On his way home from work, a Chicago bicyclist was injured on May 25th when the driver of a 2010 Mercedes-Benz opened her car door without looking for traffic on West Kinzie Street in front of the East Bank Club. Immediately following the collision the cyclist was transported via ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a severe right leg injury.
The dooring incident took place at around 5:40 p.m. just east of Kinzie Street's intersection with North Kingsbury Street. The bicyclist was riding eastbound along the ride side of Kinzie just after stopping at the sign controlled intersection. He had split second notice that the door was about to open in his path and attempted to swerve to his left. However, his effort to avoid impact was not successful, his right leg crashing hard into the driver's door. The bicyclist had been wearing a helmet.
The bicyclist suffered what appears to be significant tearing of the muscle in his lower right leg which has resulted in a foot drop. It is not clear whether this will be a permanent injury but he has not yet regained full use of his leg. Our law firm is representing the cyclist in this matter.
Sorry to read this. I hope the cyclist recovers fully, both physically and monetarily.
ReplyDeleteIf this ever happens to me, I hope I have the presence of mind to steer directly into the driver, instead of the unavoidable door. The driver would be softer, and lessen the impact.