Female Cyclist Left-Crossed By Taxi Driver While Riding In Lakeview Bicycle Lane

A 30 year old Chicago bicyclist was left-crossed by a taxi driver on April 5th as she rode south in the bicycle lane on North Clark Street in Lakeview.  The collision sent the female rider to the hospital with a concussion, a badly damaged shoulder and a deep gouge in her chin requiring stitches.  She remains in treatment.  The cyclist has retained my law firm to represent her.

The collision occurred at around 11:00 p.m. at the intersection of North Clark Street and West Drummond Place in the East Lakeview neighborhood.  The woman, an experienced city cyclist, was on her way home from a quiet evening with a friend in Rodgers Park.  She was riding with a bright, flashing front facing headlight and was wearing reflective clothing.  She also wore a helmet.  When she reached the t-intersection of Clark and Drummond, traffic to her left was stopped.  Without warning a taxi driver, northbound on Clark, turned left between the stopped cars then came to a halt across the southbound bicycle lane.  The cyclist had little time to attempt an emergency stop and could not avoid slamming into the side of the cab.  The impact threw her off her bike and into the road where she landed heavily on her left shoulder.  As she lay in the street with searing pain shooting through her shoulder and blood pouring from her chin she saw the taxi driver attempt to flee the scene down Drummond.  Fortunately, bystanders blocked the driver's get away until the police arrived.  

The cyclist was rushed via ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.  She was diagnosed with a concussion and received several stitches under her chin.  Though fractures were ruled out, she continues to experience pain and limited range of motion in her shoulder.  She also has numbness which radiates down the limb into her hand.  She continues to receive medical treatment and physical therapy for her injuries and has been placed on medical leave from her job working with children with behavioral problems.  She is not expected to return to her physically demanding job for at least another five weeks.

Elderly Motorist Strikes 20 Year Old Bicyclist In Lakeview

It was early twilight on a grey winter Wednesday, plenty of light left. As the 20 year old woman rode her bicycle southbound on North Lincoln Avenue, across the intersection with West Barry Avenue, she easily saw the red Dodge coming the other way.  The vehicle was beginning to turn left.  Surely he sees me, she thought.

At around 5:00 p.m. on January 16th the young photography student was struck by the 74 year old driver who was attempting to turn left from northbound Lincoln onto westbound Barry in Lakeview.  He would later claim to have not seen the cyclist, though she would have been easily visible.  The front corner of his vehicle hit the left side of the bicycle flipping its rider onto the hood where her face bounced off of the cold metal before she was thrown to the street.  When she leapt to her feet, adrenalin surging, blood was pouring from her broken nose and mouth.  An ambulance rushed her to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center nearby.

My law firm has been retained to represent the bicyclist.  Her face is healing but she continues to endure dental work to fix her broken teeth.

It is no defense in our state for a driver to say that he looked but did not see.  Since at least 1965, the Illinois appellate court has held that the unseeing eye defense is no defense at all.

Chicago Bicyclist Doored By Uninsured Driver To Receive Compensation

The bottom edge of the car door sliced into the bicyclist, a huge bloody curtain of skin and muscle drawn back revealing the two large bones of his lower right leg.  It seemed as if a shaky surgeon cut a large slab from the side of his leg below the knee.  Minutes later an ambulance would rush him to the hospital to undergo surgery.  Weeks later he would have insult added to injury:  The driver that doored him was uninsured.

At around 4:00 p.m. on July 10th, a 34 year old male cyclist was doored on his way home from work on North Lincoln Avenue, just north of West Webster Avenue, in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. He was pedaling at a leisurely pace in Lincoln Avenue's dedicated bicycle lane when the driver of a 2002 Mitsubishi parked along the curb carelessly open her door just as the cyclist was riding by.  The bottom of the door sliced open the man's leg as he passed and caused him to crash hard to the street.  Thankfully, he avoided being hit by passing vehicles.  The wound to his leg was very serious however.  He was rushed via ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he underwent surgery that evening.

The bicyclist incurred over $25,000 in medical bills.  At first he tried to resolve the matter with the driver himself.  However, when he learned that she had let her auto insurance coverage lapse before the crash, he contacted my law firm for help.  We immediately notified the bicyclist's own auto insurer that he was injured by an uninsured driver.  If an injured bicyclist has his or her own motor vehicle insurance policy, or is covered under another family member's policy, the cyclist may look to the uninsured or underinsured motorist provision of that policy. This is permitted even though the victim was riding a bicycle and the accident did not involve his or her own motor vehicle. Generally, your uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage protects you even when you are injured by a motor vehicle while a bicyclist or pedestrian.  Yesterday, after some hard work and diligence we were able to resolve the bicyclist's uninsured motorist claim for the full amount of coverage, $100,000.

Chicago Bicycle Suffers Serious Leg Injury After Dooring

As the bicyclist lay in the street he looked down at his limb and saw a huge bloody curtain of skin and muscle drawn back revealing the two large bones of his lower right leg.  It seemed as if a shaky surgeon cut a large slab from the side of his leg below the knee.  The instrument of this carnage, however, was a car door.

At around 4:00 p.m. on July 10th, a 34 year old male cyclist was doored on his way home from work on North Lincoln Avenue, just north of West Webster Avenue, in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. He was pedaling at a leisurely pace in Lincoln Avenue's dedicated bicycle lane when the driver of a 2002 Mitsubishi parked along the curb carelessly open her door just as the cyclist was riding by.  The bottom of the door sliced open the man's leg as he passed and caused him to crash hard to the street.  Thankfully, he avoided being hit by passing vehicles.  The wound to his leg was very serious however.  He was rushed via ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he underwent surgery that evening.

After extensive treatment, the bicyclist retains an ugly scar on his lower leg and suffers from numbness that radiates into his right foot.  He has recovered full use of the leg, however.

My law firm has been retained to represent the bicyclist.