Chicago crash victims have support group

A support group for Chicago-area cyclists and pedestrians who have survived crashes with motor vehicles was the subject of a May 9 column in The Chicago Tribune.

The Crash Support Group meets once a month in the downtown office of the Active Transportation Alliance, whose mission is to make bicycling and walking safer. The alliance believes the group is the only one of its kind in the country.

After being sideswiped by a bus while on her bicycle three years ago, Susan Levin looked for but couldn't find a support group. She suggested that the Active Transportation Alliance, where she is a volunteer, start one.

Although Levin's physical injuries had healed, she said she remained fearful. "Everything made me scared. Honking cars. Headlights. Screeching tires. I would not be able to walk across a crosswalk, even if it was solid green, if a driver was rolling to a stop," she told Barbara Brotman, Outdoors Adviser columnist for the Tribune.

About 30 people have attended since the group began in 2008. Some people find it when they call the alliance's crash support hotline. The group found a facilitator through the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

If crash statistics are any indication, a lot more Chicagoans could use the help. In 2009, according to the newspaper, 34 people were killed and 503 severely injured when they were hit by cars while walking in Chicago. That same year, six bicyclists were killed and 165 severely injured after collisions with cars in the city. This figures come from the Illinois Department of Transportation.