FK Law

Not only do these flimsy installations fail to provide physical protection, they leave taxpayers on the hook for injury lawsuits against the city government when cyclists wipe out on the broken bollards.

Ortiz was struck and killed by an Uber Driver in West Town as he was biking to work last June.

The 30-year-old female cyclist is able to walk, but suffered multiple injuries and has a long road to recovery, according to her attorney.

[Last year the Chicago Reader launched a weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership allows Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We syndicate a portion of the column after it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in print. The paper hits the streets on Thursdays.]

At a hearing in the Circuit Court of Cook County last week, a judge denied a motion by the city of Chicago’s law department to dismiss a lawsuit by a female bicyclist who was seriously injured after she struck a hole in one of the Damen bike lanes. The law department argued that the bike lane is “recreational property” and, as such, the city should have limited liability. The plaintiff’s attorney, Brendan Kevenides from FK Law (a Streetsblog Chicago sponsor) argues that if the judge had accepted this reasoning, it would have set a dangerous precedent for local cyclists.

While the headline of a recent Chicago Sun-Times article states that cyclist Matthew Gagui caused a crash that seriously injured a pedestrian in the Dearborn protected bike lanes, his lawyer says that wasn't the case.