Illinois Bicyclists Need to Speak Up

[Seth Jayson]

Hey folks, it's do or die time for the Bicycle Safety Restoration Act, a pair of bills now in
committee in the Illinois legislature.

Basically, the bills seek to rectify the smarmy decision the Illinois Supreme Court made a while
back that held that bicyclists were not 'intended' users of Illinois roads.

This means that, should you fall into an uncovered manhole on your bike, the local government
doesn't owe you so much as a squirt of Bactine and a kind word. Worse yet, it has meant that
municipalities have had a disincentive to create safe bikeways, since marking a bicycle route was
the only way to make the local government liable for unsafe road conditions.

If these bills don't make it through this week, they're dead until next year, and maybe for good.

The City of Chicago is one of the municipalities leading the fight against the bill. The Chicagoland
Bike Federation has some links set up to make it easy to find your legislators, and to send them an
automated fax (which you can customize) with the click of a mouse.

More info here:
http://www.windycitysports.com/story.cfm?story_id=4826&departmentid=68&publicationID=26

And here: www.biketraffic.org.

Sj

 

[Harv]

I got a call fron Rep/ linda Chapa LaVia this afternoon about this. She said the city of Chicago (so
much for the bicycling mayor) mounted strong opposition to the bill and that when she talked to one
of the bill's sponsors it didn't have enough votes to pass, but she (the sponsor not Chapa LaVia)was
working the floor looking for support. Thanks for the links. The fax to my state senator reported as
failed. I'll try again shortly.

"Seth Jayson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hey folks, it's do or die time for the Bicycle Safety Restoration Act, a pair of bills now in
> committee in the Illinois legislature.
>
> Basically, the bills seek to rectify the smarmy decision the Illinois Supreme Court made a while
> back that held that bicyclists were not 'intended' users of Illinois roads.
>
> This means that, should you fall into an uncovered manhole on your bike, the local government
> doesn't owe you so much as a squirt of Bactine and a kind word. Worse yet, it has meant that
> municipalities have had a disincentive to create safe bikeways, since marking a bicycle route was
> the only way to make the local government liable for unsafe road conditions.
>
> If these bills don't make it through this week, they're dead until next year, and maybe for good.
>
> The City of Chicago is one of the municipalities leading the fight against the bill. The
> Chicagoland Bike Federation has some links set up to make it easy to find your legislators, and to
> send them an automated fax (which you can customize) with the click of a mouse.
>
> More info here:
>
http://www.windycitysports.com/story.cfm?story_id=4826&departmentid=68&publi cationID=26
>
> And here: www.biketraffic.org.
>
> Sj

 

[Alpha Beta]

I visited one of the suburbs of Chicago without a car when I had a work asssignment there. They
should install sidewalk before they think about bike routes or lanes.

"Seth Jayson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hey folks, it's do or die time for the Bicycle Safety Restoration Act, a pair of bills now in
> committee in the Illinois legislature.
>
> Basically, the bills seek to rectify the smarmy decision the Illinois Supreme Court made a while
> back that held that bicyclists were not 'intended' users of Illinois roads.
>
> This means that, should you fall into an uncovered manhole on your bike, the local government
> doesn't owe you so much as a squirt of Bactine and a kind word. Worse yet, it has meant that
> municipalities have had a disincentive to create safe bikeways, since marking a bicycle route was
> the only way to make the local government liable for unsafe road conditions.
>
> If these bills don't make it through this week, they're dead until next year, and maybe for good.
>
> The City of Chicago is one of the municipalities leading the fight against the bill. The
> Chicagoland Bike Federation has some links set up to make it easy to find your legislators, and to
> send them an automated fax (which you can customize) with the click of a mouse.
>
> More info here:
>
http://www.windycitysports.com/story.cfm?story_id=4826&departmentid=68&publi cationID=26
>
> And here: www.biketraffic.org.
>
> Sj

 

[Seth Jayson]

> They should install sidewalk before they think about bike routes or lanes.

Unfortunately, in a lot of places, there's nowhere to walk, by the planners' opinion. So ya just put
in roads (often, too few) and leave it at that...

May of the more expensive sub-divisions going up are incorporating sidewalks and bike lanes.

In Chicago, there are plenty of sidewalks, but in many spots, there's only one road that will get
you from point A to point B (because so many otheres dead end at rivers, canals, RR tracks, etc.)
and most of these roads are very busy, and have no bike lanes. (My archer avenue commute can be a
little hair-raising.)

Seth J