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Permalink Reply by John S. on January 13, 2012 at 12:58pm

What happened to you was a violation of the Illinois 3 Foot Law.

Look at the underlined part d)

Public Act 095-0231

SB0080 Enrolled LRB095 04586 DRH 24641 b

AN ACT concerning transportation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing

Sections 11-703, 11-806, and 11-1505 as follows:

(625 ILCS 5/11-703)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-703)

Sec. 11-703. Overtaking a vehicle on the left.

The following rules govern the overtaking and passing of

vehicles proceeding in the same direction, subject to those

limitations, exceptions, and special rules otherwise stated in

this Chapter:

(a) The driver of a vehicle overtaking another vehicle

proceeding in the same direction shall pass to the left thereof

at a safe distance and shall not again drive to the right side

of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle. In

no event shall such movement be made by driving off the

pavement or the main traveled portion of the roadway.

(b) Except when overtaking and passing on the right is

permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to

the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal

and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until

completely passed by the overtaking vehicle.

(c) The driver of a 2 wheeled vehicle may not, in passing

upon the left of any vehicle proceeding in the same direction,

pass upon the right of any vehicle proceeding in the same

direction unless there is an unobstructed lane of traffic

available to permit such passing maneuver safely.

(d) The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle or

individual proceeding in the same direction on a highway shall

leave a safe distance, but not less than 3 feet, when passing

the bicycle or individual and shall maintain that distance

until safely past the overtaken bicycle or individual.

(Source: P.A. 76-1586.)

(625 ILCS 5/11-806)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-806)

Sec. 11-806. Method of giving hand and arm signals.

All signals herein required given by hand and arm shall be

given from the left side of the vehicle in the following manner

and such signals shall indicate as follows:

1. Left turn - Hand and arm extended horizontally.

2. Right turn - Hand and arm extended upward, except that a

person operating a bicycle may extend the right hand and arm

horizontally and to the right side of the bicycle.

3. Stop or decrease of speed - Hand and arm extended

downward.

(Source: P.A. 76-1586.)

(625 ILCS 5/11-1505)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-1505)

Sec. 11-1505. Position of bicycles and motorized pedal

cycles on roadways -Riding on roadways and bicycle paths. (a)

Any person operating a bicycle or motorized pedal cycle upon a

roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time

and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as

close as practicable and safe to the right-hand curb or edge of

the roadway except under the following situations:

1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle, motorized

pedal cycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction; or

2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or

into a private road or driveway; or

3. When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions

including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, parked

or moving vehicles, bicycles, motorized pedal cycles,

pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width

lanes that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb

or edge. For purposes of this subsection, a "substandard width

lane" means a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle or

motorized pedal cycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by

side within the lane.

4. When approaching a place where a right turn is

authorized.

(b) Any person operating a bicycle or motorized pedal cycle

upon a one-way highway with two or more marked traffic lanes

may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of such roadway as

practicable.

(Source: P.A. 83-549.)

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Permalink Reply by Lee Crandell on January 13, 2012 at 5:35pm

I can't speak to what you can do this long after the fact, but for future reference, don't be shy about calling the police right away to get a police report in these situations. Tell the driver they hit you and you're calling the police to report it, and they need to stay at the scene or it'll be reported as a hit and run. Even if you don't feel you have any property or bodily damage, you can insist on a police report when you call the police. Even if you don't think you'll need it for legal or insurance purposes, having the crash recorded in city/state data helps show there's a problem on that street. Having to fill out the police report form will also instill some healthy fear of the law in the driver, if nothing else. I was "bumped" by a car a while back while walking in a crosswalk (with the signal) and also wasn't knocked over, and while I called the police at the scene and the driver stopped and cooperated, I ended up leaving and letting the driver leave because the police took a while to show up and I didn't need any medical attention. I filed the police report a couple hours after. The officer who took my report reaffirmed my instinct to get a police report even though I didn't feel I was injured at the scene, but he scolded me for not staying at the scene. He said the driver would almost certainly have been ticketed for striking a pedestrian if I had stuck around. The driver did still get a police report notification in the mail though, which I hope left him worrying whether he bumped my knee hard enough that he'd be hearing about it later.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Butterfield on January 13, 2012 at 7:03pm

at the risk of being entirely unhelpful; what an enormous tool. i hope you set his lap on fire, should you run across him again.

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