A city of Chicago truck driver ran over a 31-year-old bicyclist Tuesday morning on the Northwest Side, trapping her under the vehicle, authorities and witnesses said.
The 31-year-old woman was still conscious when she was removed from underneath the truck, according to witnesses at the scene, and police said she had since been taken via ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.
The crash occurred around 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of Milwaukee and Belmont avenues in the Avondale neighborhood. The 31-year-old woman was biking north on Milwaukee and stopped at the light, alongside a Chicago Department of Transportation truck.
The truck’s 48-year-old driver then turned right onto Belmont and struck the bicyclist, trapping her underneath, according to a police media notification.
A group standing at a nearby gas station saw the crash and immediately started running toward the truck, yelling at the driver to stop moving, according to Esteban Burgoa, 56, who observed the aftermath.
“The people here were yelling, ‘Stop, stop, stop,'” Burgoa said. “He (the driver) was in shock. He said, ‘I killed the lady.'”
The driver was taken to Swedish Hospital for evaluation but had no injuries, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
This type of crash, in which a motor vehicle and a cyclist are traveling in the same direction and the motorist turns right and hits the cyclist, is known as a “right hook,” said lawyer Michael Keating, who specializes in bike crashes.
Last fall, Carla Aiello, a 37-year-old counselor at a Wicker Park Catholic high school, was killed in a similar crash when the driver of a dump truck made a right turn from Milwaukee onto Kilbourn Avenue.
This crash happened several blocks north of the most recent collision, and a painted bike path with plastic bollards was added to the street. There is no marked bike lane at Belmont and Milwaukee, though Keating noted that it is a bike route indicated by city signs and is commonly used by bikes.
Keating said that right hooks are a frequent cause of crashes, and the city has seen a number of them involving cyclists being hit by commercial vehicles.
Keating noted that the municipal code states that the operator of any motor vehicle should not turn right “until it’s absolutely clear and safe to do so.”
The Department of Transportation said that Tuesday’s crash was under investigation and declined to comment further.
![The Lake County Sheriff’s Department has purchased 20 new police vehicles and two 4×4 pick-up trucks as part of its annual vehicle replacement program. Lake County Commissioners Wednesday took bids for paint on the vehicles — as well as outfitting them with lights, sirens and equipment — under advisement. After the meeting, Commissioners’ President Michael Repay, D-Hammond, said the vehicles were purchased through the state’s quantity purchase agreement (QPA) from Bloomington Ford-Lincoln. Items purchased through the QPA do not have to go through the bidding procedure. “The vehicles are part of the annual vehicle replacement,” Repay said. Vehicles purchased in […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/XP24X3GDK5A7NG5FWQSFGGS6WU.jpg?w=481 "The Lake County Sheriff’s Department has purchased 20 new police vehicles and two 4×4 pick-up trucks as part of its annual vehicle replacement program. Lake County Commissioners Wednesday took bids for paint on the vehicles — as well as outfitting them with lights, sirens and equipment — under advisement. After the meeting, Commissioners’ President Michael Repay, D-Hammond, said the vehicles were purchased through the state’s quantity purchase agreement (QPA) from Bloomington Ford-Lincoln. Items purchased through the QPA do not have to go through the bidding procedure. “The vehicles are part of the annual vehicle replacement,” Repay said. Vehicles purchased in […]")
