Family Of Chicago Toddler Killed On Bike Sues ComEd, City Of Chicago

CHICAGO — The family of a 3-year-old Chicago girl who was killed last year when the bicycle she was riding with her mother was struck by a truck is suing ComEd, a pair of commercial trucking companies and the City of Chicago, the law firm representing the girl’s family said on Tuesday.

Elizabeth Grace “Lily” Shambrook was killed in June when she was on the back of a bicycle that was forced off the bike lake on a residential street in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. A lawsuit filed on Tuesday says the bicycle, operated by the toddler's mother, was forced into traffic because a ComEd truck was blocking the bike lane near the intersection of Leland and Winthrop avenues, police determined. Police said that the bike Lily was on was clipped by an 18-wheeler semi-trailer.

Lily, who was wearing a helmet and riding in a child carrier on the back of the bike, died after she was hit by the semi and dragged about 20 feet, police said. The girl's father, Tim Shambrook, was following behind his wife, Kate Snow, and daughter on his own bike.

An 18-wheeler operated by Mondelez was next to the ComEd truck where a construction project was underway. ComEd, Mondelez Trucking and Penske are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

"We filed this lawsuit in this case to try to find justice for Lily, attorney Bradley Cosgrove said in a news conference on Tuesday.

The complaint alleges negligence on the part of the corporations and their drivers, as well as willful and wanton misconduct on the part of the city, the suit says. ComEd was issued a city permit that specifically stated the company was allowed to stage vehicles and equipment on the adjoining street, Winthrop, yet the large utility truck was parked on Leland, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys said that the driver of the 18-wheeler was not paying attention to bicyclists and said that Tim Shambrook and other witnesses had to chase after the 18-wheeler pleading with the driver to stop after he kept driving after striking the bicycle.

“On behalf of our little girl, Lily, no words can express our devastation on losing her last June. In her honor, we are forever committed to making Chicago a safer biking community so that her death wasn’t in vain,” the girl’s parents said in a statement released by the Clifford Law Firm.

They added: “(We) have witnessed this type of conduct continue after Lily’s death right in our same neighborhood. People have to care. The city has to care. Corporations have to care. They all need to respect bicycle lanes and the bicyclists using them. Hopefully, this lawsuit will open the eyes of many because we would never want this tragedy to happen to any other family anywhere.”

Just weeks after the girl’s death, the City of Chicago announced an aggressive plan to construct concrete barriers along every bike lane by the end of 2023 that would be similar to a curb to prevent drivers from even entering bicycle lanes, the law firm said. The family's statement said that the city's action was put into place "too late for Lily".

“The City of Chicago issued a permit to ComEd without adequate concern for the size and amount of heavy equipment that would be brought into the neighborhood, or where their vehicles actually would be parked,” Robert Clifford, founder, and senior partner of the Clifford Law Firm said in a news release.

“We all co-exist in a society where it takes cooperation and concern for others who need to do their jobs to ensure that senseless tragedies like this cease. That concern was missing here. The flagrant and repeated disregard for the safety of bicyclists and lack of respect for designated bike lanes by operators of trucks and vehicles create deadly hazards that simply cannot be tolerated."