Update 3/16/22, 5:00 PM: Active Transportation Alliance spokesperson Kyle Whitehead provided the following statement on this case.
We extend our thoughts and support to the victim of this tragic, preventable crash and their friends and family. The particulars of this crash may be in dispute but what’s not in dispute is the design of these intersecting streets routinely puts people biking and walking at risk of severe injury or death.
This is a relatively dense residential area with dozens of homes within a few blocks of the crash site. The neighborhood is divided by a six-lane highway that dumps high speed car and truck traffic on to local streets throughout the day. Sadly, this is the reality in far too many Chicago communities.
A 54-year-old man on a bike was hospitalized in critical condition Monday after a collision with an SUV driver at the the complex, car-centric intersection of Bryn Mawr and Nagle avenues on the border of Norwood Park and Jefferson Park the Far Northwest Side.
According to Police News Affairs, on Monday, March 14, at about 12:45 p.m., the bike rider was riding north on Nagle (6400 W.), a six-lane road. The 57-year-old male driver of a gray Acura ZDX crossover SUV was traveling west on Bryn Mawr (5600 N.), a three-lane street just north of the Kennedy Expressway that functions as a frontage road, with a westbound on-ramp half a block west of Nagle.
According to News Affairs, the bike rider "struck" the vehicle and was thrown from his cycle onto the sidewalk. He suffered an injury to his right leg and multiple lacerations to the body and face, and was transported to Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition.
The driver, who stayed at the scene and was uninjured, was not cited.
The crash report provides more information about what allegedly took place. While the names of the bike rider and driver are listed, Streetsblog Chicago typically does not publish the identities of bike crash survivors without their permission, or drivers who have not been charged with a felony. The bike rider's address is not listed. The motorist lives about a mile east of the crash site.
According to the narrative on the crash report, the responding officer talked with a 50-year-old man from Berwyn who said he witnessed the collision and saw the bike rider "traveling northbound on Nagle at Bryn Mawr, then west across Nagle onto the southbound lanes of Nagle. He then attempted to cross Bryn Mawr, when the driver [hit him.] [The witness] further related that [the SUV driver] was traveling westbound on a green light and the north- and southbound Nagle traffic lights were red."
"[The SUV driver] related that as he proceeded on a green light westbound on Bryn Mawr, [the cyclist] suddenly appeared in front of his vehicle," the crash report continues. "However, [the bike rider] was traveling too fast, and he struck [the SUV.]"
The responding officer also took contact info from a second witness, a 54-year-old woman who lives two blocks south of the crash site, but did not interview her. Streetsblog has reached out to both of the witnesses, and this post will be updated if we hear from them.
The narrative states that when the responding officer visited the hospital, the bike rider was listed in guarded and stable condition, with several fractures. An emergency room doctor told the officer the bike rider's injuries were not life-threatening, and she was waiting on further test results.
It's good to hear that the bike rider is expected to survive, and hopefully he will make a full recovery from his injuries. It's important to note that his side of the story is not reflected in the crash report, and if surveillance footage is available, that will provide a more accurate picture of what actually took place.
Thanks to Twitter users @rainiermarquez and @hsrgood for notifying Streetsblog about this incident.
