Articles Posted in Bicycle Accidents

The Chicago injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. take note of the growing use of Divvy-Chicago’s first large scale bike sharing program. The program, which began in July of 2013 with just 750 bikes and 75 stations, has grown significantly over the past year, to its current status of 3000 bikes and 300 stations. Divvy, which represents the idea of “dividing and sharing” the use of bicycles, is a concept that appears to be catching on, as can be seen by increased presence of Divvy bikes throughout the city. As stated in an April 15, 2014 report by the Chicago Tribune:

“Following a brutal winter, Chicagoans have embraced the blue-colored bikes at the first signs of spring. Riders, for example, took more than 25,000 trips during the first week of April as temperatures rose above 40 degrees.”

According to a city estimate, the number of trips taken on Divvy bikes is approaching nearly a million since the program’s initiation nearly 10 months ago. The program’s success is good news for Chicagoans, many who were worried about whether the program would continue, following a report in January that the company had filed bankruptcy. Despite this, the bike share program appears to be thriving, and although it fell short of its original expansion goal of ‘4000 bicycles and 400 bikes by Spring of 2014,’ with the program’s continued success, Divvy may very well reach this goal in the near future.

As friends and family mourn the death of 26-year-old Robert “Bobby” Cann, they are joined by bicycling enthusiasts throughout Chicago who are also grieving this tragic loss. Known for his passion for cycling, multi-state treks, and participation in Chicago’s monthly Mass ride, the anguish felt by community residents was clearly evident at the Memorial held in his honor following his death. The bicycle accident attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. join with residents and community activist groups alike in their efforts to push for more safety awareness and avoid preventable tragedies like this one.

The accident occurred on May 29, 2013 while Cann rode his bicycle home from work along Clybourn Avenue, near Larabee Street. As Cann traveled southeast, he was struck from behind by a Mercedes that, just prior, had collided with another vehicle. Although Cann was wearing a helmet at the time of the bicycling accident, the violent impact caused his body to be thrown from his bike, resulting in a severe laceration to his leg. He was rushed by ambulance to a nearby Chicago hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time thereafter.

According to police, the driver of the Mercedes, 28-year-old Ryne San Hamel, had a blood-alcohol content level of .127. Hamel was subsequently charged with reckless homicide, aggravated DUI, misdemeanor DUI, reckless driving, and failure to stay in the lane. In addition to Hamel’s $100,000 bond, his passport was also revoked. Undoubtedly there will be continued controversy over this incident, given Hamel’s blood-alcohol content being less than the legal limit of .08, yet Hamel having clearly been the cause of this tragic bicycle accident.

Following years of careful planning, construction on Chicago’s Bloomingdale Trail project was initiated on August 27, 2013. The project is part of a network of parks, collectively referred to as the ‘606,’ named for the communities sharing the zipcode prefix 606 that will be linked through several trail access points, with Bloomingdale Park serving as the centerpiece. While the trail access points will be at ground level, the actual park, ‘The Bloomingdale,’ and the trails to the park, will be constructed on the elevated track of land formerly home to the railway system known as the Bloomingdale Line. The Bicycling Accident Attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C., look forward to the much needed safety that this network of trails will provide to the residents of our community, and also note the endless amount of additional benefits the project will offer.

The $54 Million Bloomingdale project and larger 606 project, with an estimated $91 Million first-phase expense, are by no mean small endeavors. In fact, with an anticipated 15 acres of park land, it may be one of Chicago’s largest parks and recreation projects since the construction of Millennium Park nearly ten years ago. Many agree that the cost of the project will prove to be a worthy investment in terms of the anticipated economic growth. As stated by Mayor Emanuel during a groundbreaking ceremony, “[The Bloomingdale Trail] is going to do, in my view, for our neighborhoods what Millennium Park has done for our downtown.”

