Bicycle Safety

Is There Insurance Coverage if a Divvy Bike is Involved in a Crash?

June 26, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

One of the first things an attorney does when investigating a case involving injuries is determining who is responsible for what happened. This week a 32-year-old man was struck by a hit-and-run driver that was traveling westbound along the 400 block of Grand Avenue after 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Police are still searching for the motorist that was seen on surveillance footage traveling quickly past the cyclist before striking him off camera. From the video, it appears that the car was speeding. The man is critically injured.

Supposing this irresponsible motorist is not caught, what recourse does the injured bicyclist or his family have in paying for medical bills, lost wages, and other damages? Isn’t that what insurance is for? Illinois law does require motorists to carry uninsured motorist coverage in case they are injured in a crash by an uninsured driver. This type of insurance is meant to cover you and your whole household even if you, your spouse, or a child are walking or riding a bike. If an injury is caused by an uninsured driver or by a hit-and-run driver, you should file a claim with your car insurance company.

What if I don’t own a car?

Suppose you are living green in Chicago. You don’t have any drivers in your household. You take ride share services, taxis, bicycles, scooters, roller-skates, or just your walking shoes to get from point A to point B. I imagine the savings would be astronomical when you take a car, gas, and maintenance out of your monthly budget. But then what happens if a negligent driver causes you to get hurt when you are riding a Divvy bike, for instance?

Does Divvy have its own insurance policy?

No. Divvy doesn’t operate like a rental car company that gives its customers the option of purchasing insurance with their rental. In fact, the Divvy website has a pretty extensive limited liability and indemnification agreement in their terms of use. Whether or not those provisions will hold up in court is another issue. But what about insurance coverage? There may be other sources of coverage that apply. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having been injured by an uninsured driver, and you don’t have any auto coverage of your own, you should contact an experienced personal injury attorney to help you investigate your options.

Should Divvy offer insurance?

Yes. Perhaps Divvy doesn’t want to add the option of purchasing insurance coverage to its business model. It’s less expensive that way. However, it may be helpful to give customers the choice considering that bicycles in Chicago share the same roads that cars, trucks, and vans use. Especially when considering that people who rely on public transportation to get around the City who aren’t covered by an auto policy could be left to pay their own medical bills if they were ever injured by a negligent driver and not due to any fault of their own.

Normally, the at-fault driver’s insurance policy is supposed to cover damages caused in a car crash. By law, Illinois has a minimum liability insurance policy requirement of $25,000. Anyone who’s been to the emergency room in the last decade will know that medical bills add up quickly. If a person has broken bones, needs a CT scan, or is hospitalized for even a short period of time, $25,000 may not be enough to even cover the initial treatment after a car crash.

This is why it’s incredibly important to spend as much as you can afford on auto coverage. The price of insurance is relatively cheap compared to the amount of coverage available, and compared to medical bills and lost wages, it’s better to have more coverage than to be in a position where the damages caused by a crash exceed the available insurance coverage limits.

For example, imagine if a man in his thirties who is married with 3 kids is walking across the street and gets tragically struck down by a car that runs a red light because the driver is either drunk, on his phone, or just not paying attention. If both the victim and the negligent driver have only $25,000 in auto insurance coverage, the family who lost their husband and father may not be able to recover more than that minimum policy amount from the at-fault driver. Only $25,000 for such an immense loss.

Similarly, if the crash was a hit-and-run, the pedestrian’s uninsured motorist coverage should apply. If the pedestrian only has $25,000 in coverage we have the same horrible circumstance. Not to say that any amount of money could replace a person, but not having enough coverage to pay medical or even funeral expenses just adds insult to injury.

The goal, of course, for any policy maker or member of the community should be to work towards a transportation system that eliminates crashes and the injuries that result from them. Until we get there, we should not leave people with no recourse just because they don’t own a car and subsequently have no reason to buy auto insurance. If Divvy doesn’t start offering insurance coverage for injuries that result from crashes, lawmakers should require it so that no one is left without options after a tragedy.

