Woman killed in Chicago crash believed to be first bike-sharing death in US
CHICAGO _ A 20-year-old woman riding a Divvy bike who was killed Friday morning in a crash involving a flat-bed truck in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood is believed to be the first person killed riding a bike-sharing bicycle in the United States.
The crash happened near Sacramento and Belmont avenues, said Officer Jose Estrada, a police spokesman, citing preliminary information. The truck and the woman were both going north on Sacramento, when they both turned east at Belmont and collided, Estrada said.
Initially, the woman was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center but later was pronounced dead, Estrada said.
The woman's death is believed to be the first bike-share fatality in the United States since the first bike-share program started in Tulsa, Okla., in 2007, according to Paul DeMaio, principal of Washington, D.C.-based MetroBike, a bike-share consulting business.
"This is really unfortunate. My heart goes out to the family members and friends of the person who was killed. Hopefully this will lead to the hastening and the growth of networks of bike infrastructure not only in Chicago but throughout North America."
_Chicago Tribune
