Bike safety is not a burden to be carried by drivers alone and must be shared by the city, bikers and drivers. Proponents of “Vision Zero” talk about reducing bike fatalities, but what is their plan to address the biker’s role in bike safety? What does Vision Zero do to address bikers blatantly ignoring traffic signals, weaving between cars and changing lanes without looking or signaling?
It’s easy to ignore these daily realities in Chicago and blame drivers for safety issues, but a biker’s ultimate role is to maintain his or her own safety and any biker who undermines that hurts the entire biking community.
The city shares a role as well. When the city installs bike lanes, it needs to take other measures to keep traffic moving and not accept gridlock as there’s been on Belmont Avenue across Avondale, and Logan Boulevard after Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) turned it into a two-lane road. It’s not only about pouring concrete; it’s about a comprehensive community-driven plan to make bikes and cars mesh together, such as incorporating the re-timing of traffic lights, installing turn lanes and programming pedestrian scrambles — temporarily stopping traffic to allow pedestrian movement — to aid traffic movement.
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It also takes commitment. If the city is going to build bike lanes, it needs to commit to maintaining them. That means clearing trash and snow. Logan Boulevard has seen standing water in it since the addition of bike lanes because trash that accumulates under the concrete blockers for bike lanes blocks the sewers. LaSpata was quick to build these lanes, but does not appear to have a commitment to maintaining them.
Drivers see fees and fines perpetually increasing, slower traffic and fewer lanes as bike lanes increase. It is high time that bikers share the burden and pay fees like drivers to help fund community-designed comprehensive improvement.
Drivers have an outsize role in road safety. That means put down the phones, share the road, look before opening doors and lead the charge to a comprehensive plan increasing citywide street safety. Chicago has come a long way in making the streets safer for bikers, and I feel confident taking my children on bike rides. But we can only become a bike haven like Amsterdam together, with all stakeholders involved.
Luke Nelis, Logan Square
COPA lawsuits are about the truth
Recent reporting by Sun-Times reporters Tom Schuba and Fran Spielman about the recent Civilian Office of Police Accountability whistleblower lawsuits — “Fired Chicago police oversight official filed whistleblower suit, alleging anti-cop bias drives probe” — misses the mark.
These lawsuits are not about being “anti” or “pro” police. That is a false dichotomy. These lawsuits are about COPA finding and then accurately presenting the truth to the public. As alleged in the complaints, these brave whistleblowers were fired for raising concerns about the integrity of COPA investigations. If the city of Chicago is ever going to achieve genuine reform of police oversight, then our leaders and media must exercise greater appreciation that the pursuit of the truth, in an objective manner, should be everyone’s sole mission.
Devlin Joseph Schoop, legal counsel for COPA whistleblowers Matthew Haynam and Garrett Schaaf
Vance should take his attack dog act to South Dakota
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance isn’t backing away from his false claims that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are killing pets for food. Apparently, it is acceptable to Vance for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to shoot her 14-month-old German wirehaired pointer dog named Cricket for being bad at pheasant hunting and good at chicken hunting. Noem also admitted that she “hated that dog” in her recent book.
If Vance is so concerned about the welfare of dogs and other pets, perhaps he should have a discussion with Noem about animal welfare facilities being an option.
Pete Foskaris, Plainfield