Motorist in River Forest Hit-and-Run of Bicyclist Arrested

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The Chicago Tribune is reporting that River Forest police have arrested a Hillside man for a bicycle vs. motor vehicle hit-and-run collision. The collision happened on Friday, March 18th at approximately 5:19 p.m. near Central and Lathrop Avenues in River Forest.

The driver of the motor vehicle made a left-hand turn directly into the bicyclist and then fled the scene. This is what is often referred to as a "left hook." Due to witnesses, police were able to track down the motorist and charge him with a series of moving violations. Witnesses also stated that the bicycle had the right-of-way and the motorist did not give the bicyclist time to clear the intersection.

The River Forest police should be commended for investigating this collision that many nearby municipalities may have considered "minor" and not worthy of an investigation. Under Illinois tort law, the bicyclist has a clear personal injury action against the motorist for the injuries that he sustained in the collision as well as medical bills, loss of a normal life, any lost wages and other damages.

If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Illinois personal injury law, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com . All initial consultations are confidential and free.

IDOT Fails to Track Doorings

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is failing to track "dooring" collisions where a motorist opens their door into the path of a bicyclist. IDOT's rationale for not tracking "doorings" is that, by definition, the motor vehicle is stopped at the time of the collision. This rationale is completely illogical as part of the motor vehicle, the door, is moving and it is operated by the driver of the motor vehicle.

The City of Chicago, however, does track "doorings" that were reported to the police and turns over that information to IDOT. However, IDOT still does not track the data related to "doorings" and incorporate it into statewide vehicle-bicycle crash counts. The fundamental problem with this failure is that there are therefore no accurate statistics related to the frequency or extent of "doorings" in Chicago.

According to data in the article, Chicago police received reports of 76 "doorings" in 2010 and 62 in 2009. Seventy-six dooring crashes were reported to Chicago police last year and 62 in 2009. But the data from "doorings" are not incorporated into statewide vehicle-bicycle crash counts. Therefore, IDOT's statistics that between 2005 through 2009 there was an average of more than 3,500 motor vehicle vs. bicycle collisions that resulted in 18 to 27 deaths and 3,300 annual injuries are incomplete and inaccurate.

Further complicating problems for bicyclists is the fact that Chicago police rarely issue tickets to the motorists responsible for the "dooring." Since 2008 Chicago police have not issued any tickets for "doorings." This is ironic because in 2008 the City of Chicago amended its Municipal Code to specifically address "doorings" and other dangerous actions by motorists that affect bicyclists. Section 9-80-035 provides the following:

No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers. Added Coun. J. 3-12-08, p. 22781, § 2

Illinois Bicycle Lawyer Mike Keating has handled numerous cases involving "doorings." While IDOT and the Chicago Police Department may not fully enforce the laws, the laws are there for your protection and can be used in a civil action against the driver who "doors" a motorist and their insurance company. Just because the police do not issue a traffic citation does NOT mean that the motorist or their insurance company can "get off the hook" for injuries that they caused a bicyclist when they broke the law and opened their door into the path of a bicyclist. The law is the law and it is my job to enforce it when the police or IDOT fail to do so.

If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Illinois personal injury law, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com . All initial consultations are confidential and free.

Chicago to Test "Cycle Tracks" for Bike Lanes

Chicago's Department of Transportation has received a $3.2 Million Federal grant to build and test a "Cycle Track" on Stony Island Avenue between 69th and 77th Streets on Chicago's South Side. This is an interesting choice for the test because this is an area of the city that is not typically considered a "high volume" area for bicyclists. However, the infrastructure is ripe for a test program of this nature and ideally "if you build it, they will come."

A "Cycle Track" is essentially a dedicated bike lane that is separated from the main roadway and motor vehicles by a curb, a sidewalk, planter boxes or other kinds of physical dividers. The purpose of a "Cycle Track" is to allow bicycles to safely travel and to allow for all kinds of traffic to travel more fluidly.

If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Illinois personal injury law, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com . All initial consultations are confidential and free.

Romeoville to Link Bike Path to Commercial Area

View Larger MapWhile the focus of The Illinois Bicycle Lawyer blog is most often related to legal issues surrounding bicycle crashes and other bicycle-related incidents resulting in injuries, I also believe it is important to touch on public policy issues in Illinois related to bicycling. Most often these stories stem from a decision by the State or a local municipality to make an expenditure that creates or redevelops infrastructure that is conducive to bicycling and leads to higher rates of ridership. In plain language, your tax dollars get put to work building a new bike path, repaving an old one, or new routes or signage are installed.

TribLocal has a story on Romeoville's decision (click here for the "Bike Trail Master Plan") to build a 1200 foot bike path that will connect a commercial area to an already existing bike path. The goal for a development of this nature is not only to increase ridership, but also to get more (bicycle) traffic to the commercial area. The path will be located along Budler Road roughly between Tuscany Lane to Trafalgar Drive.

If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Illinois personal injury law, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com . All initial consultations are confidential and free.

Rocky Mountain Bicycles Announces Recall of Defective Forks

Another recall involving defective bicycle forks has been announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The ProCycle Group, Inc. (a Canadian company) has recalled about 325 Rocky Mountain Bicycles because of reported problems with the front fork steering tube breaking. There are four reports of injuries stemming from incidents in which the Rocky Mountain Bicycle fork broke and the rider was injured.

Under Illinois law, if a bicyclist is injured because of a defective or unreasonably dangerous bike part that breaks during normal use, the manufacturer of that product may be liable for the damages incurred by the rider. Those damages can include medical bills, pain and suffering, disability, lost wages, and disfigurement depending on the nature and extent of the injury. If the accident occurs in Illinois or the manufacturer of the product does business in Illinois, then it is likely that Illinois law will apply.

Attorney Mike Keating has extensive experience working on product liability cases involving defective bicycle products. If you have any questions about a claim you may have stemming from a defective bicycle product, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com . All initial consultations are confidential and free.