Bicyclists More Likely To Be Doored On North Side
By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 7, 2012 4:00PM
The Friday death of attorney and bicyclist Neill Townsend, who was killed by a passing semi as he swerved to avoid being doored by a car, reminded us of the hazards faced by cyclists on the streets. Particularly, where the most doorings occur in Chicago.
WBEZ mapped out dooring crash data obtained by the Illinois Department of Transportation between September 2009 and September 7, 2012. The data showed that most of the doorings occurred on diagonal streets like Milwaukee, Lincoln and Clark Streets. All three streets are major thoroughfares for commuters and, from personal experience, pretty narrow for all that traffic. We're surprised there aren't more accidents along those three streets.
WBEZ's Robin Amer also asked the question of whether Townsend would still be alive today if he was riding in a protected bike lane. Townsend was killed near Wells and Oak Streets. The bike lane marked along that portion of Wells is the standard striped lane between parked cars and traffic. GRID Chicago's Steve Vance told Amer the city must stop building these bike lanes in favor of protected or buffered lanes like the ones on Kinzie, Elston and 18th Street.