Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 6, 2012 at 2:47pm

Yes, I remember it, and I still have a few of the stickers.  Now that the meters are gone, I suspect that putting stickers on the parking slip boxes wouldn't go over very well.  

Julie Hochstadter said:

Wasnt there a group doing a dooring campaign here a few years ago with stickers that said, a door killed my friend? Any of them around with their stickers as well? May be time for a sticker campaign for this, although most of the meters are gone which was where a lot of the stickers were first placed I think.

Permalink Reply by ciarliera on October 6, 2012 at 3:06pm

I'm so sorry, Kimberley. My heart goes out to you and your family. I stand behind you.

Kimberley Nishimoto said:

Clint died in that same area a few blocks away 4 years ago. He was 22 years old. This has got to stop. As his mother, I can't stop speaking about this. Mayor, it is time for us to meet. A relentless, passionate mother of a precious son that never, ever wants families to be so devastated by such a senseless act. A call to action beyond what is going on is in order.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 6, 2012 at 4:08pm

The news of Clint's death horrified me 4 years ago, just as Neill Townsend's death horrifies me now.  I agree that this absolutely needs to stop, and it won't until a lot more drivers are educated about dooring.  I think that a grassroots campaign could be a good starting point.  It could take several forms - outreach events like what we're planning on Friday, flyers, stickers, a Facebook campaign, etc.

Several months ago, I made a suggestion that the city should launch an educational campaign in conjunction with the addition of the new protected and buffered bike lanes.  I think we should push to get a flyer created for inclusion with city sticker renewals, as well as newly issued stickers, with a summary of new bike lane configurations, a summary of laws such as those regarding dooring, driving and parking in bike lanes, the 3 foot passing law, and the law against driver harassment of cyclists (some are Chicago laws, others are state laws).  An online version of this information should be available from one page on the city web site.  A link from the information page for motorists seems like an appropriate location.  We need to push Active Trans and the city to make this happen.  

If we could enlist their help in getting the Illinois Secretary of State and AAA on board to share the same information, we could reach suburbanites and residents in other parts of the state as well.  I've heard that Gov. Pat Quinn is also a cyclist.  Perhaps an appeal to him could help on the state level.  We could reach out to the League of Illinois Bicyclists for help with this.  I believe that education has to reach the statewide level (including Rules of the Road, driver ed classes and driver's license testing) to have the maximum impact in reducing doorings.  We probably can't get all of that in one year, but we've got to start somewhere.


Kimberley Nishimoto said:

Clint died in that same area a few blocks away 4 years ago. He was 22 years old. This has got to stop. As his mother, I can't stop speaking about this. Mayor, it is time for us to meet. A relentless, passionate mother of a precious son that never, ever wants families to be so devastated by such a senseless act. A call to action beyond what is going on is in order.

Permalink Reply by ciarliera on October 6, 2012 at 4:11pm

This is a post from Trevor 3 hours ago over at the original post:

Neill's friends and coworkers are definitely OK with a ghost bike.  Is there someone they should contact?  I can pass any info along to someone at Minimal, where Neill worked.

http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/bicyclist-killed-at-oak-we...

h' said:

Yes, but it would be good to hear from someone connected to the family that they'd be OK with it and also to find out how the sign should read.

Ash L. said:

Would it be possible to get a ghost bike ready in time for this memorial?

Permalink Reply by Lee Crandell on October 6, 2012 at 4:27pm

I like the idea of stickers on meters. There are still meter boxes, which could be a good canvas for driver education.

Julie Hochstadter said:

Wasnt there a group doing a dooring campaign here a few years ago with stickers that said, a door killed my friend? Any of them around with their stickers as well? May be time for a sticker campaign for this, although most of the meters are gone which was where a lot of the stickers were first placed I think.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on October 6, 2012 at 4:53pm

Anne, 

GREAT THINKING.

Anne Alt said:

If we could enlist their help in getting the Illinois Secretary of State and AAA on board to share the same information, we could reach suburbanites and residents in other parts of the state as well.  I've heard that Gov. Pat Quinn is also a cyclist.  Perhaps an appeal to him could help on the state level.  We could reach out to the League of Illinois Bicyclists for help with this.  I believe that education has to reach the statewide level (including Rules of the Road, driver ed classes and driver's license testing) to have the maximum impact in reducing doorings.  We probably can't get all of that in one year, but we've got to start somewhere.


