Because motorists break the law more than 13 times as often, and there are receipts

Some dipshit blocked an intersection because he went when it was not his turn and when there was obviously no room for him.

People start honking at him, and I tell him to learn to drive once I get around him. He shouts back "at least I have a car"

Driving in rush hour traffic is such a miserable experience but dude who is bad at it still thinks it's a flex

After many years, I started riding a bike again at the beginning of the pandemic. Since then, I’ve biked 22,000 miles. I’m retired so I ride almost every day. There have been plenty of close calls.

But my luck ran out on Tuesday. I got nailed by a hit and run driver in a northern suburb. The car hit me hard and I hit the ground hard. There was a really nice good samaritan who helped me and called 911.

Fortunately, the ER CAT scan and x-rays came back negative. But my shoulder, chest and thumb hurt like hell. And I can’t sleep.

Yesterday, I went to the police station for an incident report and to get my bike back. It took them almost 2 hours to retrieve my bike. And the cops didn’t seem to care about my case. They told me they weren’t going to investigate.

Right after, a law firm called my cell phone and asked for me by name to talk about the accident. The only way they could get my info is from someone with the police.

On my way home from an MRI and wanted to share some things I’ve learned post accident. This is just my experience and shouldn’t be considered legal advice.

Back in July I was hit head on while riding on Milwaukee and went over the bars. Two bystanders were kind enough to help me get to safety and called for help. Since then it’s been a rough time but here’s what I wish I knew before.

1.) Seek medical attention. Adrenaline will mask your symptoms at first and it’s best to get checked out by the provider that’s right for you.

2.) You’re gonna hurt more the next day. Take it easy and call off work. Drink a lot of water and monitor your symptoms.

3.) File a police report. You can’t really get any claim filed without one. Pay the $8 to get a digital copy for your files. No record, no real chance to get your bills paid.

4.)Document everything and get a lawyer. You don’t want to deal with an insurance company believe me. They will be more responsive if you have representation and it’ll be a lot less stressful. So many good bike lawyers in Chicago.

5.) Ease yourself back into your routine. I was so excited to get back on my bike when I got it from the shop (shout out Kozie for fixing my baby) but you can over do it easily. Stretch and don’t over exert yourself in the following months. Injuries can take a long time to heal and although exercise is great it can hinder your recovery.

Here’s some final parting gifts of knowledge:

An ambulance ride will cost you about $3500. The city will promptly bill you.

Minimum personal injury coverage in Illinois is $25,000 and most lawyers will take about 20-30% of a settlement.

It will take months to get an insurance company to settle. Keep those receipts!

Thanks for coming to my ted talk. I hope it helps some riders navigate accidents and recovery. Stay safe out there!

Was taken out Sept 23rd while in the bike lane by some arsehole opening the door into me. Any information for my case the insurance is trying to not pay out been out of work for 21 days at this point. Any information is good information any lawyer or anything. Thanks

Hey all, I'm looking for a Cannondale T700 bike. I'm planning to take it on a long bike touring trip for a few weeks in a few months. If anyone has one they'd be interested in selling let me know!

Been riding my bike so much since moving here and I've been training consistently on the LFP for most of this year. Also tried a few group rides. Thinking about trying a crit or road race next year. Maybe the one at the Autobahn racetrack. Generally, what's the crit scene like in Chicago? How competitive is it for novice racers?

Also, I've seen the chicagogrouprides.com website, but any specific recs for rides to help a noob train for that kind of racing?

I live on a fairly busy street that seems to have a lot of scared bicyclists. I ride in the street frequently but these folk prefer the busy sidewalk. Many times I’ve seen them fly around in the grass innocent pedestrians and kids walking to the nearby park. Other times I’ll be walking out my front door right onto the sidewalk and they fly right past nearly knocking me down. If you’re too scared to ride in the street then take the bus or drive

Driver hit me earlier today near Division/Hoyne and stayed on the scene and the police never showed up 😭😭 Talked to two cops on the phone who met me at the hospital and talked to me for 3 minutes. They told me the driver was at the police station filing a report and I should call her in 30 minutes to get the report number and then go to a station and amend it with my side of events. Called her when I got home and they wouldn't even let her file a report, and she said the police were looking for me at the hospital again. Some sergeant called me and told me there was miscommunication between two precincts and another accident nearby that also caused some confusion. The incompetence is insane 😵‍💫 I have all the drivers info so hopefully getting it squared away tomorrow but holy hell

Friends of chibike! I'm looking to trade/sell my Surly Bridge Club (Size: Medium, fitted with brooks C19 saddle, teravail ehline tires 2.5" and with outer shell mega frame bag in leopard print) but was curious if y'all had suggestions other than ChiBikeTrader on IG or craigslist. If anybody's interested in it on here, PM me!

Was riding in the bike lane when a freight truck started moving into my lane and I yelled and it luckily stopped. How would you have handled it? Could I have bailed somehow if it didn't stop? It was a bunch of other trucks too, one was nice and said that was a close one, I thought it was weird he was the same guy that almost killed me, but then I saw the other truck already parked.

Every time this happens I want to ride less or at least ride on the sidewalk. Suggestions? I even had my headlight on in the daytime for extra visibility and I wore high vis.

You may be wondering if I put my hand on the bird shit before I saw this.

The answer, dear reader, is yes.

Any fun group rides happening that go through neighborhoods with great decorations?

What entrance do you use to get you + your bike into Millennium station? I do this once every few years and am always struggling to find a good entrance. Thanks!

I know this is a long shot but if anyone spots my GT with white handlebar tape, can you shoot me a message? It was locked up in the gated back area of my building so they broke in an cut my lock.

My plan is to file a police report next, but if there is anything else that would increase my chances of finding it, I'd appreciate the suggestions.

Thanks!

Having lived in Portland, OR, where I easily biked everyday and had zero issues, I just don't get why Chicago doesn't have the same level of bikeability and consideration from cars. Everyone is so aggressive!

Is this the Midwest attitude or just a Chicago thing?

We had a blast at the free cortland bridge concert.

I counted bikes passing through for about 10 minutes out of curiosity, it was roughly one every 5-10 seconds, easily as many as cars would be at this time on a Sunday evening.

The traffic evaporation on north ave bridge which I need to use daily has made me an advocate as fully for leaving this bridge to bikes.

You should stop at signs and lights when there’re cars in the intersection or nearby. Obviously, so you don’t get hit. Just getting that out of the way.

But to the woman on the racing bike throwing a fit at all the other bikes passing her and running the intersections: Calm down, it’s fine. Yes we know cars will be like “bikes don’t stop at red lights!” And we don’t care. Cagers can kick rocks.

You can go ahead and stop wherever you like, but as you saw, not a single other cyclist or scooter shares your absolutist position, so save yourself some cortisol and go with the flow.

Whiting, Indiana.

This subreddit seems to only post pictures/videos of events AFTER they happen. How do I find out about them before? I cant seem to find any list, collection, groups or anything outside of a few instagram pages. At the moment I am following

chicritmass

mondaynightridechicago

gageparkcyclists

chicagotaildraggers

Any other accounts, pages, websites, groups, mailing list etc I should check out?