A bicyclist rides by a memorial at North Winthrop and West Leland avenues, where 3-year-old Lily Grace Shambrook was killed in the Uptown neighborhood earlier this month.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
A North Side alderperson wants to crack down on bike lane incursions — with sign requirements and stepped-up towing — to stop a repeat of the tragic accident that killed 3-year-old Lily Grace Shambrook.
On June 9, the toddler was riding in a carrier attached to her mother’s bike when she was struck and killed by a semi-truck driver. Her mother was maneuvering around a ComEd truck that was blocking the bike lane.
The fatal traffic accident — one of three in recent weeks involving children struck and killed on Chicago streets — occurred on a busy Uptown block that had triggered a barrage of complaints from local residents.
Lily’s mother came upon the ComEd truck as she rode down Leland Avenue approaching Winthrop Avenue. She was riding behind her husband, who was also on a bicycle.
As Lily’s mom tried to go around the truck, she was close to a semi stopped at the intersection. When the semi started moving, the mom was knocked off-balance. Lily was thrown off the bike and under the wheels of the semi.
Neighboring Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) believes the tragedy could have been avoided with stepped up towing and signage requirements.
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At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Vasquez plans to introduce an ordinance requiring just that.
It would empower employees of the city’s Department of Finance to ticket, tow and impound vehicles driving, standing or parking in bike lanes.
Those powers are seldom enforced because the process is “too unwieldy,” Vasquez said.
“Imagine if I had to call a district commander to call a cop to go check it out, then file a ticket to get to Streets and Sanitation. Then, somebody from Streets and Sanitation has to identify a vehicle to go tow it. No one’s doing all that,” Vasquez said.
If the process is streamlined, Vasquez said, “You’d have a period where tows would go up. And then, people would learn not to block the bike lane.”
Arguing that bike lane intrusion is dangerously commonplace, Vasquez said: “Cars just don’t care. They’re parking there, waiting there, double-parking there. Even when we had the Department of Finance ticket ’em, they weren’t moving. By giving the Department of Finance the ability to tow ’em, it would incentivize people not to do it so they …read more
Source:: Chicago Sun Times
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