RIP, Richard White

North Aurora Bicyclist Killed in Rear End Bike Crash

Another Chicagoland bicyclist has passed away after being struck by a motor vehicle. On the afternoon of June 27, 2013, Richard White, a 50 year old North Aurora resident, was riding his bicycle on Nelson Lake Road near the Dick Young Forest Preserve in Batavia when his bicycle was struck from behind by a 2009 Nissan Rogue driven by a 26-year old Evanston resident. According to news reports, a preliminary investigation revealed that a number of cars traveling in the same direction as Mr. White's bicycle had appropriately moved over to drive around him, but the driver of the Nissan failed to do the same and instead struck the rear tire of Mr. White's bicycle. Upon impact, Mr. White was thrown from his bicycle and fatally injured...

Views: 700

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tim S on June 28, 2013 at 11:24am

sad

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on June 28, 2013 at 11:27am

horrible

Permalink Reply by pceasy on June 28, 2013 at 4:30pm

Ugh very sad to hear.

Permalink Reply by Agnieszka Z. on June 28, 2013 at 7:09pm

This makes me sick. 

Permalink Reply by Bez on June 28, 2013 at 10:26pm

I used to ride in this area, many years ago with cousins when my grandparents still lived in Batavia and maybe 5 years ago when I lived in what was technically St. Charles near there.

The whole area is nasty for riding and pretty much always has been.  Many cars will move over and respect you, but you'll get a number of SUV tank heros that refuse.  The whole region needs a good infusion of Bicycle Advocacy, but unfortunately the local governments are very car centric and prefers to build and expand massive strip mall complexes.  Check out a satellite image of Randall Road from 64 in St. Charles to Main Street in Batavia, most of that stuff is new in the last 15 years or so.  I've also had a bit of trouble locating ongoing advocacy in the area, so not sure if it's even happening (City of Aurora, for example, refuses to respond to my queries regarding the bike and pedestrian plan that they seem to have abandoned).  Heck, even where I'm at now (Aurora, on the edge of Naperville) is so nasty in areas that I have seriously considered carrying a rock to throw at the people that refuse to move over...on a road with very limited shoulder and no sidewalk (don't worry, I haven't been pushed to the point of actually throwing rocks at cars yet).  

This accident is really horrible, and my heart goes out to Mr. White's family.  I'm not shocked in the least that the driver wasn't immediately booked into custody and ticketed for more than she was.  Frankly, I'd imagine that the investigation is focusing on whether Mr. White was impeding traffic or whatever else that they pin on him.  I noted that the article specifically mentions that he was wearing headphones.

Permalink Reply by Richard Stiers on June 29, 2013 at 2:39am

...and now we hear that a convicted drunk driver in Will County gets only 8 years for killing a cyclist. Seems cyclist are in season....

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service