Proposed changes to city laws mostly favor bicyclists

by Michelle Stenzel

You may have read that last week, Mayor Emanuel proposed some changes to the laws pertaining to bicycling and driving in the city. Most of the coverage in the large media outlets of the changes was focused only on the increased fines for both bicyclists and drivers, and those are indeed part of the proposal. But after reading the full amendment (it’s only a four-page PDF, which you can download yourself from the city clerk’s website), I found there are many more changes that are interesting and important to people who ride bikes in the city, so here’s my round up:

If a person opens the door of a motor vehicle into the path of a bicyclist, there is a fine imposed of $300. If a person opens the door of a motor vehicle into the path of a bicyclist and thereby causes a collision, there is a fine of $1,000.

These fines are double from what they were before. In order to help raise awareness of how important it is to look to check for oncoming vehicles before opening a door, the city will also be requiring taxicab operators to place anti-dooring stickers on windows for passengers. 

Large-scale markings and signs reinforce the message that bicyclists are allowed to use the full lane, here on Wells Street in the Loop. (Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

People of any age are allowed to ride on a sidewalk if it is marked as a bicycle route, or if they are riding on it to get to a bike share station, or if they are using the sidewalk to enter the nearest roadway.

This is obviously in preparation for the bike share stations that we’re going to see installed in the city in the next few weeks. Due to our unfortunate parking meter lease deal, I expect that many (maybe most?) stations will be on the sidewalk, instead of on the street, and people should be able to ride conveniently to and from the stations on the sidewalk to the nearest curb cut, to get onto the street. 

Do you know the laws for drivers and bicyclists in Chicago?

by Michelle Stenzel

The Chicago Police Department has a great training video on YouTube about rights and responsibilities of bicyclists in Chicago, and about laws affecting drivers when interacting with bicyclists. Even if you think you already know the laws, as a driver or a bicyclist, I encourage you to take 14 minutes to watch "Traffic Enforcement for Bicyclist Safety", because you may learn something. I know I did. 

For those of you who want to skim instead, here's my Cliff Notes version.

Still in favor of speed enforcement cameras

by Michelle Stenzel

The city council will be voting next week on the speed enforcement camera ordinance. In support of the measure, my husband and I submitted to Alderman Michele Smith the statement below.

Grid Chicago has provided detailed coverage of this week's committee-level hearing with lots of information about the proposed measure, which you can read in three parts starting with this one. 

I encourage you to share your own opinions with Alderman Smith before the vote on Wednesday, April 18, as she is actively seeking her constituents’ input. You can call her office at 773-358-9400 or e-mail her at yourvoice@ward43.org . 

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We’re writing today to express strong support for the speed camera initiative. This is on behalf of ourselves only, but our opinions and thoughts are summarized in three posts I wrote for Bike Walk Lincoln Park on the subject, which are linked below, and I invite you to read those if you haven’t already.

Let's help drivers obey speed limit laws

We’ve followed the ongoing news about the proposed traffic cameras to enforce laws against driving over the speed limit, and we remain in favor of them. The ultimate goal for using the cameras is improved street safety. Driving in excess of the speed limit endangers all other users of the road, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and other motorists. 

The posted speed limit on Stockton Drive is 25 mph.
(Photo: Bike Walk Lincoln Park)

Using cameras to ticket speeders is a legitimate enforcement tool, but instead of just catching speeders, we’d like to propose that the best initiative would be to take steps to reduce speeding before it happens.  But how to do that?

When we bring up the topic of speed limits while chatting with our  fellow Chicagoans (yeah, we’re really fun at cocktail parties), it’s amazing to find out how many people don’t know what the speed limit is in the city in general, or on main streets near their homes, or even on the stretch on which they live. Even if they’ve lived in one place and driven regularly, they often simply don’t know. Do you know any of the above with certainty?