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 Yasmeen on August 1, 2016 at 7:35am

If you are saying someone has "exploited" Ginny's death to "promote political bias," I  respectfully disagree. As cyclists, we are moved deeply when one of our own is lost. It is normal for us to reflect on the "why" as well as our own experiences riding our bikes in Chicago. Ginny's ghost bike and memorial were done with the involvement and support of her family and friends. They expressed an interest in attending the dedication. Our cycling community feels her loss and we hope more is learned about how to make Chicago a safe place to ride bikes with better infrastructure and improved interactions with drivers.

Permalink Reply by OldGuyCyclist on August 1, 2016 at 9:21am

Please read the specific Reply to which I was responding [millenial removing Bernie tattoo on July 4, 2016 at 6:49pm; in reply to Jon Cunningham on July 4, 2016 at 6:18pm], the guy who claimed that drivers have become more hostile to cyclists as a result of Donald Trump's candidacy.

Much more importantly -- thanks for caring about Ginny a month on.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on August 1, 2016 at 9:41am

Thanks, I did see the post you are referring to, I just respectfully disagree with you. I don't believe Jon is exploiting her death so much as expressing an opinion (whether correct or incorrect).  I believe this is more of a reaction that is shaken by the events, needing to make sense of it, and coming up with theories. I tend to cope in a similar way - need to deconstruct and try to figure it out. 

Permalink Reply by Jon Cunningham on August 1, 2016 at 4:46pm
Permalink Reply by mike w. on July 1, 2016 at 7:32am

There's that damned word "accident" once again!

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on July 1, 2016 at 7:34am

Can we just start fining media when they use the word "accident"? I wish we could.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on July 1, 2016 at 7:42am

Tribune updated the article so I went ahead and put the most recent in the post. They changed it to "crash".

Permalink Reply by Paul Lazzaro on July 1, 2016 at 8:12am

This is terribly sad, regardless of whether the cyclist, the driver, or both were at fault.

As a cyclist I try to avoid this kind of collision by taking the lane at intersections, rather than keeping to the right.  I don't move to the right until I've passed through the intersection.  As a driver, I am very aware that many cyclists pull along the right side of vehicles at intersections - even when the driver is signaling a turn.  So before I turn, I always check the right rear view mirror.

Unfortunately, neither cycling defensively, nor driving defensively in the presence of cyclists, are normally given much (or any) attention in driver's education classes.

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on July 1, 2016 at 8:25am
Paul Lazzaro said, "As a cyclist I try to avoid this kind of collision by taking the lane at intersections, rather than keeping to the right."

Exactly the point that I tried to raise in my current thread.

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/intimidation-and-harassmen...
Permalink Reply by Maurice on July 1, 2016 at 9:07am

If she was riding next to him and then they both turned right, I don't believe that she was at fault.  That's even worse than an ordinary right hook.

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on July 1, 2016 at 10:22am
When a large vehicle comes beside you and you start to realize, my God, this driver doesn't even know/recall that I'm here. I don't know how many times when turning this has happened to me. Regardless of fault; just do whatever you can to get away. Stop, jump off your bike, get back from the vehicle's large wheels, do whatever to save yourself from any harm. And while you are doing this; SCREAM as LOUD as you can at the driver to STOP!
Permalink Reply by mweerd on July 2, 2016 at 3:23am

I wish I had some sort of auto crazy loud sound device that would go off when my heart rate reaches 350. I got hooked a couple days ago - my fault for going too fast/his fault for not signalling - and totally just had to turn with the car - could feel the car on my leg - couldn't for the life of me get a sound out it all happened so fast.

That's the thing that sucks about biking - a lot of these things happen and there's just no time to process or think you just have to react. I'm kind of looking forward to moving I think - as more cars drive crazy and more people bike - is it me? or is Chicago's just getting too crazy to bike these days - or maybe it's always been crazy and I'm just more scared now.

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