Bicyclist killed in Dan Ryan express lane

August 29, 2010 9:47 PM | No Comments

A male victim on a bicycle died after he was struck by a vehicle on the Dan Ryan Expressway tonight, officials said.

The accident happened at about 9:15 p.m. on the northbound lanes of the express lanes near 55th Street, said Illinois State Police Trooper S. Matias.

Police did not have any information about the victim and did not know why he was riding a bicycle on the Dan Ryan.

Matias said the northbound express lanes were being closed to traffic between 55th street and 63rd Street.

Emergency crews were still on the scene investigating the accident as of 9:44 p.m., Matias said.

-- Carlos Sadovi

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by nik was here on August 30, 2010 at 4:03am

H3N3 said:

This was someone's brother, son, maybe father . . .

... as are most recipients of the Darwin awards. Doesn't change the fact that they are out of the gene-pool.

Permalink Reply by Rick norris on August 30, 2010 at 4:23am

While I feel bad for this person....maybe they where TRULY mentally limited.

I feel even worse for the poor driver that was involved...they must feel like crap, I know I would be torn apart.

It will be interesting to see what kind of lawsuites (if any) follow

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 30, 2010 at 4:42am

Maybe he watched this video too many times and wanted to emulate it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NLmiuyLa98

In all seriousness there was probably something up with this guy to try such an obviously bad idea tht late at night & supposedly alone. And in the EXPRESS LANES no less!

Booze, drugs, mental/emotional issues? -or perhaps a real attempt at suicide.

If he had tried it at rush hour it'd probably have been a much better idea as few cars are moving fast enough on the Damn Ryan to not be able to dodge them.

Permalink Reply by Carl on August 30, 2010 at 4:47am

Well, maybe he was stoned or drunk (cyclists NEVER do that!)

Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 30, 2010 at 5:08am

Another bicyclist killed, another bunch of posts full of conjecture and uninformed opinions by posters who know nothing more than the news report yet feel compelled to make witty comments.

Some things will never change at the Chainlink

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 30, 2010 at 5:34am

God forbid people be able to conjecture and exercise their free speech.

THERE AUGHTA BE A LAW!

The world is full of people who have nothing better to do than try and silence other people.

Duppie said:

Another bicyclist killed, another bunch of posts full of conjecture and uninformed opinions by posters who know nothing more than the news report yet feel compelled to make witty comments.

Some things will never change at the Chainlink

Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on August 30, 2010 at 5:36am

Updated story

R.I.P.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 30, 2010 at 6:03am

Good point. I'm sure there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation why someone was out in the express lanes of the Dan Ryan long after nightfall on a bike.

H3N3 said:

Obviously nobody here has heard of or remembers Trish Quane, a speech pathologist and mother of young children from Oak Park, and president-elect of the Oak Park Cycle Club at the time she walked in front of a Metra train. I watched with horror as the same disgusting "Darwin Award" comments rolled in on an unnamed bike club list, and slowly it came out who the "idiot" was, and ultimately it came out that the gates were broken and a Metra employee apparently waved her across the tracks to her death.

Permalink Reply by heather s on August 30, 2010 at 6:15am

No one is silencing anyone, nor limiting your freedom of speech. (Does anyone even know what "free speech" means anymore? I hear it referenced incorrectly nearly every day.)

The graphics and "Darwin award" comment are cruel and really inappropriate for a cycling message board. We don't know why this man was on the expressway, and we might not ever know. Does it really matter, at this point? Sadly, it seems that some commenters here have nothing better to do than mock the pain and misfortune of others.

James Baum said:

God forbid people be able to conjecture and exercise their free speech.
THERE AUGHTA BE A LAW!
The world is full of people who have nothing better to do than try and silence other people.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 30, 2010 at 6:35am

I agree with all of your points -especially the one about there isn't anything that can be done without severely limiting people's Freedoms. This goes double for enforcing "civility" and staying classy in a public forum -not much can be done without having the civility cops ban anyone who says anything that might upset anyone or be tacky/rude/offensive or politically incorrect. Sure that could always be done but such measures usually turn said forum into a ghost town eventually as people tend to abhor such totalitarian moderation.

It'd be nice if people were to stay classy 100% of the time. But since most people are NOT it's kind of hard to expect them to act that way.

I hope the family of the unfortunate soul who ventured out into the highway can find some closure and don't wish upon them any further indignity. But short of silencing everyone and closing down this thread there isn't much anyone can do at this point. People tend to talk -even if there aren't many facts to go on. And this kind of an event usually seems to attract a crowd.

H3N3 said:

As Rick suggested, it's possible this person had a cognitive disability.
With the current lack of safe infrastructure for cyclists, there's not much one would be able to do to prevent such a death without limiting such a person's freedom, but common decency would still prevent a decent person from gleefully dancing around the corpse with taunts and jeers.

Also remember Jepson Livingston-- we had multiple family and friends of the victim find the chainlink discussions via web search, register, and reach out. Would you want this victim's family to read "the age of stupid" and "Darwin Award?"

James Baum said:
Good point. I'm sure there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation why someone was out in the express lanes of the Dan Ryan long after nightfall on a bike.

H3N3 said:
Obviously nobody here has heard of or remembers Trish Quane, a speech pathologist and mother of young children from Oak Park, and president-elect of the Oak Park Cycle Club at the time she walked in front of a Metra train. I watched with horror as the same disgusting "Darwin Award" comments rolled in on an unnamed bike club list, and slowly it came out who the "idiot" was, and ultimately it came out that the gates were broken and a Metra employee apparently waved her across the tracks to her death.

Permalink Reply by Rowbike Mike on August 30, 2010 at 7:19am

After reading the updated story, it just gets stranger and stranger. Part of me wonders whether he became disoriented and concluded that taking the Expressway was the only way to get back to the North Side without going through some unfamiliar neighborhoods at night? I can only guess but it sounds like he had roughly 100 blocks to ride to get home.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:

Updated story

R.I.P.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 30, 2010 at 7:33am

It is a strange story. We can only speculate what would lead someone to try such a thing. I have my theory, but perhaps we'll never know as the rider may not have shared his plans with anyone beforehand.

Reading the comments to that updated story it seems that the people discussing this sad story over there aren't going to stay classy either.

Rowbike Mike said:

After reading the updated story, it just gets stranger and stranger. Part of me wonders whether he became disoriented and concluded that taking the Expressway was the only way to get back to the North Side without going through some unfamiliar neighborhoods at night? I can only guess but it sounds like he had roughly 100 blocks to ride to get home.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Updated story

R.I.P.