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By Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. – Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers

Electric bikes and scooters have rapidly reshaped transportation across Illinois. What began as pedal-assist bicycles traveling 15–20 mph has evolved into a new generation of high-powered electric devices capable of 40–50 mph speeds — often operated without licensing, insurance, or clear regulatory oversight.

Electric bikes are ubiquitous nowadays on the streets of Chicago. What began as pedal-assist bicycles traveling 15–20 mph has evolved into a new generation of high-powered electric devices capable of 40–50 mph speeds, often operated without licensing, insurance, or clear regulatory oversight. The question becomes where exactly e-bikes are supposed to be driven. Should people be riding their e-bikes 30 miles per hour in bike lanes and on the lake bike trails? When a bike reaches that speed shouldn’t they even be treated more like a motorcycle and less like a bike? What ages should be allowed to ride e-bikes that can achieve high speeds? How safe is it to have high speed bikes on trails and lanes meant for pedal bikes? These are questions that our city and state lawmakers have left unanswered.

Chicago is once again debating how to balance traffic safety with everyday commercial reality. A recently advanced ordinance, championed by Ald. Daniel La Spata and approved by the City Council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, would expand enforcement against vehicles that block bike lanes, bus lanes, and crosswalks.

The proposal would allow residents to submit photos and videos of illegally parked vehicles through 311, with enforcement aides dispatched to investigate and issue citations. Early phases would reportedly focus on commercial vehicles, with the goal of improving compliance and safety.

The personal injury lawyers of  Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C., see firsthand how obstructed lanes and poorly managed street design contribute to serious injuries. But we also understand the practical tensions this ordinance raises.

Recientemente, conducía de regreso a casa por la noche durante una fuerte tormenta de lluvia. Iba por debajo del límite de velocidad y prestando mucha atención a la carretera porque la visibilidad era un problema debido a la intensa lluvia, los limpiaparabrisas despejando furiosamente el parabrisas y el resplandor del tráfico que venía en sentido contrario. Conducía por Western Avenue como lo he hecho miles de veces. La calzada estaba oscura y mojada, y era difícil ver cualquier línea pintada, así que me mantenía recto en mi carril cuando, justo frente a mí, apareció el nuevo “refugio peatonal” de concreto que había sido construido recientemente en medio de la vía. La rueda de mi automóvil lo golpeó a aproximadamente 20 millas por hora, reventando la llanta y dejándome conmocionado.

Me quedé preguntándome cómo pude haber golpeado la isla peatonal cuando iba en línea recta. Al inspeccionarla, pude ver que ahora los conductores deben desviarse ligeramente hacia la derecha para evitarla. Al observar todas las marcas negras de neumáticos y el cemento astillado, quedó claro que no fui el único en golpearla. Los abogados de lesiones personales de Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C., en este artículo, analizarán los beneficios y peligros de las recientes incorporaciones a nuestras carreteras de Chicago.

Si conduce en Chicago, ha visto los cambios: “bump-outs” (extensiones de acera) de cemento en las esquinas, medianas de concreto, islas de refugio, carriles para bicicletas protegidos y más rotondas en lugares que antes eran intersecciones simples y amplias.

The city of Chicago has made a concerted effort in recent year to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street. The City has added pedestrian bump outs at crosswalks, more signage, painted zebras across the street and in some cases flashing lights. The Chicago personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C.  note that more work needs to be done.  This article lists the hurdles that still remain in making the streets safer for pedestrians.

Many drivers simply do not stop at crosswalks.

Everyone in Chicago has probably experienced standing at a crosswalk waiting to cross as cars and trucks zoom past without even slowing down. One can venture out into traffic if one is brave or foolish enough to take for granted that the traffic will stop but this is not recommended.  Some drivers are distracted. Others are impatient. Some mistakenly believe pedestrians must always wait.

The polar vortex has arrived in Chicago.  When temperatures plunge to around zero, driving conditions can become dangerous fast, even on roads that look clear. Extreme cold creates unique hazards that increase the risk of serious crashes, injuries, and multi-vehicle accidents across the city and surrounding suburbs.

The personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. believe it is important to understand these risks to help prevent accidents and keep you safer during winter travel.

Why Extreme Cold Makes Driving More Dangerous

Trucking cases turn on paper, data, and the consistent systems that a motor carrier must run every day and then produce when something goes wrong. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require carriers to preserve and produce safety-related records, and they also require cooperation during investigations. A carrier must make accident records available to authorized investigators and provide reasonable assistance, including full and truthful answers. That obligation matters in civil litigation because plaintiffs often need the same core information to prove what happened, who controlled the operation, and whether the carrier ignored known safety risks.  The Chicago trucking accident attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer PC are familiar with the recordkeeping obligations of commercial carriers.

Start with the most direct recordkeeping duty. The regulations require each motor carrier to maintain an accident register for three years after the date of each accident. The register must include key fields that map neatly onto civil proof issues, including the date and location, the driver’s name, counts of injuries and fatalities, and whether hazardous materials were released. The regulations also contemplate preservation of official accident documentation, including copies of accident reports required by states, other governmental entities, or insurers.

In litigation, that accident register and those reports help identify every prior crash the carrier had to log, and they can expose patterns: repeat rear end collisions, repeated lane departure events, recurring brake issues, or a driver who keeps showing up in preventable incidents. Plaintiffs use that history to prove notice, to challenge “this came out of nowhere” defenses, and to support negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent entrustment, and punitive exposure when a carrier kept rolling the dice.

En Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C., representamos a personas lesionadas en las calles de Chicago — peatones, ciclistas, automovilistas y pasajeros. En los últimos años, hemos visto una nueva y muy predecible fuente de lesiones graves: las patinetas eléctricas (e-scooters).

Hablemos con honestidad sobre por qué las patinetas eléctricas son tan peligrosas, quiénes se están lesionando y por qué la Ciudad de Chicago necesita tomar este problema más en serio. (Y si usted ha resultado lesionado en un accidente con una patineta eléctrica — ya sea como conductor o como peatón golpeado por una — debe conocer sus derechos.) Quiénes están usando estas patinetas?

Si camina por Chicago y observa quién anda en las patinetas eléctricas de alquiler, notará que son principalmente adolescentes y adultos jóvenes.