Kimberley Nishimoto said:

Clint died in that same area a few blocks away 4 years ago. He was 22 years old. This has got to stop. As his mother, I can't stop speaking about this. Mayor, it is time for us to meet. A relentless, passionate mother of a precious son that never, ever wants families to be so devastated by such a senseless act. A call to action beyond what is going on is in order.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on October 6, 2012 at 8:54pm

OK, assuming most folks want to get to work by nine, this memorial should ideally wrap up by 8:30.  So, start at 8:00, dedicate a ghost bike, maybe add a prayer from Neill's pastor/priest/rabbi if they're willing to attend, say some nice words about the fellow and then disperse?  Continue in a ride of silence to the Loop?

(Also: maybe we should spell Neill's name correctly at the top of this thread in case his relatives come across it?)

Permalink Reply by Melissa M on October 6, 2012 at 9:34pm

Thanks for putting together a quick and simple tentative schedule from the conversation. I'd been busy with homework for a while, and just got caught up on the thread. So, I'll go ahead and add an event with the times you suggested (start at 8, finish by 8:30) and the ride of silence to the Loop after.

Also, thank you for pointing out that Neill's name was misspelled in the title- it was a typo, and is fixed now.

Thunder Snow said:

OK, assuming most folks want to get to work by nine, this memorial should ideally wrap up by 8:30.  So, start at 8:00, dedicate a ghost bike, maybe add a prayer from Neill's pastor/priest/rabbi if they're willing to attend, say some nice words about the fellow and then disperse?  Continue in a ride of silence to the Loop?

(Also: maybe we should spell Neill's name correctly at the top of this thread in case his relatives come across it?)

Permalink Reply by Melissa M on October 6, 2012 at 9:44pm

Ok. So, I'm going to go ahead and add an event for the memorial Friday. Below is a list of the things that don't seem to have been worked out yet.

Who's working on the ghost bike and can it be ready by Friday?

Is anyone able to contact someone from Neill's family or friends to notify them about the memorial and to see if they would like, or if they know someone they would like, to offer a brief eulogy at the service?

Has a consensus been reached about a flyer? As this requires a quick turnaround, I suggest something simple that can be done at a FedEx Office type of place. If this is something we want to do, it would seem that we need people to volunteer for the following:

design

paying for printing costs (we could all pitch in, but someone's going to have to cover it up front)

printing

I checked the FedEx Office website, and you can upload a document on-line to have printed at a store. They have whole, half, and quarter page flyers, but I can't get an estimate without a design.

Permalink Reply by ciarliera on October 7, 2012 at 7:18am

I can try to put something together for a design. Not promising anything super slick but I can put something together. Does anyone have any good stats they'd like to see on there? I'm thinking some kind of graphic and then 3-4 bullet points.

Cameron Puetz said:

If someone can put together a design, I'll front the printing costs of the flier.

What are we thinking for a location? We may have to coordinate with school staff if we're going to be gathering on Peyton Prep's grounds.

Melissa M said:

Ok. So, I'm going to go ahead and add an event for the memorial Friday. Below is a list of the things that don't seem to have been worked out yet.

Who's working on the ghost bike and can it be ready by Friday?

Is anyone able to contact someone from Neill's family or friends to notify them about the memorial and to see if they would like, or if they know someone they would like, to offer a brief eulogy at the service?

Has a consensus been reached about a flyer? As this requires a quick turnaround, I suggest something simple that can be done at a FedEx Office type of place. If this is something we want to do, it would seem that we need people to volunteer for the following:

design

paying for printing costs (we could all pitch in, but someone's going to have to cover it up front)

printing

I checked the FedEx Office website, and you can upload a document on-line to have printed at a store. They have whole, half, and quarter page flyers, but I can't get an estimate without a design.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on October 7, 2012 at 7:31am

The message should be clear and succinct.  Something like "opening a car door, without first looking, KILLS" perhaps with "it could kill a cyclist" or "it could kill YOU if a truck takes your door off along with you." 

That wording isn't right, but the disagreement I have with the new New York cab stickers is that they're vague as to the reason we're looking for cyclists.  Are we looking for them to wave hello?  To admire their tricked out bikes?  What??  We need to emphasize dooring as a matter of life and death.

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on October 7, 2012 at 10:39am

H' the wording and graphic on that sticker are perfect! If we can use that and delete the dead link to the defunct anti-dooring.org, we've got a winner. Is there another organization that has taken up the dooring cause that we can link to? Add an anti-dooring page to The Chainlink for the public? Send the public to the Active Trans Web site?

Cameron, agreed that emphasizing that motorists will be fined for dooring will help this stick in their minds. Is dooring something that will raise their insurance rates? If so, that would be useful to note. Plus the mention that they themselves might die if their door gets hit by a truck or bus, might be what gets their attention.

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