Bicycling Magazine recently published an article titled, “Hey, Bike Shops; Stop Treating Customers Like Garbage.”  The story follows a heavy-set 59 year old’s sad tale of how he was treated poorly from a number of local bike shops.   First and foremost, I would be clear that bikes are for almost everyone.  If you are big, […]

IOWA BICYCLE LAWS  It’s important to know your legal rights (and duties) when bicycling in Iowa. It is especially important after a bicycle accident (we call them bicycle “crashes” and explain why here). For any questions about the State’s bike laws, or about your rights to the road, contact attorney Jim Freeman directly. Right to […]

9/16/16 UPDATE: The driver has contacted our office and appears to be cooperating.  Now we intend to follow up with respect to the responding officer’s actions.  Thanks to everyone for their help identifying this driver. *** At 5:13 pm on September 12, 2016, a bicyclist was doored at 2359 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. Here’s the video. The cyclist […]

It’s been a brutal start to the summer for cyclists.  From New York to Michigan to San Fransisco and everywhere in between we’ve seen a level of carnage unmatched as far as I can remember.  I’ve been told that there are all sorts of possible reasons for these bike crashes, mostly some combination including more […]

Last week another Iowa cyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver. At around 6:00am Dave Ryder was struck by Stephanie Kenealy on 35th Avenue.  Dave was coming home from the casinos.  He was riding a road bike with drop handlebars.  The bicycle was equipped with at least a rear light, and Ryder was wearing a […]

The Des Moines Register is publishing a series of articles on bicycling in Iowa. My understanding is that they had planned the series, but the highly publicized hit-and run-death of Gregary “Wade” Franck brought bicycling safety issues to the forefront of many minds in Iowa.The current article is titled, “Why does Iowa have so many […]

There is an old saying in journalism, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” The legal profession is no stranger to this standard of diligence. You very well might get every lawyer to admit his or her favorite word is “allegedly.” Take the first policy I learned when clerking for Freeman Kevenides […]

CBS is reporting that a bicyclist was killed in Des Plaines last night by a hit-and-run driver.  Apparently, the driver was a United Airlines employee driving a company SUV.  At approximately 9:40pm the SUV, allegedly driven by United Airlines worker Daniel Wehr struck a bicyclist, 25 year old Jose Gomez of Des Plaines.  The collision […]

Friday afternoon I first saw a video of a driver viciously attacking a cyclist during the morning commute that day. The driver can be seen in a video running and punching a cyclist. As with many cell phone videos, this one doesn’t tell the whole story. The incident began at approximately 7:50 am Friday morning […]

A common story we hear when a bicyclist is struck by a car goes like this: The last thing I remember I was riding my bike down the street, then I woke up in the hospital with my family around me. When a bicyclist is struck by a car and they hit their head, it […]

At any given time about 20% of the cases we handle involve a hit and run driver.  My unofficial research and experience suggests that a driver is more likely to flee the scene of an accident involving a bicyclist, and even more likely than that to flee the scene of an accident involving a pedestrian. […]

Senate File 424 is working its way through the Iowa legislature. If passed, the bill would require bicyclists in Iowa to use a white headlight and red tail light when riding a bicycle at night. Currently Iowa law only requires bicyclists to use a white headlight with either a red rear reflector or a red […]