Those not living in the City of Chicago, please ignore this message

Usually I am not much of a political bicyclist, but I got this by email this morning from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and thought I post it here. If your alderman sits on the commitee (see list below), consider giving your alderman a call or shoot them an email.
Thanks, Duppie

Your alderman sits on the Traffic Control & Safety Committee, which will consider the 2008 Bicycle Safety Ordinance March 5.

The ordinance would fine motorists up to $500 for endangering a bicyclist. It identifies specific behavior, including:

Requiring a minimum of three feet of clearance while passing bicyclists
Prohibiting a motorist from opening a door into moving traffic, reducing the danger of “dooring”
Raising the fines for vehicles parked in bike lanes or marked shared lanes
Requiring motorists to yield to oncoming bicyclists when turning left, which prevents a “left hook” crash
Prohibiting motorists from turning right in front of a bicyclist, which prevents a “right hook” crash
Requiring motorists to exercise due care for bicyclists in addition to pedestrians
Call your alderman today:

Ward Alderman Telephone E-Mail
6 Freddrenna Lyle 773-846-7006 flyle@cityofchicago.org
7 Sandi Jackson 773-375-9180 sandi.Jackson@cityofchicago.org
8 Michelle Harris 773-871-3300 mharris@cityofchicago.org
21 Howard Brookins, Jr. 773-881-9300 ward21@cityofchicago.org
23 Michael Zalewski 773-582-4444 mzalewski@cityofchicago.org
33 Richard F. Mell 773-478-8040 rmell@cityofchicago.org
37 Emma Mitts 773-745-2894 emitts@cityofchicago.org
40 Patrick O’Connor 773-769-1140 poconnor@cityofchicago.org
41 Brian G. Doherty 773-792-1991 bdoherty@cityofchicago.org
42 Brendan Reilly 312-642-4242 brendan.reilly@cityofchicago.org
45 Patrick J. Levar 773-545-2545 plevar@cityofchicago.org
47 Eugene Schulter 773-348-8400 ward47@cityofchicago.org
48 Mary Ann Smith 773-784-5277 msmith@cityofchicago.org
50 Bernard Stone 773-764-5050 bstone@cityofchicago.org

Find out more about the ordinance at www.biketraffic.org/legislation

I had a friend killed by a 'left hook' crash.

It's just sad that those enforcements are not going to make a lick of difference.

The whole drivers ed system is wrong from the start, even so those rules make it look like something is done about it, it won't do jack. 99% of the drivers don't know the rules of the road and less know even the rules of the road regarding bicycles.

So yeah, it sounds nice with the fines and everything, but I'm not getting my hopes up in the least. It's still russian roulette to ride a bike in the good ol' USA.

It won't change anything, but it will give the police - if eduated and they give a frick at the moment - a list of list of tools they can select from if they choose to do so. Many times you hear of people saying that the police would have liked to do something, but really didn't know what to write the guy up for.

As for driver's ed....the whole "3ft" campaign that LIB(?) pushed included creating short educational tapes to be playing in driver's ed classes. Gotta give them props for trying.

Actually I did more. I gave them money to help.

As for driver's ed....the whole "3ft" campaign that LIB(?) pushed included creating short educational tapes to be playing in driver's ed classes. Gotta give them props for trying.

Actually I did more. I gave them money to help.

Psimet,
Sorry to hear about your friend

I didn't know about the driver's ed tapes. I may have to look for them on-line
In Illinois it is indeed LIB and CBF who tag-team to get all the bike-friendly legislation done.
Duppie