Safety Tips for Chicago Bicyclists

June 7, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Chicago’s mostly cold. Cold weather makes for hardy people who drink black coffee, eat pizza that’s really a casserole, and put hot peppers on everything. People from Illinois also know how to navigate in the snow without a dogsled. And, they don’t lose their cool when the roads are slippery, even when riding a bicycle.

Chicago is a city that has a lot of people riding around on bicycles in all types of weather conditions, even those few weeks and months when the sun comes out of hiding. Bicycling is so popular here that Divvy, Chicago’s bicycle share program, is set to expand its coverage over the entire City by 2021. Currently, there is no service on the West Side, the Far South Side, or the Far Northwest Side.

With even more people riding around on bikes than ever before, making sure everybody gets to their destination safely is, or at least should be everybody’s number one priority when it comes to transportation.

There is no such thing as an accident

The word accident implies that the unfortunate or terrible thing that happened was unavoidable. A car crash is almost never an accident because a car crash is often times avoidable. Crashes occur when someone makes a poor choice. People drive drunk. They look at their phones while driving. They get behind the wheel when they haven’t had enough sleep and drive fatigued. Choices like these can lead to grave consequences especially when a car hits a bicycle.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reported that 783 cyclists were killed in traffic crashes nationwide in 2017. There are steps that drivers and cyclists can take to decrease that number, if not eliminate bicycle traffic deaths altogether.

Know the statistics

The U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations maintains statistics on traffic deathseach year.

Regardless of what time of year it is, the highest percentage of bicycle deaths happen between the hours of 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Over 70% of cyclist fatalities occur in urban as opposed to rural areas.
Alcohol use was reported in 35% of fatal crashes involving bicycles.

Get to know the rules of the road

Cyclists in Illinois are required to follow the same traffic rulesthat apply to motorists. This also means that bike riders generally have the same rights as drivers do. Drivers need to give cyclists enough space to travel safely. The Chicago Municipal Code prohibits cars from driving, standing, or parking in a bike lane. Cyclists should generally keep as far to the right as is practically possible, with a few exceptions. Both bike riders and drivers should remember that they have to share the road and that keeping a proper lookout for other travelers is paramount.

Don’t get distracted

Distracted driving is a big problem. This applies to people riding bikes as well. Not only that, but walking around in Chicago, you’re bound to see pedestrians looking down at their phones, too. Standing on the side walk and looking at your phone may be excusable, if not annoying to some, but propelling any form of transportation forward on city streets requires a person’s undivided attention.

We’ve all heard that texting and driving can kill. According to U.S. Government statistics, 1 in 10 fatal crashes involve people who were distracted while driving; an entirely preventable statistic. There is no excuse for pulling your phone out if you’re driving or if you’re riding a bike. Just pull over. Even the most important phone call can wait when it’s a matter of life or death.

If in doubt, learn to ride

The Chicago Department of Transportationand Divvy are offering free bicycle riding classeswith limited spots this summer. The classes are meant to help adults who never learned to ride a bike or haven’t ridden in a long time to ride with confidence and to feel comfortable riding on Chicago’s city streets. Space for these classes is limited. Classes may be open to children based on availability. Divvy will provide bikes to participants over the age of 16 because the program doesn’t allow kids under 16 to use its bikes. Participants under age 16 will have to provide their own bikes.

In the News this Week – June 7th 2019

June 7, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Ride-sharing No Longer Delivering on its Promise

On June 7^th, 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported on the impact that both Uber and Lyft have had on Chicago, specifically both companies’ initial promise to alleviate traffic congestion and provide another form of public transportation. The Tribune reviewed the trips taken in March of 2019 and found that “more than four of every 10 passenger pickups happened in five of the city’s community areas – the Loop, the Near North Side, the Near West Side, Lakeview and West Town.” In addition to the rides being concentrated within specific parts of the city, all within relatively close proximity to one another, those who have reviewed the data have also found that people are beginning to steer away from public transportation entirely and instead using rideshare services.

