Last Year's Tragic Truck-Bike Fatalities Bring About Important Change

Tragically, this type of fatal crash was unusually prevalent last year. Virginia Murray, 25, and Lisa Kuivinen, 20, were also struck and killed on bikes by right-turning flatbed truck drivers on the near northwest side last summer. These three cases represented half of all 2016 Chicago bike fatalities. A fourth cyclist, 18-year-old Chuyuan Qiu, died four days before Kondrasheva, after the driver of a concrete mixer struck her in Evanston and she went under the wheels.

In the wake of these four fatalities, as well as a fifth truck-bike crash on the near west side that seriously injured 26-year-old Danielle Palagi, the Reader called on City Hall to follow the leads of New York and Boston by requiring side guards for municipal trucks and other large vehicles operating within the city. These devices—already widespread in Europe, Japan, Brazil, and other countries—prevent pedestrians and cyclists who are struck by trucks from falling underneath the vehicle and being crushed by the rear wheels. In the U.K. alone, the fatality rate for turning-truck crashes dropped by 20 percent for pedestrians and 61 percent for cyclists after 1986, when it began requiring the equipment on most new trucks.

At the same time we put out this call for change, the Active Transportation Alliance was working to make it happen. The advocacy group prepared recommendations for Chicago's Vision Zero plan to eliminate serious crashes and fatalities by 2026, which included a proposal for an ordinance requiring truck side guards and/or convex mirrors that help reduce blind spots. The organization also launched an online petition urging the city to take action to reduce the dangers posed by large vehicles on city streets, which also listed strengthening commercial driver licensing rules and limiting large vehicle traffic during rush hours as possible solutions. The petition garnered 850 signatures.

The advocacy push paid off. When the Vision Zero Chicago Action Plan was released in June, it included a recommendation for an ordinance requiring side guards and convex mirrors on large city fleet trucks and contractor vehicles. The plan noted that while large vehicles travel only 8 percent of all the miles driven by vehicles in Chicago, they're involved in 12 percent of fatal bike and pedestrian crashes. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Department of Transportation introduced the ordinance to the City Council later that month.

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