Chicago Accident Lawyer Blog
Written by Peter Zneimer
Chicago has had only 0ne bicyclist fatality in 2024 as of September 16, 2024. Though any bike death is a tragedy, that number is a vast improvement from previous years. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, Chicago reported seven bicyclist deaths in 2023, 10 deaths in 2022, and 11 in 2021. The question that Chicago city officials and bike safety advocates is contemplating is whether the decrease is a fluke or whether the decrease can be attributed to actions taken by the city to improve bike safety.
The bike injury lawyers of Zneimer and Zneimer P.C. note that the city of Chicago has been committed to broad program to improve bike safety in the city. Chicago, in recent years, has instituted 50 miles of bike safety upgrades and 27 miles protected bike lanes that have been completed by the Chicago Department of Transportation. Though improvements have been made, Chicago has a ways to reach its vision zero goals of zero traffic deaths since there have been 22 pedestrian deaths and 41 traffic deaths in Chicago through July of 2024 according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.
Bike safety proponents believe the city can do more to prevent bike crashes such as expanding protected bike lanes through out the city. Additionally, a push has been made to reduce the default speed limit on Chicago streets to 25 MPH. Practical considerations, however, may slow down the addition of more protected bike lanes. Most city streets simply are not wide enough to add protected bike lanes without eliminating street parking spaces. Small business owners claim their profitability will suffer if their customers are unable to find a parking spaces. Additionally, critics of additional protected bike lanes point out that Chicago weather is not conducive to bike transportation since Chicago only has a few months of warm weather a year where people will realistically be riding bicycles. The bike skeptics argue that it is irrational to take away parking spaces and slow down traffic with protected bike lanes that are only used 6 months out of the year.
The bicycle lawyers of Zneimer and Zneimer, P.C. are confident that compromise positions can be reach so that bicyclists are protected without seriously affecting small businesses nor clogging motor vehicle traffic.