Yesterday morning, John Amdor was biking in the great city of Chicago when he heard a noise behind him and turned around to find a Toyota Avalon in the bike lane. The Avalon then continued in the bike lane, shocking cyclists and pedestrians as Amdor shot video. That’s not your lane, Avalon!
It goes without saying that this is extremely dangerous, and drivers should take extra precautions to look out for cyclists, since cars weigh thousands of pounds and cyclists don’t. That said, Amdor told Block Club Chicago he thought, in this case, it was more accident than malice. No one was hurt in the incident.
“I kind of got the impression they sort of panicked,” Amdor said. “I chalked it up to them sort of losing their cool because they were clearly driving somewhere they weren’t meant to drive.”
This went down on Washington Street near Franklin Street in the Loop. That looks like this:
So it would take some real effort to get into the bike lane, and yet, even after being breaking free of the barrier between the bus stop and the curb, Amdor caught video of the driver continuing in the bike lane.
The car’s no longer hemmed in by the barrier but, confoundingly, goes on anyway. Chicago police were called within minutes, according to Block Club Chicago, but by the time they got there the driver and Avalon were gone.
The Illinois plates suggest the driver hails from the state, perhaps even Chicago itself. But maybe it’s their first time in the Big City. Maybe there’s a part of Illinois where bike lanes don’t exist, and instead there are Avalon lanes, narrow lanes painted green intended only for Toyota Avalons.
We may never know for sure. Be careful out there, everyone!