Bicyclist killed by SUV on North Side

The crash that killed bicyclist Matthew Mager, 29, of the 1400 block of W. Lill Ave., happened in the 400 block of North Lincoln Avenue at about 9:15 a.m. Sunday.

[cosmo kramer]

peace and prayers to family and friends of Matthew Mager.

[Tom]

SUVs don't kill. Drivers KILL! Deepest sympathies to the family and friend's of this cyclist.

[Pullheadoutofars e]

So 400 N. Lincoln huh??? DO you even live in the city? There is no 400 N. Lincoln. Irving at Lincoln would be 4000 N. Lincoln. Anyone home or is this on auto pilot???? I guess Sam fired all the reporters and the bean counters are posting stories?

[newsproofer]

Condolences to the family of Mr. Mager. Very sad, indeed.
Jeff Long, reporter- Please check what you posted- if the Chevrolet Suburban was traveling eastbound on Irving Park Road that puts the accident at 4000 N. Lincoln, not 400, I believe.

[Chgo Driver]

To bad, but cyclist disregard traffic controls all the time, and taunt vehicles regularly. They have (suppose to) to adhere to the same rules We do on the roads.

[Mike]

Tom wrote:

SUVs don't kill. Drivers KILL! Deepest sympathies to the family and friend's of this cyclist.

I too offer condolences to his family, but the report said that the driver was not at fault. Too many bicyclists fail to observe traffic laws that apply to everyone on the road, not just cars.

[Ben]

My deepest condolences to Matt's family and friends. Everyone please be careful.

[Jefferson]

Mike wrote:

<quoted text>
I too offer condolences to his family, but the report said that the driver was not at fault. Too many bicyclists fail to observe traffic laws that apply to everyone on the road, not just cars.

You can say that again. The bicyclists are the one who want to us to "share the road." If we all operated our cars like they do their bikes we would have lost our licenses a long time ago.

[Ed L]

My deepest sympathies to Matt's family & friends, but also to the driver of the car.
Group rides can be very dangerous in the city if safety is not a paramount concern.

[Biker_Driver]

R.I.P.
To the classless blame the victim commentors:
Funny how nobody immediately blames the general carelessness of drivers for the many accidents that happen *every single day* involving cars in Chicagoland. Hypocrisy defined. Next time you drive anywhere in Chicago make a point of noticing how well your fellow Chicago drivers are driving.

[BradXM]

I add my sympathies to the family and friends of Mr. Mager, and urge once again that bike riders pay attention and adhere to the rules of the road.

Drivers, too, obviously. I personally see a lot more bike riders blowing stop signs and red lights than car drivers. Even if it was reversed, cars are moving missiles -- a lot more powerful than bikes.

If you're riding a bike, and a car hits you, regardless of whose fault it was, who is more likely to lose life or limb?

I am VERY familiar with the 4000 block of Lincoln Avenue. There's a three-way stop there, where Lincoln, Irving Park and Damen all come together. It CAN be an incrdibly dangerous intersection. People in a hurry know this is a very long red light, and they hurry to get through it.

In this instance, the driver of the SUV isn't going to be charged with anything. The bike rider, according to police and witnesses, obviously blew the light and just expected the cars would stop.

WRONG. You can't stop a car on a dime, and NO ONE...not drivers OR bike riders...have the real right to expect the other guy will stop when they blow a red light.

Until bike riders are somehow made to follow the rules of the road they're supposed to be following, anyway, there will be more death on the city streets when cars and bikes collide. I don't believe many of those deaths will be the drivers of cars.

When a car blow a light, they get pulled over, or they get their picure taken and get a ticket in the mail. No such thing happens to bike riders.

Car drivers pay with their wallets. Bike riders pay with their lives.

[Judys]

Biker_Driver wrote:

R.I.P.
To the classless blame the victim commentors:
Funny how nobody immediately blames the general carelessness of drivers for the many accidents that happen *every single day* involving cars in Chicagoland. Hypocrisy defined. Next time you drive anywhere in Chicago make a point of noticing how well your fellow Chicago drivers are driving.

Oh, please. Who has time to bother noticing how well our fellow drivers are driving when we have to watch out for you idiot bike riders blowing red lights all over town.

Keep running stop signs and red lights pal, and a whole lot more of you are going to die.

[Your mama]

Rumour has it that the cyclist involved was part of the "Tour da Chicago," an unsanctioned, and illegal, bicycle race on the streets. Not the first time a participant has been struck by a vehicle during this event.

[john]

i'm pretty sure everyone has heard all of these arguments before...so why waste the breath?

[cosmo kramer]

circumstances don't matter. cars, trucks, and SUVs should be on the lookout for bikes in this city.

peace and prayers to Matthews family and friends.

[joe]

Yea. Keep that kind of thinking and keep disobeying the rules of traffic and soon the problem will solve itself. All of the irresponsible and stupid bicyclists will eventually die off. Sad for Matt's family but that was brought on to by Matt himself. One shouldn't need to pay with one's life for not obeying traffic rules but if one does not recognize that being the true. Let it be.

cosmo kramer wrote:

circumstances don't matter. cars, trucks, and SUVs should be on the lookout for bikes in this city.
peace and prayers to Matthews family and friends.

[Charles]

A friend of mine was there and saw and heard the accident. She is a nurse, she knew right away he was dying.

There was a long line of bikers; they all blew through the light at this six-way busy intersection. The car hit the last rider. The other riders did not know who he was. Imagine what the innocent driver of he SUV is going through.

I am fine yeilding to bikers on back streets. It is annoying to have to stop and start a bicycle at every little stop sign if there is no traffic. But these guys who run lights on busy streets are doing no one any good. Especially a bunch of guys out for a Sunday ride.

[Jerry Krause]

cosmo kramer wrote:

circumstances don't matter. cars, trucks, and SUVs should be on the lookout for bikes in this city.
peace and prayers to Matthews family and friends.

Circumstances don't matter? Sorry, not buying what you're selling. Of course they do.

Either the cyclist knowingly disregarding the traffic light, hopefully doubtful considering the risk involved, or he made a tragic mistake and ran the light.

It happens, and it is very sad. I feel terrible for the family of the victim, and also for the driver who broke no law (that has been mentioned yet) and has to live the rest of their life knowing their vehicle killed a man. The driver isn't psychic, he has no way of knowing that someone, whether they are in a car, or on a bike, is going to run a red light and jump out in front of them.

[Jerry Krause]

Wow, OK, so it sounds like the cyclist might have been more aware of what he was doing that I originally assumed.

If so... such a waste.

We all make the occasional poor decision. Unfortunately this guy might have had to pay with his life.

[Friend]

Can we all keep in mind here that a person has actually died.

You can comment upon driving and biking rules and the breaking of those rules all you want but let's have a little civility please.

We have all broken rules whether in a car, biking or on foot at some point in our lives and we need to keep in mind that the cost can sometimes be great.

I came here trying to find out what actually happened to this person who is the son of a friend and my heart sank when I saw this bickering.