Illinois to Track Bicycle Doorings

By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 25, 2011 3:48PM

If you bike regularly throughout the city, chances are good that either you or a cyclist you know has been injured by a motorist getting out of his vehicle. Doorings are arguably the biggest threat to Chicago cyclists, but the Illinois Department of Transportation has said that having police departments keeping records on them would be a burden, because they didn't think it was that big an issue. (Tell that to cyclists who have lost work days and amassed medical bills recovering from injuries related to doorings.)

Gov. Quinn disagrees and gave an executive order requiring police departments across the state to report doorings on traffic report forms. Quinn was motivated by a March 21 Tribune article on IDOT's policy to exclude doorings from accident reports, because the vehicles were not moving. The bill, which takes effect immediately, means that Steven Vance's bike accident map will be getting much more populated.