Illinois to track bicyclists' 'dooring' crashes

If you're riding your bike and you run into an open car door, the state of Illinois wants to hear about it.

Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday announced that Illinois is now tracking such accidents — known as "dooring" crashes.

Quinn's office says the goal is to determine where road improvements and public outreach efforts may be needed to protect bicyclists. The governor says the goal is to make roads safer for everyone.

Information on dooring will be collected and analyzed by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

IDOT's Division of Traffic Safety is giving law enforcement agencies across the state instructions on how to begin recording dooring crashes.

Data from police departments that already track dooring collisions, including Chicago, will be included in Illinois' traffic statistics, retroactive to May 2010.