7/27/2007 Friday night Chicago Critical Mass--accident, need info
 

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum, so if I make any mistakes, please bear with me.

Last friday night, my family (5) and a young friend of my daughter's rode in Chicago's Critical Mass. We've been doing CCM rides since 2001, and we are very experienced cyclists (kids included). There were at least 1500 cyclists for this ride, with the destination being the endangered Berwyn Spindle (public art Car-kebob, featured in Wayne's World movie).

We were at the end of the Mass, on 18th Street, riding through the wonderful Pilsen neighborhood when all hell broke lose. A maroon car with front end damage came careening off Throop street, and proceeded to plow through the tail end of the Mass of about 100 cyclists. Bikers scattered in all directions trying to avoid him. Unfortunately, my 10 year old son wasn't so fortunate, and he was hit by this alleged drunken driver (who actually accelerated into him).

Thankfully, my son suffered no permanent damage. He will recover. He is also moving beyond his fear of getting on a bike again.

The State's Attorney's office is seeking any other victims of this crime. The driver was uninsured and had a revoked driver's license. I would like to see him unable to drive a car for a very long time. The more evidence they have of this driver's willful and reckless driving, the better the chances of keeping him off the road.

If you were injured or your bike damaged in this incident, PLEASE contact me offlist (at repto@aol.com, or at 708-388-8662). If you know of anyone who was injured or who's bike was damaged, please forward this email to them! Time is of the essence, so please feel free to forward this to any listservs or other cycling venues that you are aware of.

http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chic...es_young_rider
Tiny url link--
http://tinyurl.com/2ww3na
The Sun-Times has interviewed me, but I'm not sure if they have run the article yet or not.

Thank you for any and all help!

Jane Healy
mom to Will (10), Katie (7) and Genevieve (3)

p.s. I've included a photo of his legs taken today. You can't see it in this photo, but his entire right lower leg is swollen. His elbows, left hip, right arm and face are also bruised. And yes, he WAS wearing his helmet (thank God).

Good luck finding him. I sincerely hope he gets whatever the law can hand him.

Wow, truly unbelievable. Best wishes to your son. I hope that the driver is punished accordingly. Best of luck.

My best wishes for your son's speedy recovery, and my sympathies for what your family is going through. Best of luck with finding witnesses and getting this guy off the road-- permanently.

If you have a bike blog, cross post this....I did! Let's see if we can help this family out!

Unstuck this one too.

This is very tragic. I hope your son gets better soon and suffers no lasting effects. It is good to hear he was not seriously injured.

There is no excuse for what this driver has done and he deserves the highest punishment allowed by law. But you have to remember he was drunk and most likely pissed off . When you have a group of cyclists getting together for the sole purpose of pissing off drivers, there is bound to me some moron out there that want to do someone harm. I certainly hope other CM riders learn from this tragic event and consider the consequences before they participate in their next CM ride.

There goes the thread...

Like you said, there is no excuse for what this driver has done....

Glad your son was O.K., and I also hope they take his license from him, make him do jail time, ride a bike for ATLEAST 5 years, and fine him for what he has done. Some people never get what life is about do they? Can't change them all unfortunately... I try though. Good luck.