Bike safety measures ramp up in Kane County after tragic accidents in 2023

Bike season officially has started and with it comes the responsibility of keeping cyclists safe, especially those on local paths and trails.

The use of Kane County trails, specifically the Fox River Bike Trail, has increased as the season has warmed up, said Steve Ericksen, chairman of the Batavia Active Transportation Advisory Committee and avid cyclist.

“There’s a lot more cycling and use of the trails, specifically new cyclists that have been away from riding for a while,” Ericksen said.

Hal Honeyman, owner of The Bike Rack in St. Charles and Oswego, has seen an increase in cyclists and sales as the season has changed. The Bike Rack is located at 2930 Campton Hills Road in St. Charles and 57 Main St. in Oswego.

“We definitely have seen an uptick in the number of riders,” Honeyman said. “The winter times are still always, you know, a little quieter. It’s always the challenge in the winter.”

For the safety of cyclists, Batavia is taking further action after the tragic death of Batavia resident Emily White and critical injuries suffered by a teen boy in separate cycling accidents in May 2023.

“There is new technology to make cycling safer. There are things you can do.”

—  Hal Honeyman, owner of The Bike Rack

White died after she was hit by a minivan while biking across Illinois Route 31. The cycling community has urged Batavia to do more to keep cyclists safe across Route 31, specifically implementing a road diet, Ericksen said.

“The road diet would offer a single lane of traffic in each direction, so changing from a four-lane and offer a center turn lane, as well as a pedestrian island where someone could cross a single lane of traffic, pause, make sure it’s safe to proceed with traffic in the other direction and then complete their crossing of the road,” he said.

The road diet is waiting on state-level support from the Illinois Department of Transportation, Ericksen said.

After a teen boy was critically injured by a GMC Denali truck while cycling west on Union Avenue within the crosswalk near Batavia’s Hall Quarry Beach, the city hired a crossing guard because a large number of children cross that area, Ericksen said.

“That role will be filled again this year,” he said. “The crossing guard will be there again during normal business hours to make sure people get to and from the quarry safely.”

The Batavia cycling community also is trying to change road signage to make it safer for cyclists, Ericksen said.

“We’re in a holding pattern at the moment,” he said. “You know, historically, [signs] are able to be interpreted [in] different ways by different people, so ‘cyclists may use the full lane’ is really clear to both the person on the bike as well as the driver.”

There are ways cyclists can be more safe, such as installing radars that go on the back of bikes to alert cyclists when a car is coming, Honeyman said.

“There is new technology to make cycling safer,” Honeyman said. “There are things you can do.”

Given the size comparison of bicycles and cars, following the rules of the road and making sure a bicycle is noticed is imperative for road safety, he said.

“The other thing I think is visibility is important,” Honeyman said. “[We have] a lot of small high-visibility daytime LED lights that you can see a mile away. We recommend our customers buy those.”