It’s every bicyclist’s nightmare: You’re riding on an arterial street, perhaps in a bike lane, when a truck appears on your left. The driver fails to check for bikes before making a right turn, causing a “right-hook” crash. The truck blocks your path, you’re struck, and you fall under the massive vehicle. The rear wheels roll over your body, causing severe, likely fatal, injuries.
A candlelight vigil and “ghost bike” installation for Kondrasheva is scheduled for tonight at 6:30 PM at the crash site. About 200 people have RSVPed on Facebook. The local group Chicago Ghost Bikes, which provided the white-painted bicycle, has prepared a second ghost bike it hopes to install soon at the Evanston crash site to honor Qiu.
It’s likely that side guards could have made a difference for Murray, Kuivinen, Qiu, and Kondrasheva. Therefore, we should push Chicago’s City Council to require the equipment on large trucks operating in the city, in order to prevent more truck-bike crash fatalities.
Last year New York mayor Bill de Blasio signed a law mandating side guards on all municipal trucks of more than 10,000 pounds as well as all private garbage trucks operating in the five boroughs by 2024. That time line will allow the city to phase in the equipment with new truck purchases rather than taking the more expensive route of retrofitting vehicles.
Chicago recently announced that it will be releasing a Vision Zero plan later this fall, with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities by 2026.
Active Trans listed requiring side guards, strengthening commercial driver licensing rules, and limiting large vehicle traffic during rush hours as possible solutions. The group asked supporters to sign an online petition urging the city to take immediate action to address preventable traffic fatalities as part of Vision Zero. Jay Stefani, a Chicago-based personal-injury lawyer who works with survivors of car and truck crashes, says a local law to require the safety gear can’t come soon enough.
