The tragic death of Chicago Department of Transportation employee and bicyclist Riley O’Neil continues to reverberate throughout Chicago’s bicycling community — and now several members of the Chicago City Council are calling for concrete action to make Chicago’s streets safer.
In a September 15, 2026 opinion piece published by the Chicago Tribune, Aldermen Daniel La Spata (1st Ward), Matt Martin (47th Ward), Julia Ramirez (12th Ward), and Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) argue that O’Neil’s death was preventable and that Chicago cannot afford to reduce its investment in safer streets.
Their message deserves the attention of every Chicagoan who walks, rides a bicycle, uses an e-bike or e-scooter, or simply wants our streets to be safer.
The Tragic Death of Riley O’Neil
On June 5, 2026, Riley O’Neil was riding his bicycle on Halsted Street in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood when a driver opened a vehicle door into his path. The driver was later cited for the dooring and for being uninsured.
O’Neil was riding in a painted bicycle lane alongside parked vehicles on Halsted Street which is one of Chicago's "Major Mile" streets on the city's grid.
The circumstances illustrate one of the dangers Chicago bicyclists know all too well: dooring.
O’Neil’s death was especially painful for Chicago’s bicycling community because bicycle safety was part of his life's work. O’Neil was a member of CDOT’s Complete Streets team and worked professionally to improve transportation safety and accessibility in Chicago.
Chicago Aldermen: This Death Was Preventable
The four aldermen make their position clear: traffic deaths should not simply be accepted as an unavoidable consequence of living in a large city.
They note that more than a dozen additional aldermen have endorsed a series of traffic-safety recommendations intended to prevent crashes, serious injuries, and deaths.
Importantly, their proposals go beyond telling bicyclists to "be careful."
That distinction matters.
Chicago cannot educate its way out of every dangerous street. Individual cyclists can wear helmets, use lights, ride defensively, obey traffic laws, and remain constantly alert. But no amount of individual caution can substitute for a transportation system designed to reduce the consequences of human error.
The aldermen identify three areas where they believe Chicago can act immediately.
1. Maintain and Increase CDOT Staffing and Safe-Streets Funding
The first proposal involves resources.
The aldermen call for the Chicago Department of Transportation to be exempted from the City's hiring freeze so that vacant positions can be filled. They specifically identify a shortage of traffic engineers as a bottleneck that can delay traffic studies and street improvements.
They also call on Chicago to maintain — and where possible increase — CDOT and capital-improvement funding as the City develops its 2027 budget.
This is an important point.
Protected bicycle lanes, safer intersections, pedestrian improvements, traffic calming and other Complete Streets projects do not simply appear. They require planning, engineering, community coordination, funding and implementation.
A commitment to safer streets therefore has to be reflected not just in statements following a tragedy, but in the City's budget.
2. Educate Chicago Drivers About Preventing Dooring
The aldermen's second proposal directly addresses the type of crash that resulted in O’Neil's death.
They propose working with the Chicago City Clerk to provide drivers with bicycle-safety information during the annual vehicle-sticker renewal process.
One specific technique they want Chicago drivers to learn is known as the "Dutch Reach."
Instead of opening the driver's door with the hand closest to the door, a driver uses the opposite hand. That movement naturally causes the driver to turn his or her upper body toward the window and makes it easier to look behind the vehicle for an approaching bicyclist before opening the door.
It is a simple habit that can save a life.
But education should complement — not replace — safer infrastructure.
A protected bicycle lane that physically separates moving bicyclists from parked vehicles and motor-vehicle traffic can address the danger at the street-design level rather than relying exclusively on every individual driver remembering to look.
3. Expand Traffic Enforcement and Make Smart Streets Permanent
The aldermen also call for Chicago to make the Smart Streets Pilot Program permanent and create a path toward expanding the program citywide.
Smart Streets uses automated enforcement to address vehicles illegally parking or standing in bicycle lanes and bus lanes.
Anyone who regularly rides a bicycle in Chicago understands why this matters.
A bicycle lane blocked by a parked vehicle is not merely an inconvenience. It can force a bicyclist out of the designated bicycle space and into moving motor-vehicle traffic.
The aldermen also call for continued work on recommendations developed by Chicago's Equity in Enforcement working group.
Chicago Law Already Recognizes the Rights of Bicyclists
Infrastructure and enforcement discussions should begin with a basic legal principle:
Bicyclists belong on Chicago's streets.
Chicago Municipal Code § 9-52-010 provides that a bicyclist operating on a roadway generally has the same rights — and is subject to the same duties — as the driver of a motor vehicle.
Illinois law likewise requires motorists to recognize bicyclists as legitimate roadway users. Among other protections, Illinois requires motorists passing a bicycle to leave at least three feet of space. State bicycle-safety guidance also specifically reminds motorists to check for bicyclists before opening a parked vehicle's door.
Chicago's traffic code also recognizes that bicyclists sometimes need to move away from the right side of the roadway to avoid dangerous conditions, including parked and moving vehicles, surface hazards, pedestrians and lanes too narrow for a bicycle and motor vehicle to safely travel side-by-side.
These laws matter because bicycle safety is not simply the responsibility of the person riding the bicycle.
Motorists have legal obligations, too.
Dooring Is Not Just an "Accident"
Dooring crashes are particularly important to understand because they are foreseeable.
A person riding alongside a line of parked vehicles can suddenly have a door opened directly into his or her path. At normal bicycling speeds, there may be little or no time to stop.
The bicyclist is then confronted with terrible options: strike the door, brake suddenly and potentially be thrown from the bicycle, or swerve into an adjacent traffic lane.
That is why Illinois law prohibits opening a vehicle door unless it is reasonably safe to do so and without interfering with moving traffic.
It is also why Chicago must continue looking beyond paint-only bicycle lanes toward infrastructure that provides meaningful separation where street conditions warrant it.
Safe Bicycle Infrastructure Protects Everyone
The discussion following O’Neil's death should not be framed as bicyclists versus motorists.
Safer streets benefit everyone.
Better intersection design, lower vehicle speeds, improved visibility, protected bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian refuge areas and other traffic-calming measures can reduce both the likelihood and severity of crashes involving bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning has similarly identified roadway safety as a regional challenge, noting that people walking and bicycling represent an increasing share of roadway fatalities in northeastern Illinois.
The goal should be straightforward:
A mistake on a Chicago street should not result in someone's death.
About Keating Law Offices
Keating Law Offices is a Chicago, Illinois personal injury law firm with extensive experience representing bicyclists and their families following serious bicycle crashes. The firm's founder, attorney Michael Keating, is currently a Chair of the Transportation Committee of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, was the longtime Chair of the American Association for Justice's Bicycle Litigation Committee and currently serves on the Board of Ride Illinois.
Through IllinoisBicycleLaw.com, Keating Law Offices works to educate Illinois bicyclists about their legal rights and advocate for safer streets throughout Chicago and Illinois.
