In a tragic incident on Memorial Day, 18-year-old Yader Castaneda lost his life after being struck by a vehicle while riding a Divvy bike.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, marking the first bicycle fatality in Chicago for the year 2025, as reported by the city’s transportation department.
Peter Aleck, the driver of the 2024 EV Hummer involved in the collision, recounted that the force of the impact was so significant he initially thought another car had hit him.
Aleck, who is the owner of Aleck Plumbing Inc. based in Homewood, was driving south on Michigan Avenue towards the gym in the early morning hours.
He reported that he was the only vehicle stopped at the traffic light just before the intersection of the crash.
“They must have thought there was no one coming. I must have been halfway through the intersection. I thought it was a car,” Aleck stated during an interview with the Sun-Times.
Initial police reports indicate that Castaneda was riding west on Randolph Street with two other friends when he crossed through a red light just before the accident at around 4:53 a.m.
As he entered the intersection, he was struck by the Hummer, which collided with the left front end of the vehicle.
The report does not specify the speed at which Aleck was traveling at the time.
After the crash, Aleck called 911 for help and mentioned that one of Castaneda’s friends stayed by the cyclist’s side until emergency services arrived.
Castaneda was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead more than an hour later.
A family member of the deceased cyclist declined to comment when contacted.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the area and confirmed that Aleck drove through a green light at the time of the incident.
Aleck has denied any claims of distraction while driving, asserting that he was looking straight ahead before the impact.
Additionally, he refuted allegations of driving without insurance, although police cited him for that offense.
Following the incident, police administered a DUI test to Aleck, and the investigation is still ongoing.
Expressing his feelings about the incident, Aleck said, “It’s terrible. I feel really terrible about it.”
He mentioned that his vehicle is no longer drivable and has since been taken to a body shop for repairs.
The crash occurred on a designated city route for cyclists, an area noted for its heavy pedestrian traffic, as described by Christina Whitehouse, founder of the safety advocacy group, Bike Lane Uprising.
Whitehouse commented on the intersection’s dangers for cyclists and pedestrians who navigate 10 lanes of traffic at Michigan Avenue.
“It’s not a comfortable route to get through as a bicyclist and as a pedestrian,” she stated, highlighting the priorities given to vehicles in this densely populated area.
According to Erica Schroeder, a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Transportation, this incident has been recorded as the first official bicycle fatality of the year.
Chicago experienced five bicycle deaths in 2024, following a pattern of increasing fatalities with ten each in 2023, 2022, and eleven in 2021, according to the transportation department’s data.
Although the Divvy bike share system has historically maintained lower crash rates compared to other bicycles, it does feature many electric-assist bikes that are capable of higher speeds than standard bicycles.
A report released in October 2023 by the Consumer Product Safety Commission indicated a 21% annual increase in injuries linked to “micromobility devices” like e-bikes and scooters since 2017.
The city’s Divvy bike-share program, started in 2013 and operated by Lyft, has not disclosed any recent crash statistics concerning its electric bikes.
image source from：https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2025/05/27/first-bicyclist-death-michigan-yader-castaneda
