Bicyclist killed at Oak & Wells Friday AM
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Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on
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Absolutely!
This was a great piece: http://onelessminivan.tumblr.com/post/32773614803/are-you-biking-or...
I am often terribly aggravated at the myopic and just downright stupid behavior of parents dropping or picking up their children. You would think that of all people who would know to be careful around a school, it would be the people who have kids attending there!
Cameron Puetz said:Should is the key word. School zones are very dangerous areas and a program to educate parents on how to safely drop off their kids would do a lot of good.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin on
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A couple details added to the Trib story in bold
A bicyclist was struck and killed by a semi truck on the Near North Side this morning, apparently when he swerved to avoid an open car door, authorities said.
Police at the scene said the accident happened just before 9 a.m. on Wells Street in front of Walter Payton High School, just north of Oak Street.
The bicyclist, a 32-year-old man, was in the southbound lane and turned suddenly to avoid an open car door and fell underneath the front wheels of the truck's flat-bed trailer, police said.
No other information was available on the victim. A spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said an autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.The man who opened the door was cited for a traffic violation, according to News Affairs Officer Robert Perez. The man's name was not released.
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Permalink Reply by Dirke on
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No need for a workshop. If you are doored, call 911 immediately. If you are able, take pictures with your cellphone of the car/driver/license plate. The Illinois Vehicle code is referenced multiple times in this thread and applies to all roads, not just those with bike lanes. Calling the police and filing an accident report is generally the only way to get financial recompense from the driver's insurance policy. If the driver blows you off and walks away, they can be cited with leaving the scene of an accident, which carries a much heftier penalty than opening a door into traffic. If that is the case, stay at the scene and wait for the police to arrive.
If you question this procedure, call 311 and ask them, but I assure you, they will tell you just this.
KatieP said:Can someone organize a workshop on how to fall into doors safely? Or how to handle dooring? Maybe Active Trans?
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Permalink Reply by CJ on
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tragic. scary too. had some near misses with doors, thought I was lucky bc I was able to swerve but really I was lucky that their wasnt a big truck on my left. condolences to the cyclist and others involved.
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Permalink Reply by KatieP on
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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.
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Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on
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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
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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on
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Perhaps it would be possible to coordinate some sort of educational outreach with Walter Payton High School or the other schools in the vicinity. (This is assuming the car involved was, in fact, dropping off a student.)
Cameron Puetz said:Should is the key word. School zones are very dangerous areas and a program to educate parents on how to safely drop off their kids would do a lot of good.
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I like that idea, Skip. CDOT has an anti-idling campaign that could be expanded to include awareness education. Chicago Conservation Corps volunteers sometimes plan outreach on this so it could be a potential partner.
(Note - i don't work for them, so it might not be possible.)
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on
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A recent update on the Tribune website states that the person who opened the door was given a traffic citation.
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Permalink Reply by Chicago Ride of Silence on
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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.
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Updated story:
A bicyclist was struck and killed by a semi truck on the Near North Side this morning, apparently when he swerved to avoid an open car door, authorities said.
Police at the scene said the accident happened just before 9 a.m. on Wells Street in front of Walter Payton High School, just north of Oak Street.
The bicyclist, a 32-year-old man, was in the southbound lane and turned suddenly to avoid an open car door and fell underneath the front wheels of the truck's flat-bed trailer, police said.
No other information was available on the victim. A spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said an autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.The man who opened the door was cited for a traffic violation, according to News Affairs Officer Robert Perez. The man's name was not released.
Sickens all of us. The Ride of Silence memorial ride honors ALL fallen cyclists the third Wednesday in May. Thank you for getting a "Tribute Ride" in memoriam of this cyclist organized so quickly. And please encourage his family to submit his info to the Every Bicyclist Counts memoriam site.
That stretch of Wells between Division and Chicago has been under construction lately, so I've been avoiding it when possible. But so many other streets are undergoing construction/repaving that it's hard to find the "safest" route to get from Chicago Ave to north of North Ave.
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Great ideas.... Ride of Silence Chicago is definitely interested in expanding its outreach to include education. Please feel free to contact me off this list with further ideas in bike safety education campaigns.
KatieP said:I like that idea, Skip. CDOT has an anti-idling campaign that could be expanded to include awareness education. Chicago Conservation Corps volunteers sometimes plan outreach on this so it could be a potential partner.
(Note - i don't work for them, so it might not be possible.)
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