What rank do you think the city of Chicago is on a list ranking the most bikeable cities out of 163? I want you to keep that number in mind while I give you some bike crash statistics in Chicago.
Annually, an average of around 1,400 bike crashes. An annual total of seven fatal bicycle crashes. 145 cyclists suffering incapacitating injuries.
So, how well do you think Chicago scored? 161st place out of 163 cities.
Chicago is made up of over 4000 miles of street that serves cars, buses, cyclists and people, and out of all that, only about 400 of those miles are bike lanes. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great improvement from the past as according to Chicago.gov, Chicago’s bike lanes have been increasing on average, by 30 miles a year.
This all sounds great until you actually ride in the bike lane. Riding in the bike lane gives you about 4 feet to work with on the right shoulder of road. This minimizes your presence to cars and leaves you vulnerable to being hit by a car pulling out to the road or someone opening their car door. A study done by People Powered Movement, a bike and walk alliance, on car over taking bike events showed that cars give more space to cyclists when there is no painted line to make sure they give the riders a comfortable amount of space. Drivers trust the painted bike lane is sufficient when it really isn’t, and some drivers seem to be under the impression that painted bike lanes protect cyclists so they will overtake at a much faster speed.
Additionally, some bike lanes are not as well kept as others, leading to some being hazardous to ride due to sharp objects or cracks in the road making handling difficult.
Rather than mass producing painted bike lanes, Chicago needs to invest more in keeping bikes and cars separate such as by using more bike lanes with physical barriers. So the next time you guys see a cyclist taking some extra road, please be considerate as long as they aren’t obstructing traffic or the whole lane.
Annually, an average of around 1,400 bike crashes. An annual total of seven fatal bicycle crashes. 145 cyclists suffering incapacitating injuries.
So, how well do you think Chicago scored? 161st place out of 163 cities.
Chicago is made up of over 4000 miles of street that serves cars, buses, cyclists and people, and out of all that, only about 400 of those miles are bike lanes. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great improvement from the past as according to Chicago.gov, Chicago’s bike lanes have been increasing on average, by 30 miles a year.
This all sounds great until you actually ride in the bike lane. Riding in the bike lane gives you about 4 feet to work with on the right shoulder of road. This minimizes your presence to cars and leaves you vulnerable to being hit by a car pulling out to the road or someone opening their car door. A study done by People Powered Movement, a bike and walk alliance, on car over taking bike events showed that cars give more space to cyclists when there is no painted line to make sure they give the riders a comfortable amount of space. Drivers trust the painted bike lane is sufficient when it really isn’t, and some drivers seem to be under the impression that painted bike lanes protect cyclists so they will overtake at a much faster speed.
Additionally, some bike lanes are not as well kept as others, leading to some being hazardous to ride due to sharp objects or cracks in the road making handling difficult.
Rather than mass producing painted bike lanes, Chicago needs to invest more in keeping bikes and cars separate such as by using more bike lanes with physical barriers. So the next time you guys see a cyclist taking some extra road, please be considerate as long as they aren’t obstructing traffic or the whole lane.