By far, one of the most highly anticipated benefits of the Bloomindale/ 606 project is the manner in which it will link communities together by providing 2.7 miles of throughway connected by points of access spaced in quarter mile increments. As a result, bicyclists and pedestrians will have a safe means for which to travel between communities. As stated by Mayor Emanuel, “it will bring neighborhoods together in a united, unified way.” The current plan calls for access points at the following locations:

Recent developments in bicycling infrastructure in Chicago, and its surrounding Illinois suburbs are certainly encouraging. However, as with any change, a period of adjustment can be anticipated. Of particular concern are bicycle accidents caused when a driver or passenger exits a vehicle as an oncoming bicyclist approaches. This type of accident is commonly referred to as ‘dooring.’ The bicycle accident attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. caution both vehicle occupants and bicyclists to maintain an awareness of their surroundings as the city implements bicycling infrastructure.

With many bike routes running along the outside, and others now running on the inside of parking spaces, the potential for dooring has perhaps doubled. In areas where bike lane positioning has changed, those used to its previous location, may either fail to look for bicyclists, or don’t think to warn unaware passengers of to watch for oncoming bicyclists. The potential for a bicycling accident is further increased when bicycling infrastructure calls for the creation of a bike lane along a roadway where no lane previously existed. Although signage cautioning motorists to keep a lookout for oncoming bicyclists have aided in the reduction of bicycling accidents caused by dooring, these tragic accidents continue to occur.

Realizing the danger of dooring accidents for bicyclists, Chicago’s Mayor introduced a proposal in May of 2013 that would double the fine for drivers and passengers who ‘door’ a bicyclist, from its previous $500, to $1000. The press release for the Mayor’s proposal can be viewed at the City of Chicago’s official website (www.cityofchicago.org). In addition to increased fines, the Mayor also announces that stickers stating “Look, Before Opening Your Door” will be placed in the rear passenger window of the City’s 7000 cabs. The bicycle accident attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. support the Mayor’s safety initiatives, and are hopeful that it well help to reduce injury and fatality caused by dooring accidents.

Chicago Mayor Emanuel has long been an avid supporter of initiatives and planning aimed at promoting bike safety and awareness. Amongst recent efforts was Emanuel’s May 2013 proposal to make changes to Chicago’s bike ordinances which calls for variances in passing position for bicyclists overtaking vehicles, as well as increase fines for violations. The Bicycle Accident Attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. support Mayor Emanuel’s efforts in making much needed progress in improving the safety our City’s bicyclists.

The Mayor’s proposal came following a bicycling accident involving Emanuel’s 22-year-old daughter. While commenting on his proposal in terms of safety through legislation, Emanuel also implicitly suggested the need for awareness in circumstances where the law cannot help, in making the following statements to the Chicago Tribune:

Chicago Mayor Emanuel has long been an avid supporter of initiatives and planning aimed at promoting bike safety and awareness. Amongst recent efforts was Emanuel’s May 2013 proposal to make changes to Chicago’s bike ordinances which calls for variances in passing position for bicyclists overtaking vehicles, as well as increase fines for violations. The Bicycle Injury Attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. support Mayor Emanuel’s efforts in making much needed progress in improving the safety our City’s bicyclists.

As the community mourns the tragic death of a 50-year-old Aurora cyclist killed after being stuck by an Evanston motorist, the Bicycle Accident Attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. are reminded, yet again, of the inherent dangers of cycling in Chicago and its surrounding communities. The accident occurred on June 27, 2013 in the Kane County community of Batavia. Due to the lack of bike lanes along this stretch of roadway, bicyclists are both forced to and also legally permitted to, ride in the same lanes as traveling motorists.

According to eyewitnesses, as bicycling accident victim Richard White propelled his bicycle along Nelson Lake Road, a scenic two-lane road in Batavia Township, the rear wheel of his bicycle was allegedly struck by a vehicle being operated by 26-year-old MaMaxima Corazano Cordin Ty, who was traveling directly behind White’s bicycle. As the investigation continues, questions remain as to why this motorist continued to travel in the same pathway along the roadway, as other motorists safely passed the bicyclist in accordance with traffic laws.

