Jun
4
Close call with a CTA bus
Filed Under Cycling
Pedaling down Southport the other day, the sideview mirror of a CTA bus nearly took my head off. Not cool. I console myself with the thought that these drivers are professionals. They’ve been at it 25, 30 years. They know what they’re doing. When they mean to give you a foot, they give you 12 inches.
But then I learned on Dec. 31, a 59-year-old woman was removing her bicycle from the rack in front of the 152 when the bus accelerated and proceeded to run her over. She was dragged 80 feet before the driver realized his mistake.
She was dead, of course.
The whole thing was captured on a surveillance tape. My faith in CTA bus drivers was severely shaken after reading about it in the Chicagoist today. You can watch the ABC news story about it here.
I also did a video story for my reporting class where I interview a couple of bikers. One takes his bike on the bus all the time, the other says no way, people get killed doing that.
From now on, no more “bus drivers know what they’re doing.”
Sometimes, they don’t.
For all you riders, be careful out there.