Chainlink Bar Night Thursday

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 18, 2011 at 12:34pm

The city complaint form is just a laborious hoop to jump through that results in nothing.

Again, it's =illegal= for a cab to let passengers exit into traffic. If the police report indicates this is what happened you are fine without any additional witnesses.

I would absolutely pursue this with a lawyer that handles bicycle matters.

Melanie said:

Thanks Anne- I will have Rob fill out the information when he feels a bit better- I didn't even know that existed.  

 

We have a police report, that much was done, and the name of the taxi driver and insurance company. The sad thing is, the driver of the taxi said nothing and did nothing to help (maybe for legal reasons?) The passengers were clueless as well, but at least they had enough sense to ask if Rob was okay and if he needed an ambulance- which he did- and they called 9-1-1, but it seems the passengers took off after calling. The cops didn't get the names of the passengers and didn't get the names of any other witnesses. Well, if anyone was cruising down Lincoln between Altgeld & Fullerton last night around 7:00 - 7:30 p.m., and may have seen anything like a tall guy on a road bike get doored by a taxi, we would love for you to contact us.

 

Oh, and both of us are really sad we didn't get to make it to the Chainlink night- we were really looking forward to meeting fellow Chainlinkers in person! I hope everyone had a great time and we will be there next time (barring unforeseen events of course). 
Anne Alt said:

Sorry to hear it.  Taxis are supposed to pull out of traffic when letting passengers out.  I hope that you got identifying info about the taxi and driver so you can file a complaint with the city.  It's very disappointing that the police did not write a ticket for this incident.

Melanie said:

Thanks for the well wishes, H3N3.

 

The taxi suddenly stopped in the roadway ahead of him and the passenger just swung open their door. Rob was cycling in the dedicated bike lane- of course, the door clipped him.  I am not sure if the bike lane is considered the "traffic side" but I don't think taxis are supposed to just stop in the middle of the road to let the passengers off right into the bike lane path. Anyway, it's late, we're both tired, and we're going to see what to do about it all in the morning. His bike looks pretty torn up, but we haven't gone over it yet to assess how bad it is damaged. The police weren't all that sympathetic, which was upsetting, but not really surprising. The police said they would let the insurance company handle figuring out who was in the wrong.  

H3N3 said:

Sorry to hear it! Hope he heals up soon.

Any recourse against the taxi? Guessing you know it's illegal for a taxi door to be opened into traffic.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on March 18, 2011 at 6:36pm

Ouch! the only thing that happened to me was my rear spindle busting mid pedal. Tire met frame stopped instantly! eh well it's a 70'ish Schwinn.

Melanie said:

We really wanted to go to this one; sadly, Rob got clipped by a taxi door on his way to meet me for the ride to Simone's; spent the night in the ER and he has a broken finger and other various aches and pains-but I am happy it wasn't more serious. We took the L home- spent another 2 hours calling the city looking for where they took his bicycle- we still are not sure what condition it is in. We did find the bike- going to retrieve it soon.

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 18, 2011 at 7:19pm

Yes, I have had experience with the complaint process.

Re: the bike lane-- I didn't read the account closely enough and assumed they exited on the driver side.

I guess it would be semantics and legalese to determine whether the ordinance I referenced would apply here, but even if it doesn't I'm sure another does.

 

Serge Lubomudrov said:

Is this your personal experience? Just curious.

Is letting passengers to exit into a bike lane considered as letting them to exit into traffic? If bikes are part of traffic, it should be so. Yes?

H3N3 said:

The city complaint form is just a laborious hoop to jump through that results in nothing.

Again, it's =illegal= for a cab to let passengers exit into traffic. If the police report indicates this is what happened you are fine without any additional witnesses.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on March 18, 2011 at 8:07pm

I got doored by a PASSENGERS side cab, no signal not even pulled over to the curb just sitting in traffic passenger decides they want out "NOW"

 

The rules are, there are no rules.
H3N3 said:

Yes, I have had experience with the complaint process.

Re: the bike lane-- I didn't read the account closely enough and assumed they exited on the driver side.

I guess it would be semantics and legalese to determine whether the ordinance I referenced would apply here, but even if it doesn't I'm sure another does.

 

Serge Lubomudrov said:

Is this your personal experience? Just curious.

Is letting passengers to exit into a bike lane considered as letting them to exit into traffic? If bikes are part of traffic, it should be so. Yes?

H3N3 said:

The city complaint form is just a laborious hoop to jump through that results in nothing.

Again, it's =illegal= for a cab to let passengers exit into traffic. If the police report indicates this is what happened you are fine without any additional witnesses.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mark Kenseth on March 18, 2011 at 10:24pm

There are several lawyers to consult with.

http://www.mybikeadvocate.com/

http://www.illinoisbicyclelaw.com/

Lance Dale: ldalelaw@yahoo.com and Scott Wolfman & Associates: scott_wolfman@hotmail.com

 

I hope things work out for the best.

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Permalink Reply by Melanie K on March 19, 2011 at 11:32am

We'll work it out- thanks for the links, we're meeting with an attorney on Monday. Rob is healing up and recovering, and we hope to get him riding again in time for a camping trip at the end of April.

 

Thank you everyone for your support and well wishes and advice. 

 

Mark Kenseth said:

There are several lawyers to consult with.

http://www.mybikeadvocate.com/

http://www.illinoisbicyclelaw.com/

Lance Dale: ldalelaw@yahoo.com and Scott Wolfman & Associates: scott_wolfman@hotmail.com

 

I hope things work out for the best.

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