Woman doored on a Saturday night raises concerns about (lack of response) for cyclist

On my way back home Saturday night I witnessed the recent aftermath of a young lady getting doored.

All the other cyclists going to and fro on Milwaukee and Grand just passed by not concerned or aware. I turned around hoping to be of some help.

This was my first opportunity to call the crash support hotline. All I got was a recording telling me to leave a message and wait 24 hours for a response, in the meantime I should call 911.

Fortunately there was a young man there already tending to the injured cyclist and dealing with the driver who was already pissed off by being delayed going home.

I comforted the cyclist and asked the young man if he called police. He said the police are too busy to deal with a dooring incident on a Saturday night.

Experiencing a sort of #whiteprivilege via #drivingprivilege ;)

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Permalink Reply by Maurice on October 28, 2015 at 1:11pm
You went a little bit too far with that analogy.
Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on October 28, 2015 at 2:33pm

I appreciate the frustrations you went through and I appreciate your thoughtful care for the victim. That said, I don't think it is a good idea to use that hashtag for cyclists. I don't believe it's the same. Not even close. To compare our challenges to #blacklivesmatter minimizes their daily struggle and while I don't think you didn't mean to do that, I think we need to be sensitive to the importance of the issues surrounding the #blacklivesmatter movement.

Permalink Reply by Filka Bean on October 29, 2015 at 3:24am

Great diplomatic response, Yasmeen.

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on October 29, 2015 at 11:39am

Thank you Yasmeen,

You are a very good site administrator.

Me... well I am just stumbling through this short life.

Juan.

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on October 28, 2015 at 2:40pm
Juan, I know Saturday nights are very busy with 911 calls. Was this cyclist even tended to by paramedics?
Permalink Reply by Steve G on October 29, 2015 at 1:25am

"...being a cyclist makes one experience the kind of hopelessness and disregard people of color receive on a daily basis"

Sorry, this is simply wrong on several levels. 

Permalink Reply by daWillinChi on October 29, 2015 at 3:41am

All this made me think about how being a cyclist makes one experience the kind of hopelessness and disregard people of color receive on a daily basis.

Oh no, you didn't! #sowrong 

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on October 29, 2015 at 4:28am

Yasmeen offered a pretty great reply and even Maurice offered a specific suggestion. Just yelling at the OP and telling him he was wrong without explaining why does nothing to advance the conversation. We need to encourage people to discuss issues of race and power and all that, not shut them down when they are trying to express some kind of solidarity, even if their language does not suit our sensibilities.

Permalink Reply by Steve G on October 29, 2015 at 4:47am

Point taken.

To the OP, Juan - It's not a matter of sensibilities, or even sensitivity, but of understanding the scope and the source of the different issues. This civil rights movement against race discrimination is a centuries old, unresolved complaint that people are being treated unequally based simply on the color of their skin, which is not a choice.  (and I understate)

It would be difficult to prove the case that cyclists are systematically discriminated against, when we have seen the kinds of infrastructure changes that have occurred over the past decade. 

The fact of cyclists' troubles not being the focus of enough attention, or the correct attention, as passionate as one may be about it (and I am), must take a back seat to more important, even urgent, cultural issues. 

The two issues are quite different, so it's an error to appropriate the slogan of one to give value to the other.  But now I'm just repeating what Yasmeen said.... 

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on October 29, 2015 at 5:15am

Sorry to hear about the crash you witnessed, Juan. Thanks for calling the Hotline. I checked the call log and we did receive a call Saturday night but no one left a message. Our outgoing message does recommend calling 911, filing a police report and not refusing medical treatment. But it also asks callers to leave their name and callback info so we can get back in touch if we miss you. We get lots of random calls, butt dials and telemarketing calls, so unless someone leaves a message with callback info we don't call back. I hope things worked out for the person you tried to help. Thanks for stopping.

 

Jason Jenkins

Crash Support Programs Manager

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on November 7, 2015 at 5:56pm

we have a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooo0000000000000000000000000000000ng way to go

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