Few Citations Handed Out For Safe-Biking Ordinances

Few Citations Handed Out For Safe-Biking Ordinances

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
Chicago’s safe-biking ordinances are two months old now. And the Chicago Police Department has handed out a handful of citations.

The Chicago Police have issued 16 tickets to drivers who failed to avoid a collision with a cyclist or pedestrian. And 19 citations to those who drove or parked in bike lanes. They don’t know how many tickets were given to those who opened their car door in a cyclist’s path. Ethan Spotts is with the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.

SPOTTS: There’s an education period where enforcers and the public are learning more and more about these ordinances, but it’s also a matter of motorists and bicyclists choosing to change their behaviors.

The bicycle ordinances were enacted in March. Another law requires passing cars to give bikers at least 3 feet of space, and still another makes it illegal for drivers to make a turn in front of a cyclist. The police don’t have citation numbers on those either.