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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Update On Supposed Hit and Run Involving Chicago Bicyclist

For the past day and a half many in Chicago's bicycle community have been concerned about a supposed hit and run on Tuesday evening that left a bicyclist dead or dying in the street at Lawrence and Kimball.  The event was posed by Chicago Redeye blogger, Goatking, who described a horrible scene he apparently witnessed first hand.  Turns out that the story was quite different than was reported.  At the request of concerned bicyclists the Active Transportation Alliance investigated and learned the following:

The person mentioned in the “Goat King” blog was not struck by a car but actually fell off of her bike around 11pm.

Active Trans staff did some research regarding the cyclist mentioned in this blog. According to the 17th Police District, the only traffic accident reported in that area on July 27, 2010, occurred at 11pm at 3318 W. Lawrence. There was a cyclist who had fallen off of her bike and was taken to the hospital where she was treated for a bump to the head. Initial reports into 911 speculated that a vehicle was involved, but the statement that the cyclist gave the police negated that fact. No fatalities or other bicycle related incidents occurred in that area on that date.

I'm not sure what Goatking was thinking in speculating about what had happened.  What is even more disturbing is that a main stream media source, Chicago Redeye/Chicago Now, allowed this falsity to be published on its website.
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6 comments:

  1. JenniferJuly 29, 2010 at 5:26 PM

    Who was it who said never to let the truth get in the way of a good story?

    In any case, I'm glad no one was killed in a hit-and-run after all. I was similarly concerned about the lack of Real News about the incident and was beginning to suspect that we'd been taken for a ride.

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  2. Mark KensethJuly 30, 2010 at 9:37 AM

    sounds similar to the shirley sherrod incident. sad to see people embelishing or not telling the whole truth, and then just as bad, newspapers helping to spread the rumor.

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  3. GoatKINGJuly 30, 2010 at 11:47 AM

    I am glad she is alive, me and my friend were very shocked and thought the lady was dead. The RedEye Royalty blog is an opinion site and does not express the official views or reporting of the RedEye itself

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  4. JenniferJuly 30, 2010 at 1:52 PM

    But when newspapers sponsor or host blogs, the lines begin to blur. That fated entry popped up on one of my Google News alerts.

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  5. Brendan KevenidesJuly 30, 2010 at 2:23 PM

    I agree with you Jennifer. The RedEye Royalty thing seems irresponsible.

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  6. Brendan KevenidesJuly 30, 2010 at 2:28 PM

    Here is an update from Goatking himself:

    Update: The lady that I thought got hit by a car didn't get hit by a car at all, she survived. I am glad that no one died in front of my eyes and apologize that my perception was inaccurate. I will say that seeing a lady sprawled out in front of her bicycle and driving three feet up to her was extremely traumatic to watch and I wrote this post in response to what I thought I saw. I am not a trained journalist and appreciate everyone who took extra time to check with the police. The content and opinions expressed through the RedEye Royalty blog are by the individual authors and do not reflect the opinions of RedEye.

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