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Tragically, the pandemic biking growth has correlated with a rise in Chicago biking fatalities. This morning the town noticed its seventh on-street bike loss of life, as a driver fatally struck a person, 28, driving one of many new electric-assist Divvy bikes at Warren Boulevard and Damen Avenue close to the United Heart on the Close to West Aspect.
At about 7:50 a.m. the bike owner was driving south on Damen when the eastbound motorist hit him, in accordance with police. “The [driver] went by a yellow gentle and couldn’t cease in time attributable to water on the road inflicting him to hit the bicyclist,” police stated. Nonetheless, this afternoon a police spokesperson stated the crash report is just not but finalized, so it wasn’t clear whether or not there have been witnesses who said that the driving force had the precise of approach and slid on moist pavement, or if that was merely the story that the motorist gave to the responding officers.
The bike owner was taken to Stroger Hospital the place he was pronounced useless shortly afterwards, police stated. The Cook dinner County medical expert’s workplace has not but launched his identification.
The driving force, who was unhurt, remained on the scene, in accordance with police. No citations or expenses have been issued, police stated. Detectives are investigating the case.
The Divvy bike-share system launched in summer season 2013 and had beforehand seen just one fatality, the loss of life of Virginia Murray, 25, who was run over by a right-turning flatbed truck driver in July 2016 at Belmont and Sacramento avenues in Avondale. The e-Divvies had been launched on July 29 of this 12 months, solely six weeks in the past. The brand new bikes present {an electrical} help to riders that shuts off as soon as a velocity of 15 mph is reached.
That’s to not say the brand new know-how was essentially an element on this crash. The collision occurred on the intersection of two-lane streets with non-protected bike lanes.
With this seventh on-street bike fatality this 12 months, Chicago has already seen extra biking deaths than the average of about 5.8 on-street bike fatalities per 12 months from 2012 to 2016, and the very best quantity since 2015, which noticed seven deaths throughout your entire 12 months. (An eighth individual, Mark Goodman, 56, died in August of this 12 months after struggling mind accidents in a crash with another cyclist on the Lakefront Path close to Belmont Avenue.)
Whereas it’s not but sure what brought on this newest tragedy, it’s clear that the town of Chicago wants to reply to the latest improve in biking by selecting up the tempo of protected bikeway set up, or else we’re prone to proceed to see a corresponding spike in bike deaths. Fill out the city’s 2021 budget survey and urge Mayor Lori Lightfoot to maintain her campaign promise to earmark $20 million yearly for protected biking and strolling infrastructure.
Listed below are the opposite 2020 on-street Chicago bike fatalities.
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