Take The Lane, Please

On Tuesday I wrote about how Illinois law permits bicyclists to "take the lane" when it is reasonable and necessary for them to do so. Today I came across a story in USA Today about how the city of Long Beach, California is encouraging cyclists to take the lane and ride with and even in front of motorized traffic. Check it out.

Ride To The Right, Except When You Can't

Illinois bicyclists must ride along the right side of the roadway, except when they can't. Let me explain: If you are able to travel at the same speed as motorized traffic, then you may travel in the same lane. However, if you cannot the law requires that you ride "as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway." 625 ILCS 5/11-1505. But anyone with experience riding in the city knows that doing so is rarely easy. Torn-up pavement, stopped cars, debris, CTA buses, pedestrians and man-eating crocodiles often inhabit the "right-hand curb or edge of the roadway" making cycling scary and dangerous. What is the cyclist permitted to do when faced with such hazards? Section 11-1505 of the Motor Vehicle Code contains an exception. It states that you must ride to the right "except. . . When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions [like] fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, motorized pedal cycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge." (emphasis added) What this means in plain language is that if an object like, say, a tree branch or a bus sits in your path on the right side of the road, you may move to your left, taking the traffic lane, in order to proceed around the object. You must then return to the right side of the road.

Bicyclists may "take the lane" when it is reasonable to do so. City streets do not exist for motorized traffic, but for all traffic. That is the law. That fact noted, I must caution that taking the lane does not mean darting into traffic, not looking before merging left. The Municipal Code of Chicago, and good sense, states, "Every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride as near as practicable to the right-hand side of the roadway, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same same direction and at all times giving the right-of-way to other moving vehicles." 9-52-040(c) If there is a motor vehicle coming up on your left that vehicle will have the right of way and the cyclist must yield. However, the motorist owes the cyclist a duty of care as well. Chicago's Municipal Code states, "The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle or individual proceeding in the same direction on a highway shall leave a safe distance, but not less than 3 feet, when passing the bicycle or individual and shall maintain that distance until safely past the overtaken bicycle or individual." 9-36-010(c) When a bicyclist moves to his or her left to go around an object along the right side of the roadway cars and trucks may not crowd or buzz the cyclist, but must give three feet of space at minimum.

Memorial Ride Planned For Fallen Cyclist

A memorial ride for Liza Whitacre is planned for Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. The ride will start at Metropolis Coffee (1039 W Granville Ave), where Liza worked, and will follow her route to the place of her death, Wellington and Damen by Hamlin Park in Roscoe Village. All are welcome.

In Memory Of A Fallen Cyclist

Here is the Chicago Tribune's remembrance of Liza Whitacre:

Woman killed on bicycle loved freedom of riding

Loyola University student Liza Whitacre loved life -- especially one where she could roam freely through Chicago's streets on a bicycle.

But a freak accident ended her life on Wednesday as she and her roommate rode their bikes through the Lakeview neighborhood.

Whitacre, of the 4900 block of North Winthrop Avenue, fell from her bike, landed underneath a truck and was run over by the vehicle outside Hamlin Park on Damen and Wellington Avenues. Police said she was trying to pass between the truck and a CTA bus when she fell off her bike.

Chicago police today said no citations would likely be issued against the driver of the truck. After the accident at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Officer John Mirabelli, a police spokesman said, "The truck driver was apparently unaware that the woman had fallen underneath."

Whitacre was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

"She rode her bike everywhere. She loved riding her bike," said Tony Dreyfuss, Whitacre's boss at the Metropolis Coffee Company, 1039 W. Granville Ave., where she worked.

Dreyfuss said Whitacre participated in Critical Mass, a monthly biking event that draws up to 3,000 cyclists who ride through Chicago's streets. But Dreyfuss, who has ridden with Whitacre, described her as a careful rider who wouldn't dart into traffic or travel in between moving cars.

Dreyfuss said Whitacre planned on making coffee her career. Whitacre worked as a retail and wholesale trainer at the shop, training other employees how to make specialty coffee drinks and promoting the shop's products to customers, he said.

The coffee shop was closed today because of Whitacre's death and expected to reopen Friday morning, Dreyfuss said.

Whitacre's family members said she was fluent in French, studying the language at Loyola University. She also enjoyed knitting, sewing and cooking.

Whitacre's younger sister, Lauren Whitacre, said she and Liza were inseparable while growing up.

Lauren, 18, said she and her sister always sat next to one another at birthday parties. As children when they'd ride bikes together, Lauren said, Liza would always hide in bushes and pop out from them just to scare her.

"I don't think we ever didn't do anything together," said Lauren, a student at Columbia College, who jokingly described her big sister as "bossy."

Liza Whitacre was born in Phoenix, Ariz., but spent her formative years in the northwest suburb of Palatine, where she attended Fremd High School.

