Bicyclist killed at Oak & Wells Friday AM

Any updates:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-bicyclist-str...

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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on October 5, 2012 at 8:25am

I'm so very sad about this horrible incident and join the bicycling community in extending condolences to the family and friends of the man who was killed this morning.

Permalink Reply by Chicago Ride of Silence on October 5, 2012 at 8:26am

Ethan, thank you for stating the obvious so well - that we need to "respect each other as people not as a "car" or "bike" or "pedestrian"...we're people and we can keep each other safe."

It's so true. There's a person driving that bike or that car and that pedestrian is another person just walking to get somewhere - we're not obstacles in someone's way... and certainly we certainly have the power to make our roads safer if we start with our own actions.

~Elizabeth Adamczyk, Ride of Silence - Chicago

Active Transportation Alliance said:

I just spent an hour at the site of the fatality speaking with media. Our thoughts go out the families of the person who was killed and the people who are involved in this tragic crash. We urge people to make safe choices while getting around, most importantly obeying the law and rules of the road.

People who are driving should look before getting out of their cars, that couple of seconds can save a life. People who are driving should also choose to pay attention, keep both hands on the wheel, look, signal, use their mirrors and drive reasonably within the speed limit and observe a safe passing distance. In IL the minimum is three feet. People who are biking should avoid the door zone, the three to four feet near where a door could be opened into your travel path. People on bikes can legally look and signal to take the lane if that is a safer choice.

We all as people, no matter how we get around, need to obey the law, make safe choices and respect each other as people not as a "car" or "bike" or "pedestrian"...we're people and we can keep each other safe.

Again, our best thoughts are with the family and friends of the person who died and won't be going home today.

Ethan Spotts, Active Trans

Permalink Reply by Mike Weez on October 5, 2012 at 8:35am

Thoughts go out to the family!  Such a sad and unfortunate loss.

 

Once all the bike lanes are moved to the inside, between car and curb, people will look back and say how crazy it was to have the lane between parked cars and oncoming cars.   Hopefully this can happen sooner rather than later. 

Chicago Ride of Silence said:

If you organize a memorial ride this weekend, please post details to the Chicago Ride of Silence group page and to the Chicago ROS FaceBook page, too. 

www.facebook.com/RideofSilenceChicago

www.thechainlink.org/group/chicagorideofsilence


Dirke said:

Anyone up for an organized wake/memorial/awareness gathering at the spot sometime soon, like tonight?

The only way any awareness is going to come about from this incident is to gather numbers, call the media, and plead to the cameras for police to enforce the "opening door into the bikelane" law which is already on the books.  The reality is that Walter Payton students are generally well off and driven to school individually in cars by professional parents on their way to work (or the yoga studio) who by and large completely ignore the newly-installed "Stop for pedestrians in crosswalk" signs and the fact that a bike lane intersects the drop-off roundabout.

I don't take that route often but when I do, you can guarantee being cut-off, right-hooked, and doored within 2 blocks of Walter Payton high school, every time.  And of course, if ever you act out on the adrenaline spike of nearly meeting the same fate after a double-parked Mercedes SUV throws it's door open and the inevitable NorthFaced middle-aged mom on a cellphone gets out, you'll receive the traditional Chicago driver to bicyclist welcome:  "Fuck You!", albeit a little quieter since the kids are getting out.

As the number of bicyclists who are killed as the result of an open car door grows, I don't understand why the media haven't done a 1 minute piece on it, if only to promote a little awareness.  Show a 10 second reenactment from a helmet cam of the cyclist's view of a car door opening into the bike lane and one's limited options at that point.  The problem is obviously not isolated to this area but I would think a recent death at a school and a resultant wake/memorial there would at the very least, signal to the school administrator to distribute a flier to parents picking up/dropping off their children that the way in which they facilitate that seemingly benign daily activity has life/death consequences when they selfishly ignore all common sense and established law.  Since this happened in a actual marked bike lane, close to downtown, I would think that Gabe and Rahm have some responsibility to make official comment, and I would hope that they minimally remind the public that it is law, let alone basic common sense, to look before opening a car door into a traffic, especially a bike lane, especially in a school zone, especially since we know Rahm is all about the children.  Would this actually happen if the bicyclist then took a couple of kids out too or would the situation then instantly devolve into condemning we "renegade" cyclists? 

I'm obviously biased but seriously, if anyone wants to gather in memorial, in the aim of preventing more of these deaths, please count me in.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on October 5, 2012 at 8:36am

SO MUCH THIS!

Chicago Ride of Silence said:

It's so true. There's a person driving that bike or that car and that pedestrian is another person just walking to get somewhere - we're not obstacles in someone's way... and certainly we certainly have the power to make our roads safer if we start with our own actions.

~Elizabeth Adamczyk, Ride of Silence - Chicago


Permalink Reply by vxla on October 5, 2012 at 8:36am

The other outage: parents who continually load their children in the drivers-side, passenger door, forcing us to ride out into lanes.

R.I.P. to the cyclist on Wells.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on October 5, 2012 at 8:37am
I agree that a workshop is a good idea. I have read stories ( and on here) about someone possibly saving themselves since they knew how to fall. Sometimes your brain remembers better than just your eyeballs, esp in a split second.



KatieP said:

I was thinking I'd not panic as much if I had practice falling into doors safely. It would increase the odds of doing the right thing in a wrong situation.

Permalink Reply by CJ on October 5, 2012 at 8:38am

that you can at least see coming

vxla said:

The other outage: parents who continually load their children in the drivers-side, passenger door, forcing us to ride out into lanes.

R.I.P. to the cyclist on Wells.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on October 5, 2012 at 8:38am
I'm still wondering if it someone we know or a Chainlink member.
Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on October 5, 2012 at 8:39am

Add this to the law, the training programs, and the Driver's Ed books:

Use your RIGHT hand to open the car door instead of your left, this gives you a better look at what's coming from behind.

Lisa Curcio said:

The Illinois Vehicle Code:

No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

625 ILCS 5/11-1407

Permalink Reply by Emily W on October 5, 2012 at 8:45am

My sincerest sympathies to the bicyclist's family and friends.

I rode my bike past the accident just a few minutes after it happened - the police were not yet there.  Nearly 6 hours later I am still shaken. It seemed like the truck was a reasonable distance from the bike lane and unfortunately it was the door that precipitated the accident.  I made eye contact with the presumed truck driver and can share that there was sadness and disbelief in his eyes.  What a horrible accident.  

Thank you to those who have posted about the unsafe nature of that stretch of Wells due to the school drop-offs.  I will rethink my normal commute route.  

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 5, 2012 at 8:49am

I've been wondering the same thing, and feeling a bit of dread because of it.

Julie Hochstadter said:

I'm still wondering if it someone we know or a Chainlink member.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 5, 2012 at 8:49am

Excellent tip.

Bob Kastigar said:

Add this to the law, the training programs, and the Driver's Ed books:

Use your RIGHT hand to open the car door instead of your left, this gives you a better look at what's coming from behind.

Lisa Curcio said:

The Illinois Vehicle Code:

No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

625 ILCS 5/11-1407

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