If you like to ride a bicycle on the streets of Chicago, you might want to avoid Milwaukee Avenue between North Avenue and Division Street. The road is the most dangerous in the city for bicyclists.
One bicyclist can attest to this; Bucktown resident Mark Casey, 41. He suffered a shattered collarbone when he was struck by another bicyclist on Milwaukee Avenue in October 2015.
“I go that way all the time,” he told Darcel Rockett of the Chicago Tribune. “I agree with the survey.”
Bicycle crash statistics
Overall, the survey covered 34 cities with populations of 500,000 or more while taking into account narrow shoulders, the absence of bike lanes and other factors. Albuquerque, N.M., and Tucson, Ariz., had the highest fatality rates, while Dallas and Indianapolis had the lowest, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), reported The Tribune, which also cited Chicago sources. Nationwide, the NHTSA reported more than 1,000 bicyclists died in 2015 and nearly half a million sustained injuries.
The key for bicyclists, according to lifelong bicyclist Casey, is to remain alert.
“Here’s the thing: You’re going to get people – whether they’re driving cars, cycling bikes or walking - who are just not paying attention with whatever is going on in the street, and I think that’s probably the biggest problem,” Casey told The Tribune. “If people were watching what they were doing, it’s not too bad, you know?”
The problem, of course, is that people are not always paying attention. Heavy city traffic presents a wide array of distractions, with dozens if not hundreds of vehicles jockeying for position. Then there are the self-imposed distractions – drivers who are texting, setting a new route on their GPS, engaged in a phone call or checking their email instead of paying attention to their surroundings who may overlook vulnerable bicyclists.
Why you should hire an attorney
If you’ve been injured in a bicycle accident on the streets of Chicago, you’ve probably suffered major injuries and have an extended and painful rehabilitation period ahead of you. At the same time, you are out of work and unable to provide for your family, let alone lead a normal life. At the very worst, your family has suffered the tragic loss of a loved one. An insurance agency will not hesitate to try to take advantage of your desperation by making a low-ball financial offer that is far less than you need or deserve.
You may be overwhelmed mentally, physically and emotionally, but you do not have to face this crisis alone. The expert bicycle injury lawyers at Coplan + Crane have experience handling cases like yours in Chicago, River Forest and Oak Park. They work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing if you don’t win.
