I Got Hit by a Car.
Despite being a careful and experienced city cyclist, I still managed to get. Here’s how it happened.
One of the sad realities of cycling in the city is that there is a real risk of getting into a crash with a car. If it happens to you, it’s important to know what to do and it’s important for all road users to advocate for better infrastructure so that it doesn’t happen again.
It was Saturday night and I was running late to see a show with a friend. Because I was stressed about making it in time, I opted to take a route that I usually avoid. With no dedicated bike lane, I knew the stretch of Fullerton was unsafe. I decided the potential time saved would be worth taking a risk. This was a mistake.
As a compromise for my safety, I was riding on the sidewalk under the highway between Western & Damen instead of in the traffic lane. When I saw the stoplight gave me the cue to cross the intersection, I rode onto the street at the crosswalk. Much to my annoyance, none of the cars turning right onto the ramp for the highway stopped for me to finish my crossing, even though they all had a red light and I had the right-of-way. Finally, there was a gap in the cars where one had slowed down a bit. I thought he was slowing down to let me go – I was mistaken again.
While I continued to finish my crossing, he also continued forward onto the ramp and directly into me. Clearly, I had misread the traffic pattern. Everything happened in less than a few seconds, but it felt as if I was experiencing it all in bullet time. The moment I realized the car was going to hit me, my instincts kicked in: on top of car is better than under car. The next moment, just before impact, I jumped off the pedals and kicked the bike away in a desperate attempt to save it from being hit as well. The car hit me on my right side and I landed directly on the hood. Only then did the driver finally come to a stop and I had the chance to roll off his car.
Still standing stunned in the center of the street, I did a quick self-assessment: I was sore and shaken, but otherwise ok. I set my sights on my bike, my little Tokyo Bike that I put together myself. She looked ok at first glance, but I wouldn’t be able to tell if everything was still running smoothly until I could start riding again. All the while, the driver was just sitting there with a dumb, stunned look on his face. There was a line of cars now starting to grow behind him, all waiting to turn right at this intersection. Even though I was unsteady, I knew I had to get out of the crosswalk before being struck again. I quickly gathered the rest of my things and finally finished crossing the road. That’s when the driver also took his chance to exit the intersection, speeding away from the scene of the crime. Regardless of the obscenities thrown his way, the driver absolutely should have stopped to exchange information with me.
In fact, there was a lot that the driver should have done, the first of which could have been stopping at the red light before continuing with a turn. The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) website states that “A right turn on red is allowed… only after a vehicle comes to a complete stop. A vehicle ‘rolling’ through the turn can endanger pedestrians and bicyclists who may be legally crossing the street with the green light and/or the ‘Walk’ signal.” Well, I certainly felt “endangered.” He also should have stuck around after the collision because, “Fleeing the scene of an injury accident, regardless of who is at fault, is illegal in Illinois. A driver found guilty of a hit-and-run can face felony charges and lose his or her driver's license” according to Chicago bicycle accident lawyers Abels & Annes. Too bad he drove away so quickly, I couldn’t even get his license plate number to make a report.
The scary part about the whole incident is that a cyclist can do everything right and still be at the mercy of someone else’s lack of attention or stupidity: I was wearing my helmet, I had the instincts to get onto the hood of the car, I waited my turn at the light, and I was riding where I was supposed to be. In many cases throughout Chicago, it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk if you are over the age of 12. Still, it is permissible in cases where the sidewalk “is marked as a bike path, or you are going to a nearby bike station or road” according to Illinois Legal Aid Online. In this instance, I was riding to get to the part of Fullerton with a bike lane less than a quarter mile away.
If I had hesitated I’m sure I would have walked away with more than just a bruise on my hip and some scratches on my knee. As my main means of transportation, thankfully, my bike took no damage either; she’s riding as smoothly as the day I built her.
I could talk all day about everything I did right and all the things the driver did wrong, citing municipal code and state law ‘til I’m blue in the face. But at the end of the day, the real problem is a car-first culture that permeates the city. It’s unrealistic to expect every road user – drivers, cyclists AND pedestrians – to obey all the rules all the time. So instead we need to promote infrastructure that creates a navigation network that everyone can enjoy safely. The intersection I was crossing technically has space for pedestrians, but if you look at how the space is designed, it’s clear who the intended users are:
You can only barely notice the sidewalk here and stoplights tucked away in the corner! Despite the existence of a sidewalk here and the laws requiring motorists to come to a complete stop before turning right, the vast majority of this intersection is paved for cars and there is a noticeable lack of signage indicating that pedestrians can cross here. Compare that to this random intersection I found in Amsterdam that is also crossing a highway on-ramp:
Note the wide bike path separated by car traffic with a grassy buffer, the fact that it calls extra attention to itself by being painted a different color, and the abundance of signs & clear stop lights indicating that pedestrians & cyclists also share this space. There is clearly a better way!
What to do?
It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of a culture designed for people to drive everywhere, but there are lots of organizations out there that want to undo the car-first mentality and pave the way (literally) for cyclists to ride more freely. I’ve put together a short list of local & state-level organizations that you can get involved with to bring change to our community. These are by no means the only folks out there advocating for change, just a few that we enjoy working with.
Active Transit Alliance
This advocacy organization works to improve conditions for bicycling, walking & transit by working with lawmakers to pursue laws that support their mission to create healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities. You probably know them from their annual Bike the Drive event that shuts down car traffic on Lake Shore Drive to allow thousands of cyclists to ride 30 miles of the scenic expressway.
Bike Grid Now
This group has only been around since last year, but they’re already doing lots to create a movement in support of implementing a comprehensive bike grid throughout Chicago. They organize 3 bike buses into the loop from 3 different directions to get to the Loop every Wednesday. Check out their Instagram to see if any of them go by your commute route and hop on – there’s safety in riding with numbers! Plus, they host bike jams often to draw attention to sections of the city where better infrastructure is needed.
Bike Lane Uprising
This is an app created by a Chicago cyclist for other cyclists to upload pictures of cars & trucks obstructing bike lanes. They then work with the city officials to get laws passed that protect cyclists using their comprehensive database. You may have even seen their hyper-reflective jackets in our shop or out on the streets!
Chicago Family Biking
This is a coalition of parents & community organizers who seek to empower more families to get out riding with their kids. They do this by providing education, organizing community events, and advocating for safer streets. If you’ve seen a whole gaggle of kids riding through your neighborhood with their parents, then you’ve seen one of the hundreds of Kidical Mass (the kid version of the ever-popular Critical Mass ride) rides they organize.
Ride Illinois
This non-profit organization focuses on advocacy, education, and awareness to make cycling for recreation & transportation more accessible across the state. Their latest campaign, I Can Bike There – created in partnership with our friends at Working Bikes as well as Poinz (a crowd-sourced navigation app for cyclists focused on safety) – highlights the everyday trips Illinois residents can take by bike in an effort to encourage more people to take more trips with their bikes.
Safe Streets For All
This campaign, backed by many different organizations, was created in response to a rise in cyclist & pedestrian fatalities to outline a path to transportation equity and justice. Their platform sets goals for Chicago and what steps our current administration needs to take to get there.