> In 2018 alone, a bicyclist was killed approximately every third day in the greater Chicago area.
Completely insane horrifying stat. The incredible amount of injury and death has been so normalized.
Completely insane horrifying stat. The incredible amount of injury and death has been so normalized.
From 2005 to 2016 Chicago with a population of 2.7 million had between 3 and 8 cycles deaths per year vs 27 to 65 pedestrian deaths and 282 to 487 motorists. https://activetrans.org/sites/files/crash%20report%202018%20... Edit: The closest to 1/3 days I could find was 13 bicycle deaths and 95 pedestrian fatalities totaling to 108 for the region. Which is 1 cyclist death per 28 days out of ~10 million people.
Edit: for context, NYC alone has a comparable population (versus the entire Chicago MSA) and, despite rising cyclist deaths, still has significantly fewer than ~120 a year[1].
Edit: TFA's source for cycling deaths appears to be incorrect; the actual rate is far below ~120/year. The ~120/year number appears to come from a misreading of total pedestrian and cycling deaths in this report[2].
[1]: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/08/07/cyclist-deaths-are-su...
[2]: https://activetrans.org/sites/files/crash%20report%202018%20...
I followed the link and the closest I could find was 13 bicycle deaths and 95 pedestrian fatalities totaling to 108 for the region.
I’m not saying deaths are ok, just that the number is shocking because it’s wrong.
I could write a short novel describing my childhood bmx experiences there through the 80s-90s, and in 2022 I rode an mtb around all summer during an extended visit.
It's just insanity. People there are miserable and angry. It's palpable in how they drive.
Unfortunately I don't think these problems can be solved with improved bike infrastructure in most cities (though I'm not opposed to it). I think it has more to do with the continual strain of long commutes and the horrible frustration of driving in traffic. Unless we build a world in which driving long distances is truly optional for the vast majority of citizens, road rage is likely to be pervasive and we will all suffer the consequences.
These folks are predisposed to handle those things poorly for myriad reasons, and have established some very dangerous to pedestrians/cyclists driving norms which though illegal, go 100% unpoliced there. It's just very aggressive and driver-prioritized behavior, and it reinforces itself in a positive feedback loop turning many into psychopaths behind the wheel.
You can't even safely walk to your car with groceries in IL, the pedestrians are expected to yield to the drivers. If you get in the path of a car in a parking lot, they'll often threateningly closely follow you to try compel you to move out of their way while walking to/from your car. The drivers behave like they all own the place when behind a wheel, of course that mentality manifests as a car vs. car pissing match in traffic. Cyclists don't stand a chance in such a milieu.
Back when my family visited me in CA after moving ~15 years ago, it took just ONE day of them driving their rental to get a written warning from the police. Something about a cross-walk where they nearly hit a pedestrian after not stopping before entering the crossing zone to turn at an intersection IIRC. Turned out a police car was stopped at the intersection and witnessed it all go down. They were in complete disbelief and felt the pedestrian should have been watching out for cars, that they were in the right. It's batshit insanity in IL, and I suspect much of the US is like that to varying degrees.
CA isn't even that great, but compared to IL I strongly prefer being any of driver/cyclist/pedestrian here than over there. It may seem paradoxical that one wouldn't at least prefer being the driver in driver-prioritized IL but it's unpleasant to drive where everyone you're sharing the road with is being a psychopath.
https://activetrans.org/sites/files/crash%20report%202018%20...
It among other fun things only goes up to 2016 and was published in mid 2018 (thus could not cover 2018). It also says that only 18 bicyclists were killed in 2016.