Update On Supposed Hit and Run Involving Chicago Bicyclist

For the past day and a half many in Chicago's bicycle community have been concerned about a supposed hit and run on Tuesday evening that left a bicyclist dead or dying in the street at Lawrence and Kimball.  The event was posed by Chicago Redeye blogger, Goatking, who described a horrible scene he apparently witnessed first hand.  Turns out that the story was quite different than was reported.  At the request of concerned bicyclists the Active Transportation Alliance investigated and learned the following:

The person mentioned in the “Goat King” blog was not struck by a car but actually fell off of her bike around 11pm.

Active Trans staff did some research regarding the cyclist mentioned in this blog. According to the 17^th Police District, the only traffic accident reported in that area on July 27, 2010, occurred at 11pm at 3318 W. Lawrence. There was a cyclist who had fallen off of her bike and was taken to the hospital where she was treated for a bump to the head. Initial reports into 911 speculated that a vehicle was involved, but the statement that the cyclist gave the police negated that fact. No fatalities or other bicycle related incidents occurred in that area on that date.

I'm not sure what Goatking was thinking in speculating about what had happened.  What is even more disturbing is that a main stream media source, Chicago Redeye/Chicago Now, allowed this falsity to be published on its website.

Tragic Hit and Run Leaves Chicago Cyclist Unconscious

A hit and run motorist left a female bicyclist laying unconscious in the street near the intersection of Kimball and Lawrence last night, according to Chicago Redeye blogger, Goatking.  In his first hand account, the blogger describes a "gruesome" scene in which the woman lay seemingly dead in the street near "the wreck of metal that was once her bike" with her "groceries still strapped onto the handlebars" as police and EMTs worked to care for her.  Click here to read Goatking's post.