The Chainlink

Tragic news from last night (1/11):

A cyclist was killed in a collision with a car late Wednesday in Humboldt Park, police said.

He was in the 3000 block of West Division Street about 10:40 p.m. when a Chevy Cruise going north on Sacramento Avenue collided with him.

The cyclist was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead. No other injuries were reported.

The driver of the car, a 38-year-old man, has not been issued citations as of early Thursday, police said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-cyclist-killed...

UPDATE: Justin Breen of DNAinfo:

Cyclist fatality struck by car ID'd as Jezniah Smith, 34: Officials

dnain.fo/2jJ04qg 

Go Fund Me site for the family: https://www.gofundme.com/39e5lts

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Rest in Peace Jezniah Smith

Another sad story for our Chicago cycling community. However, it still boggles my mind that after reading 4 different "news" pieces on this tragedy I keep seeing something like "it's unclear if the icy roads were a factor"...... I swear this kind of ridiculous statement can only be seen in the U.S. where auto industrial complex has successfully brainwashed an entire nation to the effect that the driver is never guilty and all traffic crashes are blamed on cyclists, pedestrians, the weather, the road infrastructure, God, Obama, Trump, and who knows what else... 

I don't see any lights on the bicycle in the picture. Were they removed after the accident? That seems a strange thing to do, I just wondered why they would do that.

Roads are very icy after the rain froze, I slipped and skidded on my bicycle this morning and I'm sure I was not the only one.

It was slippery this morning but last night is a different story.  My fiance biked by the scene of the accident last night right after it occurred and he said road conditions were perfect. Not sure if the cyclist had lights but a witness said he was wearing an orange safety vest.  

You can see liquid water in some of the pictures.

My sympathy to the family and friends of Jezniah Smith.

https://www.gofundme.com/393q75k

If you can help the family with final expenses in any way that would be swell.

Memorial / ghost bike installation will be on 530 Monday January 23rd I hope to see a fee familiar faces there.

#ghostbikeschicago

From the Streetsblog article:

"An officer from Police News Affairs previously stated that the police believe Randall had a green light when he struck Smith, which is why he wasn’t cited. However, attorney Michael Keating noted that the crash report makes no mention of independent witnesses or surveillance camera footage. There are no traffic cameras at the intersection, although the city’s traffic camera map shows that there is a speed camera about a block south of Division on Sacramento, which may have taken footage of the northbound driver.

“The only version of the story we have is from the driver,” Keating said. “Therefore it’s unreasonable for the police to presume that the driver had the green.” He added that part of the reason the family is filing a lawsuit is that this will provide the firm with the power to subpoena the police department’s file on the case, as well as any witnesses or security camera footage that may exist."

The Ghost Bike Memorial is tomorrow night.

http://www.thechainlink.org/events/remembering-jezniah-smith-ghost-...

If you are able to help, the family is $600 short to cover funeral expenses. Go Fund Me site for the family: https://www.gofundme.com/39e5lts

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