Brendan Kevenides

Following the 2012 death of a young attorney who was run down by a truck when he swerved to avoid an opened car door, the city of Chicago has made efforts to try to prevent such incidents. The term "dooring" is well known to regular city cyclists. It occurs when an occupant opens a vehicle door into a bicyclist. A significant number of these incidents are caused by passengers exiting taxi cabs. The problem has been significant enough for the city to mandate that taxi companies place window stickers inside their vehicles reminding disembarking passengers to look before exiting. Here are some steps you can take when exiting a taxi cab to reduce the chance you will injure an unsuspecting biker. Make sure the driver pulls close to the curb: Taxi drivers in Chicago are required to pull to the curb when picking up and dropping off passengers. Though this requirement is found in the City of Chicago Public Chauffeurs Rules & Regulations, many drivers ignore it. As a passenger you should politely insist that before dropping you off the driver pull to the curb. By exiting to the curb, you eliminate the possibility of encountering a cyclist when opening the vehicle door. Do not exit into a bike lane: Cab drivers are prohibited from making passengers disembark into a bicycle lane. Section 9-40-060 expressly forbids any portion of a motor vehicle from encroaching into a bicycle lane. As a rule, you should insist that the driver pull to an area away from a bike lane when dropping you off.

Bike lanes are awesome and the City of Chicago is installing more of them all the time. However, they do not come with instructions. Here are a few tips for riding in city bike lanes. Watch out for doors: Most bike lanes in Chicago consist of painted white lines about six feet apart, separating cyclists from parked cars on the right and moving traffic to the left. The right way to ride in this type of bike lane is to position yourself as close to the outer line as possible. You want as much separation from the parked cars as possible while remaining in the bike lane. A lot of bikers get this wrong and hug the inner lane, fearing moving traffic. But when riding in the city the threat of getting doored by someone exiting a parked car is far greater than the threat of being struck by a moving car entering the bike lane. Mind "protected" bike lanes: With this design, cars parked to the left of the bike lane provide a barrier of protection from moving traffic. The risk of getting doored while riding in a protected bike lane is less. However, the risk of getting struck by a turning vehicle at an intersection increases. A driver's view of a bicyclist in one of these lanes may be obscured by parked cars. Remember to slow or stop at intersections, making sure the coast is clear before riding through. Take the main lane if necessary: It is important to remember that Chicago bicyclists are not required to ride in bike lanes.  There are several reasons why a cyclist may choose not to. It

Red light cameras are present at 174 of Chicago's intersections. When a driver runs a red light, the camera snaps a photo of the offending vehicle and its license plate. A traffic ticket is then mailed to the driver. The city touts the cameras as a means for keeping Chicago's streets safer by encouraging drivers to resist the urge to run lights. Others feel that the whole project is little more than a money grab by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration. His opponent in the current mayoral run-off, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, recently told Reuters that the cameras are "one more way Chicagoans are pick-pocketed every day." He would only keep those cameras with a track record for reducing crashes. Presently, two bills are pending in the Illinois General Assembly, HB173 and HB487, which would prohibit the use of red light cameras. But the cameras do more than just snap photos of red light scofflaws. They record video continuously, not just when a violation is detected. That video is kept by the Chicago Department of Transportation for about 30 days before it is erased. It is remarkably simple to acquire a copy of video from a particular camera from CDOT under the Freedom of Information Act. Time and resources are saved by the parties involved and by the judicial system as a whole.   Lost in the sometimes angry debate over red light cameras is the considerable benefit victims of traffic crashes, especially bikers, often receive from them. These eyes in the sky can be enormously helpful whe

"You're nuts." I get that a lot when people learn that I ride my bicycle daily during the winter, to and from work. I certainly don't see it that way. As I rode from my Logan Square home to my office in the Loop on February 2, the day after the big Super Bowl Blizzard, I easily cruised past numerous drivers spinning their wheels to extract vehicles from huge snow drifts and miserable people shuffling their frozen feet while waiting for late CTA buses. I felt sorry for them. If only they knew what I and other winter bike commuters know. Dealing with the weather is not as hard as you think. Seriously, you will arrive at your destination warm, dry and clean if you abide by a few simple tips. Dress smartly. You need to dress warmly without overdoing it. No expensive, techy clothing is necessary. One mistake newbies make when first riding in cold weather is to wear too much bulky clothing. Multiple, thin layers of clothing is the way to go. Each layer traps a bit of warm air while letting moisture escape, creating nice, dry insulation. A heavy parka is not a good bet. You will end up sweating too much and arrive feeling clammy and miserable.  Install fenders on your bike. This is a must for winter biking, unless you do not mind arriving wearing a suit of road grime. Ideally, the fenders should cover as much of both the rear and front tires as possible to catch as much muck as possible. They need not cost a lot money. A decent set will start around $30.  The key to not getting hit