Cyclist Killed by Car During ‘Bike to Work Week’

by Stephanie Rogers · View Comments

A 22-year-old cyclist participating in ‘Bike to Work Week’ was killed on Monday when the owner of an SUV opened their car door in his path. He was riding in the bike lane. Clinton Miceli was the fifth bicyclist to die in Chicago so far this year. WTF, people. Can we really not manage sharing the road with cyclists? Is it that hard to go a little slower, avoid going around blind curves at high speeds and give these people some room?

The Chicago Sun-Times has it:

Miceli, 22, was cycling in the bike lane on La Salle around 6:45 p.m. Monday when he slammed into an open SUV door, was thrown from his bike, then struck by a second car. The driver of the Nissan Xterra who opened the door into Miceli’s path was cited for opening a car door in traffic, police said.

A second rider collided with a CTA bus around 8:50 a.m. Tuesday at Broadway and Patterson in Lake View. That cyclist was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious condition, a Fire Department spokesman said. The CTA driver was cited for failure to yield and suspended without pay, authorities said.

First of all, it never fails to amaze me when people throw their car doors open without checking first to see if there’s anyone coming. Second, you would think that drivers would be a little more conscious, especially during ‘Bike to Work Week’. But everyone is so preoccupied with cell phone conversations, iPods, fiddling through their purses, putting on mascara, eating Big Macs or just plain zoning out. Wake up. Bicyclists have a right to safety on our roads.

Link [Chicago Sun-Times]
Photo credit: Flickr user borkur.net

Tagged as: Bicycling, green transportation, Haters

Steve A

What the heck is Chicago doing putting bike lanes in door zones? Do they also offer a bounty for anyone shooting cyclists?

John Smith

I hope the dude who says roads are only for cars gets slammed into by a SUV with a chick talking on her cell phone while he's crossing the street. Only for cars huh? Dead you is the best you!

Mac Hughes

When opening a car door, people are used to looking for cars coming up on them, so they miss things like bikes because they are far less common and a person gets conditioned to this. A biker must take into account this reality and protect his own life. For example, I know drunks are out driving around at 2:15 on a Saturday or Sunday morning, and yeah it would be their fault if they careen into me or blew a red light, but I don't ignore their drunkenness at the cost of my life just so I can make a point about how stupid the general populace is. I hope after reading about this accident I will consider this possibility more carefully, but something tells me I won't and there's little I can do about it.

Shea Gunther

@t You are a dumbass. I hope a car runs over your foot someday.

t

I'm sick of hearing about this shit. Roads were made for cars. You can't expect someone in a car that's watching for other traffic to also watch for bikes.

It's the responsibility of bicyclists to watch for cars. As well as follow the rules and slow down. I constantly see bicyclists running stop signs and going well over the speed limit, splitting lanes, etc.

If they are going to "share" the road then they should be expected to have the same safety requirements as cars.

KR

How about you check where you open the door and the crazy irresponsible cyclist speeds up into your door? And the driver is the scape goat again! Screw that! Time for cyclists to take some responsibility.