CHICAGO CYCLISTS BE CAREFUL – City to Strengthen Enforcement of Bicycle Traffic Laws!
CHICAGO CYCLISTS BE CAREFUL – City to Strengthen Enforcement of Bicycle Traffic Laws!
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT PROMPTED BY INCREASE IN CHICAGO BICYCLISTS AND FOUR RECENT BIKE-CAR FATALITIES!
Bike riding. Let’s face it when you were a kid it seemed easy – once you learned to ride of course. Stop signs red lights one-way streets riding on the sidewalk. You and your friends routinely ignored most of them yes? Come on admit it!
I know I did!
From now on in Chicago however enforcement is to get stricter and the Chicago Police Department could issue you a $25 ticket if you don’t comply with the Bicycle Rules of the Road!
The higher price of gasoline as well as increased environmental awareness and the desire for folks to get some great exercise and a little fresh air now finds many more two-wheelers sharing the road with cars and SUV’s.
Many Chicago Bike Laws are common sense but routinely ignored – adult riders on the sidewalks observing stop signs and one-way streets weaving in and out of traffic and failing to signal for example. Others such as the Chicago requirement for lighted headlamps and reflectors for night riding are somewhat less obvious.
Be warned however – the "grace period" for violating Chicago Cycling Laws will be coming to an end. Says Chicago Police Spokesperson Monique Bond "We’re going to be enforcing the same traffic laws for bikes as well as motorists so that both respect each other and the rules of the road as far as bike safety and motor safety."
Last Thursday evening Chicago Police Sgt. Mark Silva pulled over a cyclist in the Lakeview Neighborhood on the North Side who failed to stop at a red light before making a right turn at the six-way intersection of Clark and Halsted Street and Barry Avenue. The bewildered cyclist asked if he was breaking the law. "It is a cit able offense absolutely" Silva told him. "But we’re not out here to punish people we’re out here to change habits."
Silva and Bicycle Patrol Officers Lisa Taras and Kelvin Chow said they rarely write tickets for cyclists who run stop signs or go the wrong way on one-way streets. But Silva emphasized that cyclists do need to at least be warned about dangerous behavior to prevent serious accidents.
In 2008. there have been four bike-car collisions on the North Side of Chicago that resulted in fatal injuries.
"Most people we talk to say that rolling through a stop sign or a light is not that important compared to other things going on" Silva said. "But people can die." Proving his point one cyclist who ran a red light narrowly missed being struck by a car as police officers watched from a block away.
In their three hours of monitoring about 30 cyclists were pulled aside by officers nearly one-fifth for riding through the intersection without stopping at the red light.
Some questioned the priority of enforcing Bicycle Safety in Chicago feeling most bike accidents here are caused by careless motorists rather than those riding a bicycle. Flagrant traffic violations by both those who ride a bike for a living – bike messengers for example – and casual riders suggests those on the bikes can contribute to an accident just as easily as those behind the wheel of a car or truck.
In any event violating Chicago Rules for Bicycle Safety might cost you!
For more information and video read Robert Mitchum’s story in today’s Chicago Tribune. Click here for the City of Chicago Website highlighting Chicago Bicycle Safety Laws as well as a City of Chicago Bike Map.
And . . . BE SAFE while cycling in and around Chicago!
DEAN MOSS & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO
