Cabdriver avoids fallen cyclists and gets a ticket.
George Lutfallah
• Mon, Aug 01, 2011
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Amazing cabdriver issued a ticket
Chicago cabdriver Bogdan Vintilescu was driving east on Wilson Avenue when a young woman riding a bicycle suddenly fell in front of his cab after she was “doored” by someone in a parked car. Vintilescu slammed on his brakes and simultaneously swerved left to avoid crushing the cyclist.
After police arrived on the scene, Vintilescu was ticketed for failing to reduce speed and the person in the parked car was apparently not even cited. Those are the breaks for a Chicago cabbie. It was only due to his instincts and quick thinking as a professional taxi driver that the cyclist wasn't gravely injured. Just last week another young woman by the name of Jacqueline Michon was killed in Chicago when she fell off her bicycle and was run over by a truck.
Vintilescu's skill prevented such a tragedy. In spite of this he will have to take time off of work and pay for parking to go to court and risk a ticket on his driving record.
Fortunately Vintilescu's cab was equipped with a security camera that looks forward, which caught the dooring scene. Hopefully he'll be cleared in court.
Not only did Vintilescu act with extreme skill, he did so while he had a passenger on board! Seems to me he should have been given a medal instead of a ticket.
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Sadly, Illinois Vehicle code states that unless your vehicle was actually involved, you are not involved. I once swerved to avoid a car and flipped the SUV I was driving, the driver who caused the accident stayed on scene, told the police what happened, and was not cited. Fortunately, neither was I. Chicago needs to train it's law enforcement to properly enforce the "dooring" ordinance. IF The SUV Driver did make contact with the cyclist, even with the door, perhaps someone should file a "leaving the scene of an accident" report on the driver, since she declined to volunteert information?
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