Other survivors include Liza's mother, Cecilia Whitacre, her father, David Whitacre, a younger brother, Max, two grandmothers, a grandfather, two uncles and an aunt.

A wake is scheduled for Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Loyola's Madonna della Strada Chapel, 6525 N. Sheridan Rd. Her funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Willow Creek Community Church, 67 E. Algonquin Rd., South Barrington.

--Jeremy Gorner

Twenty-three Year Old Killed Riding Her Bicycle On Chicago's North Side

A 23 year old woman was struck by a motor vehicle and killed while riding her bicycle near Damen and Wellington on the North Side of Chicago today, according to The Chicago Breaking News Center. The incident occurred at around 12:30 p.m.

Here is an additional link with a bit more information on this tragic incident.

How To Report Bike Lane Hazards To CDOT

When a bicyclist sustains injury due to a public roadway hazard he or she may seek compensation from the local governmental entity responsible for maintaining the road. There are, however, significant hurdles that must be overcome to do so successfully as I described in an earlier post. One of those hurdles is notice. An attorney representing an injured cyclist will need to prove that the city, town, village or other governmental entity responsible for the road knew or should have known about the hazard. During litigation the lawyer will make a request to the responsible entity seeking disclosure of any and all documents which may have put it on notice of the hazard, such as citizen complaints, and hope that if any exist they will be turned over. If the government responds that no such documents exist then the attorney must prove that the hazard was significant enough and existed for such a period of time that the government should have known about it, and taken steps to correct it. This is called "constructive notice". Having to prove constructive notice can be challenging. How long is so long that the government should be deemed to have been aware? Having documented proof that the government had actual notice of a particular road hazard yet failed to repair it is certainly much better.

Chicago bicyclists should report roadway hazards to the city, especially when the hazard, e.g. a pothole or sinkhole, is present in a bike lane. I recently inquired via email with the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) as to how residents may report hazards in the city's bike lanes. There are two ways to do so, by calling Chicago's help line at 311 or online at www.servicerequest.cityofchicago.org. Here is the email thread:

Two questions:

1) To whom should I report hazards or dangerous conditions, i.e. sink holes, debris, etc., in bike lanes, paths and bike ways in the City of Chicago?

2) How should I make such a report?

Thanks.
--
Brendan Kevenides

--

Dear Mr. Kevenides ,

Thank you for your letter. We appreciate your dedication to bicycling and your enthusiasm for improved bicycling facilities in the City of Chicago.

One if the quickest and most effective ways to report pavement damage is to call 311 and input the information yourself directly into the system and onto the maintenance list. You can also do this online at https://servicerequest.cityofchicago.org.

Establishing and maintaining quality bikeways is consistent with Mayor Daley’s goals of creating safe road conditions for all users and encouraging bicycling in Chicago. Your input encourages our implementation of these goals.

Sincerely,

Joshua Koonce

Bikeways Planning Assistant

Chicago Department of Transportation

Chicago Bike Program

30 N. La Salle Street, Suite 500

Chicago, IL 60602

It would seem that the online reporting option creates a clear record of a complaint about a hazard. After submitting a report you will receive a message that states:

Service Request Entry Complete!

Thank you for reporting your city service needs. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with your service request tracking number and a link to the status query page once your service request has been added to the primary service request tracking system. . .

There is a "tracking system"! This is significant because it means that the injured cyclist's attorney can make a request to CDOT for any and all electronic "service requests" within the "primary service request tracking system" to obtain proof the city knew of a particular hazard. Perhaps CDOT creates written documentation of service requests that are made via telephone. But it is clear that there is typewritten documentation of such requests that are made online. Having typed complaints about a particular hazard that the city failed to respond to would be a tremendous help to the injured bicyclist and his or her attorney. When making an online service request please be as specific as possible. For example, if you are reporting a pothole in a bike lane, when the online form asks, "What size and shape is the pothole?" you should respond with something like, "Pothole is in the bike lane in front of ABC store, is quite large and presents a hazard to bicyclists." With this kind of description who could argue credibly that the city was not on notice of the hazard and the danger it posed to cyclists?

One thing was not made clear to me from my inquiry with CDOT: For how long service requests are kept in the "system". Does CDOT keep such requests for 30 days, 6 months, 7 years? One would hope that requests are kept until such time as the hazard is repaired or corrected, but who knows. In any big organization data, information, documents can just disappear by accident or not. In light of that reality I propose that if you submit an online service request to CDOT regarding a bicycling hazard that you send a copy of the confirmation email you will receive following your request to The Chicago Bicycle Advocate at bhk@kenneallylaw.com. In that way we will have a data source to look to when clients come to us with a case arising out of a roadway hazard. Working together we can make Chicago safer for bicyclists.

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