As the community mourns the tragic death of a 50-year-old Aurora cyclist killed after being stuck by an Evanston motorist, the Bicycle Accident Attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. are reminded, yet again, of the inherent dangers of cycling in Chicago and its surrounding communities. The accident occurred on June 27, 2013 in the Kane County community of Batavia. Due to the lack of bike lanes along this stretch of roadway, bicyclists are both forced to and also legally permitted to, ride in the same lanes as traveling motorists.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing a new Chicago ordinance that would increase fins for bicyclists that do not obey traffic rules and for motorists who open their car doors without looking according to a Chicago Sun-Times article. The proposed ordinance would increase the fines for bicyclists who break traffic laws from $25 to a range of $50 t0 $200 dollars. The fine for parked motorists who open their car door in front of a bicyclist would be raised from $500 to $1000 dollars.

The bicycle accident lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. know first hand how dangerous and how common “dooring” accidents are in the city of Chicago since we handle many of these cases for injured bikers. A “doored” bicyclist at best is thrown on to the pavement and at worse is knocked by the door into the path of moving traffic. Either way, serious injuries are likely to result. CDOT now gathers data about the frequency of dooring accidents. Out of 1,675 bike crashes in Chicago last year, 250 were dooring crashes.

In a further attempt to reduce dooring crashes, the city plans to distribute stickers to be placed in taxi cabs in view of taxi passengers, reminding them to look out for bicyclist before exiting a taxi cab.

The bicycle accident and injury attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. know that with the inclement winter weather behind us, Chicago bicycle enthusiasts have begun to emerge once again. Unfortunately, the busy roadways of Chicago, and surrounding Illinois suburbs, often present dangerous circumstances for bicyclists sharing such roadways with cars, trucks, and buses. With motor vehicle accidents involving bicyclists on the rise in recent years, our bicycle accident attorneys were pleased to see our state address safety issues through The Illinois Department of Transportation’s (IDOT) launch of a Bike Transportation Plan Initiative.

Recommendations for the final plan, which is due for to be completed by December 2013 include:

• Bicycling related planning and policy recommendations,

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports a 9% increase in bicyclist fatalities between 2010 and 2011. The bicycle accident injury attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. take note of this alarming increase in bicycle fatalities in recent years. However, statistics show that bicycle accident fatalities currently account for only approximately 2% of all fatalities sustained during motor vehicle traffic fatalities. It is actually far more common for a bicyclist to sustain a severe head injury, rather than death, during an accident with a motorist. Our team of experienced injury attorneys represent residents of Chicago and surrounding cities, who sustained severe injuries, as a result of an accident occurring between a motorist and bicyclist.

Because bicyclists lack the protection that vehicles provide, injuries sustained in bicycling accidents are often much more severe than the injuries that may be sustained by a motorist during the same accident. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “The most serious injuries among a majority of those killed are to the head, highlighting the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet.” As reported by numerous studies, use of a bicycle helmet can reduce the risk of a head injury by 85%. Our bicycle injury attorneys wish that all bicyclists would reduce their risk of injury through use of bicycle helmets, however this is not always the case, partly due to lack of state regulation requiring helmet use.

Although Illinois does not currently have a statewide regulation requiring the use of helmets while riding a bicycle, some cities within Illinois have enacted ordinances, such as Cicero, Inverness, and Skokie, which require that bicyclists under the age of 16 to use helmets. Barrington bicyclists under the age of 17 must also utilize helmets. Also, bicycle messengers in Chicago, regardless of age, are required to wear helmets while performing their messenger duties. Our team of experienced bicycle accident attorneys understand, that in the absence of regulation requiring helmet use, severe injuries resulting from bicycle accidents, often time involving traumatic brain injury, will continue to increase.