a car driver is when the driver is elderly. Then, the age and word "senior" are repeated ad nauseam.

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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on July 6, 2016 at 3:35am

If you would like to attend the ghost bike memorial for Virginia Murray, Kristen Green posted this:

COME THIS SUNDAY
7-10-16 @ 7pm
Belmont and Sacramento

So this tragic thing happened.
A girl died.
She was not a controversial person.
She was just like you.
She woke up one morning and said to herself I am gonna ride a bike today.
Innocently she goes to a divvy ride share kiosk and boom she is riding the statistically safest form of biking to date. She reassures herself that she has got this. She can handle it, she is lived her short 25 years but if a child can do it....She knows the rules of the road quite well, she goes slow as the bike was never built for speed in the first place. Then she comes up to Belmont and Sacramento and boom !Before she knows it she is on the ground bleeding heart pounding which a truck on top of her. She tries to get up, unable to move, she eventually is picked up from an ambulance, where they rush take her to the hospital. The doctors fought hard for her. She was so young she probably fought with everything she had, but sadly it still was not enough. I wonder what her last thoughts were. Was she angry ? Was she sad? Was she just remembering her family and loved ones? I would like to think she was smiling as she was just out for a ride on a beautiful day.

‪#‎RIPVirginiaMurray‬

Anthony Arce has been deeply moved by this and reached out to our community to get a ghost bike in her honor as he was so deeply saddened by what he witnessed that day. So we have come together with other members of the community and will be placing a memorial "ghost bike" this Thursday 7-10-16 @7 pm to honor her. If you would like to drop by a flower or a candle or note there please do!

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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on July 10, 2016 at 2:08pm

Photo by Zach Schneider

The ghost bike dedication at 7 pm today, honoring our fellow cyclist, Virginia "Ginny" Murray. A touching tribute, "May your spirit soar for a life well-lived." Rest in peace Ginny.

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Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on July 12, 2016 at 10:34am

My sincere condolences to the victim's family and friends. This is just beyond awful and hits home for me very personally as I have pedaled through this intersection hundreds upon hundreds of times, including many trips with my daughter first on a bike seat and then later on a Trail a Bike. The ghost bike is appreciated as a sign of respect for her life and as a daily reminder for drivers.

In the bigger picture, this intersection is like thousands of others in Chicago, where there isn't an actual right turn lane, just (perhaps) two parked cars worth of space at the end of the block that prohibit parking. So as others have noted, a large vehicle like a truck has to be at least somewhat in the center of the actual lane to make a right turn.

Based on the video, the confidence of the cyclist and the intersection's physical limitations, it strikes me as extremely likely that the driver was guilty of not having a turn signal on. Thus the cyclist assumed they were *supposed* to be to the right of the truck, and it was just the worst possible timing in terms of the cyclist hitting a blind spot, although it is certainly also possible the truck driver did not properly look before and during the turn.

Trucks should be treated with as much deference as possible, just for our own safety. Even when you are 100% following the rules of the road they are dangerous, I got "hooked" as in literally snagged by a truck's passenger side mirror on Belmont a few years back near Clark as it zoomed past me. The mirror caught my jacket and I got lifted practically off of my bike and ultimately sent to the asphalt. That may have been the only time I can say having toe clips worked in my favor from a safety perspective, as my weight combined with the bike (a heavy Specialized Crosstrail) actually quickly bent the s mirror and I was released. Fortunately I just ended up with a few scratches and bruised, but it wasn't hard to imagine that scenario playing out very, very differently.

Belmont has desperately needed a bike lane for as long as I've been alive, I'm impressed/hopeful that Steven mentioned it as a possibility as that would be a bona fide miracle. But I have no idea how that can be reconciled with the so-called rush hour parking control lanes, which don't have actual striping and thus are confusing as to where they actually start and stop. Traffic on Belmont during rush hour is... special to say the least.

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on August 1, 2016 at 2:28pm

I saw media reports today that Ms. Murray's family has sued the truck driver. The extremely probable result is a large out-of-court settlement by the driver's insurance carrier.

Of course 90% of the social media comments I saw were "Cyclists have to obey traffic laws!" and "Divvy didn't do anything wrong!" The other 10% were "She didn't break any traffic laws" and "Divvy isn't being sued."

It's a vicious cycle.