15 July 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chief Tom Weitzel tweitzel@riverside.il.us 708.447.2127 - Follow RPD on Twitter @pdriverside

Riverside Police Respond to More Auto Crashes Involving Bicyclists
First Avenue crash results in injuries. Harlem Avenue crash bicyclist flees scene.
Nine Crashes and 45 citations have been issued in Project Area Site Thus Far
On Sunday, July 13, 2014 at 1:28 p.m., the Riverside Police Department responded to a report of a
bicyclist struck by a vehicle in the southbound lanes of First Avenue just north of Ridgewood. When the
first officer arrived, he found a bicyclist on the ground in the parkway adjacent to the southbound lanes of
First Avenue at the Brookfield Zoo fence line. The bicyclist was injured and the officer summoned
paramedics to the scene for medical treatment.
The following facts were learned during the investigation. The vehicle involved in this accident, a white
2003 Cadillac Escalade, was stopped in the southbound lanes of First Avenue just north of Ridgewood.
As traffic was very heavy at the time due to patrons trying to enter and exit the Brookfield Zoo, the
passenger of the 2003 Escalade opened her front passenger door at which time the subject on the bike, a
39-year-old male resident of Chicago was clipped by the door as it was opened, striking the individual on
the left side of his body and ejecting him from his bike to the roadway. After this event took place, all
traffic at First and Ridgewood came to a complete stop.
As a result of this crash, the bicyclist was inured but refused transport to a local hospital. The passenger
of the vehicle involved in the accident, Jacqueline A. O'Brien, 48, of Roscoe, Illinois was issued a
traffic citation for unsafe opening of a vehicle door in traffic.
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On July 12, 2014 at 12:14 p.m., Riverside Police were notified of a car versus bicycle accident at Harlem
at Blackhawk. The driver of the vehicle involved in this accident said he was trying to make a turn right
from Harlem onto Blackhawk to travel westbound when he struck a bicyclist. He stated that the bicyclist
ran into his vehicle. When he got out to check on the individual, the individual did not want to make any
police report, got back onto his bicycle and left the scene. The driver of the vehicle came into the police
department to report the incident so it would not be reported or investigated as a hit-and-run.
EWS RELEASE
RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT
31 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546
Police have not been able to find the bicyclist as he left no information with the driver and had no interest
at the time in filing an accident or police report.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated, I would like to continue to remind area residents and
motorists that First Avenue at Ridgewood/Forest continues to be extremely congested during rush hours
and weekends as a result of traffic getting in and out of the Brookfield Zoo. To illustrate this point, the
Riverside Police Department has already investigated and handled nine (9) motor vehicle accidents since
the beginning of the MWRD sewer project at First and Forest. While most of these accidents have been
minor in nature, they continue to cause a large traffic problem until the police department can get the
scene cleared and the vehicles off the main roadway so they can investigate the crash itself. Additionally,
the police department has issued 45 citations and made four (4) traffic arrests in the area of First and
Waubansee and First and Forest/Ridgewood for vehicles that are using those streets to cut through
residential neighborhoods to avoid traffic on First Avenue. I would like to ask motorists to use caution and
slowdown in this area as traffic will continue to be heavy most likely until the end of October.

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