Riley O’Neil, a 35-year-old planner for Chicago’s Complete Streets program, was killed Friday in Bridgeport after a driver opened a car door and threw him into traffic, where an oncoming vehicle hit him. His death has sparked calls for safer streets and a memo
Friday afternoon in Bridgeport ended with a crash that officials say started with a car door.
Riley O’Neil, 35, was riding his bike around 4:40 p.m. Friday in the 3200 block of South Halsted Street when a person exiting a car struck him with their door. according to Chicago police and the bike safety advocacy group Bike Grid Now. The impact threw O’Neil into traffic. Police said an oncoming vehicle then fatally struck him.
O’Neil was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The cyclist killed in the crash was not just a commuter—he worked on the city’s safety efforts. The Chicago Department of Transportation identified him as a planner for its Complete Streets program. which redesigns roads to make them safer for pedestrians. cyclists and drivers. His LinkedIn profile showed he had worked for the department for more than two years.
CDOT said O’Neil was “a dedicated public servant committed to making Chicago’s streets safer and more accessible for everyone. He will be greatly missed.”
Bike Grid Now described him as more than a job title. It said O’Neil also served as CDOT’s bike parking manager, responsible for placing more bike racks around the city, and called him “a dedicated bike advocate” and “the person we have to thank for Chicago’s significant growth in bike parking.”
For those who worked alongside him, the loss is already prompting action. Bike Grid Now is organizing a memorial bike ride for O’Neil on Monday evening. The ride is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Palmisano Park in Bridgeport and will end at the spot on Halsted Street where he was killed.
O’Neil’s death is at least the third time a cyclist has been hit and killed by a driver in Chicago this year. In January. 63-year-old Roman Havelka was fatally struck while riding his bike in the 8600 block of West Irving Park Road on the far Northwest Side. In April. Damian Gomez was killed when a driver speeding through the intersection of West 63rd Street and South Kedzie Avenue 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. CDOT data shows at least 10 pedestrians were killed by cars from January to April this year.
The sequence of names and streets is stark—across cyclists, e-scooters, and pedestrians, the common thread is driver involvement. And in O’Neil’s case, the man who helped plan safer routes was killed on a street he tried to make safer for everyone.
Riley O’Neil Bridgeport crash Chicago cyclists Complete Streets program CDOT Stroger Hospital Bike Grid Now South Halsted Street road safety