Video: Uncited Driver High-Fives Friend After Dooring Cyclist

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 16, 2016 3:16PM

A cyclist was doored while riding along a busy stretch of Milwaukee Ave. in Logan Square earlier this week; and the responding police officer failed to cite the driver but, according to the victim's attorney, said she might have given the cyclist a ticket for not using the bike lane. Video surveillance shows the crash, plus what appears to be the driver high-fiving with friends before leaving the scene (after responders arrived).

The crash reportedly happened on September 12th, at 5:14 p.m., at 2359 N. Milwaukee Ave., near Chicago Distilling Co. and Revolution Brewing. According to Jim Freeman, an attorney with the cycling-advocate firm Freeman Kevenides Law, the officer did not cite the driver or take her information “but told the bicyclist she could give him a ticket for not riding his bicycle in a bicycle lane.”

But as Freeman notes, there’s not an actual bike lane along that span of street, but “sharrows,” which clarify that cyclists are allowed in the road.

According to a police spokesperson, no police report matching the description of the incident was filed in that district. It's possible that a citation could be issued after the fact, she said.

News of the incident has angered and mobilized some within the cycling community. Yasmeen Schuller, owner of The Chainlink message forum, wrote, "Hard to look at this and not be upset by so many aspects: the cyclist could have been run over after being doored. The driver high-fived knowing she just got away with something illegal that sent someone to the hospital. And the CPD supported it, not doing their job capturing all of the information."

A cyclist was critically injured earlier this month in Portage Park after being doored by a parked car. Police issued a citation for an open door in traffic in that incident.