Reflections and lessons learned on anniversary of cyclist’s death

July 10 marked the second anniversary of a crash I find hard not to memorialize. Nancy Nozicka, pedaling the St. Mary’s Road shoulder near Libertyville, a frequent route for her — not even a mile from her home — was killed by a motorist drifting right.

A single bike fatality is upsetting enough. In 2022, 33 other Illinois families lost loved ones biking, 42 last year, and currently seven in 2024, according to Ride Illinois.

Beyond fatalities, too many have suffered close vehicle encounters, no matter whose fault. As both a motorist and cyclist, I’ve owned my mistakes. I like to think that the more I bike, the fewer errors I make in either travel mode.

When mounting my saddle or starting the ignition, I rarely contemplate close calls, either avoiding or causing them, despite my experiences. However, I probably should. Brief attention lapses can sometimes rewrite someone’s story.

Partly it’s math. At 15 mph, bikes/vehicles cover 22 feet per second (fps); at 30 mph, 44 fps. At 40, the posted speed at the 2022 crash site, the SUV was clocking 59 fps, three car lengths, before striking her rear tire.

Lessons Learned

Making this impossible not to write about isn’t just the loss — personal and professional — of this Advanced Practice Registered Nurse at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital (NMLF). It’s also needing to share lessons learned.

The mother of four, grandmother of three, and 40-year spouse of Dr. Charles Nozicka, Nancy was seven months short of retirement. With 38 years in NMLF’s Emergency Department, plus advanced nursing degrees, this clinical nursing specialist served as its first Heart Failure coordinator, dedicated to reducing repeat cardiac visits.

The key take-away was the family’s insistence on expanding the investigation. The Lake County sheriff’s initial Illinois Traffic Crash Report documented that her bike “began to cross Saint Mary’s from west to east,” with the SUV striking her bike’s left side.

Documenting the crash scene, law enforcement relied on the only collision survivor, the motorist, for incident details, diagrams and accompanying narrative. Critical details revealed more.

“We knew the bike route she’d always take,” Charles Nozicka said. “It didn’t make sense” she was crossing St. Mary’s. “Any time we rode to Libertyville, we rode south on St. Mary’s and cut over on Oak Spring.”

The bike damage didn’t match the driver’s story either. Charles Nozicka requested the Lake County coroner conduct a postmortem exam. It showed direct injuries to her back, lower lumbar and neck region fractures originating from the rear, not the side.

The report bolstered his suspicions. “No way she was crossing the road. She got hit from the back.”

Her iPhone apps offered more information. Her USAA driver’s insurance app, basically triggered by movement, recorded both driving and bike travel. Her Peloton app tracked her activity and location.

Obtaining this subpoenaed tracking data took several months. According to data obtained by Charles Nozicka, both apps showed she was headed southbound on the shoulder versus west to east. The motorist’s cellphone data wasn’t subpoenaed.

Brendan Kevenides is an attorney at Freeman Kevenides Law Firm (fklawillinois.com), a personal injury firm representing bicyclists, pedestrians and vulnerable road users. He isn’t aware of any law enforcement requirement to check a driver’s tech devices.

“That involves privacy issues. A party to litigation can request access through a subpoena to the carrier, but there has to be a reason to do it, not just someone wondering about it,” he said.

After 22 months and multiple court sessions, the motorist pleaded guilty to failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. The amended crash report indicated his SUV drifted to the right before the collision. The motorist paid a $500 fine. As of the column deadline, no information was available on whether any driving restrictions were placed on the motorist.

Nancy’s Law?

Charles Nozicka is seeking legislation to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code requiring cellphone evidence to be subpoenaed in crashes involving fatalities or great bodily harm. In his view, “Nancy’s Law,” as Nozicka calls it, wouldn’t be any more intrusive than law enforcement requiring samples of a motorist’s bodily fluid.

Proof of distracted driving, speeding or other mitigating factors in fatal crashes can lead to reckless driving felony charges, with subsequent criminal penalties.

An insurance payout provided funds to honor Nancy Nozicka’s memory to support a program already developed by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists called “Beyond Driver Education,” in which teens learn about impaired, reckless and distracted driving and making good choices.

“There’s so much distracted driving,” Charles Nozicka said. “Best place to start is with new drivers.”

Samantha Gannon, AAIM director of Prevention and Education, estimates Beyond Drive Education presentations have reached over 4,200 teens in the past two school years through driver’s ed and freshman health classes.

Impairment goggles simulate driving while drowsy, under marijuana influence, and at different blood alcohol levels. Students wearing distracted driving simulation glasses try walking a curved line taped to the floor while their vision is blacked out for 4 to 5 seconds, approximate text-reading time, demonstrating the risk of brief attention lapses.

Students also hear from individuals directly affected by vehicle crashes: Victims themselves, offenders, family members and advocates. Charles Nozicka, on AAIM’s board of directors for 10 years, has shared his wife’s story and its real-life impact at several presentations.

Nozicka’s family has also sponsored the “Are You InTEXTicated?” campaign, aimed at young drivers, employing 30-second public service announcement videos.

AAIM, a 501(c) 3 organization, accepts donations in Nancy’s name for “Beyond Driver Education.”