The cyclist killed in a car crash Friday worked for the city’s program dedicated to preventing collisions on Chicago streets.
The Chicago Department of Transportation identified the cyclist as Riley O’Neil. The 35-year-old had worked for the department for over two years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
O’Neil was riding around 4:40 p.m. Friday in the 3200 block of South Halsted Street in Bridgeport when a person exiting a car hit him with their door, throwing him into traffic, according to Chicago police and the bike safety advocacy group Bike Grid Now. An oncoming vehicle then fatally struck O’Neil, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
O’Neil was a planner for the transportation department’s Complete Streets program, which redesigns roads to make them safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
He was “a dedicated public servant committed to making Chicago’s streets safer and more accessible for everyone. He will be greatly missed,” CDOT wrote in a social media post.
He also served as the bike parking manager for CDOT, responsible for placing more bike racks around the city, according to Bike Grid Now.
“He was a dedicated bike advocate, and the person we have to thank for Chicago’s significant growth in bike parking,” Bike Grid Now said in a statement.
The group is organizing a memorial bike ride for O’Neil Monday evening. The ride is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and go from Palmisano Park in Bridgeport to where O’Neil was killed on Halsted Street.
O’Neil is at least the third cyclist hit and killed by a driver in Chicago this year.
In January, 63-year-old Roman Havelka was riding his bike when he was fatally hit by a driver in the 8600 block of West Irving Park Road on the far Northwest Side.
Then in April, Damian Gomez was killed by a driver speeding at the intersection of West 63rd Street and South Kedzie Avenue. The driver ran a red light and hit 18-year-old Gomez on his bike. The car then crashed into another car, which also ran over Gomez.
Two teenagers riding e-scooters were also hit and killed by drivers this year. At least 10 pedestrians were killed by cars from January to April this year, according to data from CDOT.