A 37-year old Chicago bicyclist has been killed in an apparent “right hook” at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Kimball Avenue on the city’s northwest side. According to news reports, the bicyclist was riding southeast on Milwaukee Avenue when she was struck by a dump truck as its driver turned right onto Kilbourn Avenue.  This section of Milwaukee Avenue contains marked bike lanes on both sides of Milwaukee Avenue and the adjacent section of Kilbourn that runs parallel to the railroad tracks. Metra’s Grayland station and Schurz High School are near this intersection and there is near constant bicycle…

Keating Law Offices, a Chicago-based personal injury firm that devotes part of its practice to representing victims of bicycle collisions, is proud to be the title sponsor of the Keating Law Offices Illinois State Cyclocross Championship. The state championships will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2019 in Woodstock, Illinois. Cyclocross is the fastest growing bicycle discipline in the country and has seen exponential growth over the past decade. The sport is especially popular in Illinois where fall and winter climates are perfect for the races over fields and hills. The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices take great…

Ten different vendors are participating in Chicago’s e-scooter pilot program. Included in these ten are the companies Bird and Spin who were earlier entrants into the marketplace. The phrase “a Bird” is often used as a general term for an e-scooter, even those that aren’t the Bird brand. Both Bird and Spin use the same Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooters for their fleets of e-scooters. Remarkably, the “Mi Electric Scooter User Manual” makes several recommendations and identifies limitations that are incompatible with use on the often imperfect streets of Chicago. Since e-scooters are also operated amongst traffic, this puts not only…

“Public transportation” has traditionally consisted of buses, subways and light rail systems. Just as every other aspect of modern life has been affected by technological advancements with smart phones and apps, access to transportation options has expanded. New types of “alternative transportation” allows for the rental of different types of vehicles. What began with rental bicycles that could only be accessed from a fixed dock has expanded into other forms of bicycle share programs (bikeshare) that do not utilize a dock and also the emergence of electric assist bikes (e-bikes) and now standing electric scooters (e-scooters).  Standing Electric Scooters Standing…

The documentary team behind “Afghan Cycles,” a powerful story about women cyclists in Afghanistan, is looking for short videos from Chicago cyclists about what cycling means to you. The documentary is by Sarah Menzies. They are putting together a video segment in advance of the International Day of the Bicycle on June 3rd. Your video wants to hear about your name and your personal affiliation to cycling.  “Afghan Cycles” is by Sarah Menzies.  The documentary crew is asking you to email any 60 second or less videos to producer Caryn Capotosto at caryncappuccino@gmail.com. Caryn is a Chicago-area…

Bike Lane Uprising, a volunteer effort among Chicago bicyclists to fight for safer bike lanes, held a “Day of Service” last Sunday. The day was a giant succeess. The “Day of Service” involved Chicago bicyclists volunteering to “adopt” a segment of Chicago’s bike lanes. The volunteers then documented the bike lane conditions and then submitting their findings to Bike Lane Uprising. All of this data will be presented to the Chicago Department of Transportation for the purpose of helping them identify which bike lanes need improvement. A remarkable 90% of Chicago’s bike lanes were adopted by volunteers. Keating Law Offices…

The Ride of Silence – Chicago is tonight, Wednesday May 15th. Riders should gather at the Picasso at Daley Plaza in advance of leaving around 6:30 p.m. The ride moves silently and slowly as a group through Chicago. It stops along the way at Ghost Bikes to honor Chicagoans who lost their lives while cycling.  In addition to honoring the lives of these Chicago cyclists, the ride also serves to send a message to all Chicagoans that our city’s streets need to be safe for cyclists. The ride serves as a reminder that we can always work to improve the…

Keating Law Offices is proud to co-host Bike Lane Uprising’s Day of Service. The Day of Service is an effort to document the conditions of bike lanes throughout the city and report the conditions to the City of Chicago. This effort will provide the City of Chicago legal notice as to any dangerous defects or conditions. The effect of the day of service will help the City of Chicago prioritize its efforts in maintaining bike lanes and lead to fewer dangerous conditions in Chicago’s bike lanes. The date for the Bike Lane Uprising Day of Service is May 19, 2019.…

IN THE NEWS: Keating Law Offices attorney Mike Keating was quoted in the Chicago Tribune about the dangers of distracted driving. Distracted driving is an increasingly dangerous habit among many drivers. The dangers posted by distracted driving are particularly dangerous to vulnerable users of the roadway such as pedestrians and bicyclists. Here’s the quote from the Chicago Tribune: “Mike Keating, a personal injury attorney who often represents injured bicyclists, said that if any police agency does not enforce the laws against distracted driving, it defeats the purpose.”  “These laws have to act as a deterrent to keep people from texting on…

The Chicago Department of Transportation is pushing the City of Chicago to implement changes that will allow for more e-bikes and e-scooters on the city’s streets and in our bike lanes. This is no doubt in large part due to the City of Chicago agreeing with Lyft for the ride share giant to take over the city’s successful Divvy bike share program.  At the March 2019 Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting, CDOT officials and Lyft representatives discussed how Lyft will incorporate e-bikes into the Divvy fleet. Lyft has also played a role in pushing e-scooters onto Chicago’s streets. Theses proposed CDOT …

Keating Law Offices attorney Mike Keating was invited by the American Association for Justice to speak to the attendees of the 2019 AAJ Winter Convention in Miami. Mike’s subject was Bike Share and the emerging threats posed by E-Scooters. The speech was entitled “Looking Beyond Automobiles: Bicycles and Electric Scooters.” Chicago’s Divvy program is one of the nation’s largest bike share systems.  Mike’s presentation was a part of a program of Continuing Legal Education where other trial lawyers from throughout the country learn about different areas of the law. This was a part of the convention’s lecture series, “Specialized Track:…