Three Beye students were struck by a car earlier this month while walking to school. They were in the crosswalk, with parents nearby, doing everything “right.” And still, they were hit by a distracted driver. Thankfully, they are all OK.
As a Beye parent, receiving an email that three children were hospitalized on their way to school was sickening. It reminded me how fragile our safety is when we allow cars to dominate our streets — where even a moment’s distraction can have devastating consequences.
Just two weeks later, a bike rider on Augusta was reportedly harassed and intentionally struck by an SUV driver, then threatened with a gun before the driver fled. That horrifying act underscored a related truth: our car culture doesn’t just create danger through mistakes — it can also dehumanize, treating people walking and biking as obstacles instead of human beings.
And yet too often, our response is to blame the vulnerable. Local Facebook groups fill with familiar complaints: “Why aren’t your kids wearing helmets?” “Cyclists don’t follow the rules of the road.” We are all imperfect, and kids are still learning. But these incidents show us that no matter how careful a child is, or how closely a rider follows the rules, the adult behind the wheel of a multi-ton vehicle always carries the greater burden.
You can see the same misplaced focus in community debates. When Oak Park released its updated bike plan, a vocal minority zeroed in on parking loss. It’s not wrong to raise questions. But what does it say about us if our first concern is where to put our cars, rather than how to keep our kids and neighbors safe?
Here’s the irony: drivers benefit enormously when people choose to walk or bike. Every trip is one less car in traffic, one less vehicle competing for parking, one less driver in line at the light.
Reckless drivers make us feel powerless. We can’t stop people from buying ever-bigger cars, or eliminate distracted or aggressive driving. But we do have power over something that makes a difference: the design of our streets. And the good news is, we’ve already used that power to adopt two plans that envision a safer Oak Park: Vision Zero and the Bike Plan. That’s the Oak Park I want to walk, bike, and yes, drive in. Now it’s our job to make sure the plans are implemented.
The village is already at work, rolling out crossings and bike boulevards with paint and signs to calm traffic and connect safer routes near schools and parks. To some, the markings look odd, but they’re proven cues: stripes and symbols that tell drivers to slow down and watch for people. They make it safer for people of all ages and abilities to walk and bike — a win for everyone who shares our roads.
We can choose a different story for our streets — one where Oak Park puts people first. That means celebrating neighbors who walk and bike, knowing every trip not taken by car benefits the whole community.
And it means engaging constructively with the village as they put Vision Zero and the Bike Plan into action. The work has begun. Let’s keep it moving forward.