In March of 2015, there was a total of 15,078 drivers making 4 or more trips a month; however, this number has increased to 66,562 drivers in March of 2019. It’s easy to imagine how this increase in only a matter of years will continue to effect traffic congestion in the city, specifically its impact on the amount of crashes within Chicago and overall road safety. As of right now, the city does not place a cap on the number of ride-share drivers allowed within city limits, yet they have limited the amount of taxi drivers to 6,999. As the effects of ride-sharing companies become clearer, it will be interesting to see how the city responds to ensure traffic congestion is minimized and the roads remain safe.

Chicago Department of Transportation Offering Free Bicycle Classes

The Chicago Department of Transportation and Divvy have added more than 100 additional spots to the City’s free bicycle riding classes for adults this summer. As a way to get more vehicles off the streets of Chicago and encourage more residents to begin biking, these classes will be taught by CDOT Bicycling Ambassadors and help those who have never ridden a bike understand how to do so and how to navigate the roads of Chicago safely during the summer months.

Beginning June 10^th and running through August 31^st, the classes will be held at three locations. See more information for dates and locations below:

Mondays 6pm-8pm – Kennedy King College, 710 W. 65^th St.
- Dates: June 10, 17, 24; July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; August 5, 12, 19, 26
Thursdays 6pm-8pm – Seward Park, 375 W. Elm St.
- Dates: June 13, 20, 27; July 11, 18, 25; August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Saturdays 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm – Chicago Center for Green Technology, 445 N. Sacramento Ave.
- Dates: June 15, 29; July 6, 13, 20, 27; August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31

Trucking Companies Expecting Major Tax Hikes – Looking Forward to Safer Roads

In light of the Illinois General Assembly passing a landmark $45 billion capital plan, Illinois Trucking companies have found themselves celebrating what appears to actually be a tax hike on the product their industry is most dependent on; fuel. As part of the new plan, which will help rebuild the state’s roads, bridges, and transit systems, a new gasoline tax has been passed which will raise the current tax rate from 19 cents to 38 cents per gallon. In addition, those who drive vehicles using diesel fuel will also experience a tax hike, increasing the rate to 45.5 cents per gallon. Although this new tax increase more than doubles the previous tax imposed upon commercial drivers, there are a variety of benefits that have many in the industry believing the upfront costs will be well worth it.

The tax increase will go into effect on July 1^st just in time for summer travel plans, so be prepared to see prices go up at the pump but anticipate major increases to road safety in the coming years as a benefit of the new taxes.

Chicago surpasses NYC as best bike-friendly city in the U.S.

September 19, 2016 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

It’s official: There’s no better place to ride your bicycle than the city of Chicago, according to the prominent Bicycling magazine. It’s the first time the Second City has claimed the publication’s top spot since it began appearing in the magazine’s top ten list six years ago.

Chicago beat out perennial contenders like New York and San Francisco after a steady rise in the ranks. One of the reasons the Windy City claimed the top spot this year, says the Tribune: it emphasizes an infrastructure that separates cyclists from motorists. That includes the establishment of better bike laws, the implementation of dedicated bike lanes, and working to provide progressive legal protection for cyclists.

The Divvy bike-sharing program also earned kudos from the magazine’s editors for spreading the Divvy concept to lower-income communities and providing alternative means of transportation to places that have high-density populations. Also something to note from the Trib article: Chicago has added roughly 148 miles of bike lanes—108 of which are buffer-protected—in the city since 2011. Numbers from the U.S. Census also point out that the number of bike commuters in Chicago has jumped 157 percent over the past decade.

Though the distinction should prove to be a nice boon to the city and its cyclists, many continue to raise concerns about the long-term protection of riders. Several recent collisions, two of which proved to be fatal, have brought cycling safety back into the public’s general awareness. One of those collisions involved a city tour bus that witnesses have described as avoidable.

The shout out in Bicycling mag is a nice reminder that we’re making progress. But let’s not kid ourselves: we can and should do more to protect riders and make cycling in the city as safe as possible.