Riverside officials have said car crash fatality data since 2014 from the Illinois Department of Transportation doesn’t tell the full story of traffic safety within the village.
According to IDOT, six people died in car crashes in Riverside from 2010-2023, a fact that came to light when the Landmark reported on a petition for a Vision Zero plan in town that would increase traffic safety through policy and road design with the goal of eliminating traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities altogether.
Matthew Buckley, the village’s public safety director, told the Landmark the traffic fatalities in Riverside had extenuating circumstances behind them unrelated to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.
Buckley said Riverside police have direct access to the past 10 years of IDOT’s traffic safety stats, giving him information about the five crashes that killed someone in town from 2014-2024.
In 2016, one driver on Harlem Avenue struck a tree with their car before being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. That driver died from their injuries while undergoing surgery, Buckley said.
Another person died that year in a separate crash on Harlem Avenue, this one a pedestrian.
“This was at 4:15 in the morning, where an intoxicated individual stepped off the curb into the street, into the path of a vehicle that was driving by,” Buckley said. “The witnesses said that the vehicle that struck this individual couldn’t avoid them.”
Harlem Avenue is under IDOT jurisdiction, though the western half of the major road falls into Riverside.
In 2019, a juvenile passenger died when the car’s driver, also a juvenile, lost control of the vehicle, which spun into a tree on East Burlington Street near Cowley Road. Buckley said a bundle of firewood that had been loose in the backseat struck the passenger in the head during the crash.
Then, two people died in crashes on First Avenue. In 2022, an intoxicated driver was speeding, and the car was hit by another vehicle, causing the death of the driver’s girlfriend, a passenger. In 2023, a driver had a heart attack and died while on the road, leaving his car to strike the Riverside-Brookfield High School sign at the intersection with Forest Avenue.
Like Harlem Avenue, First Avenue is under IDOT jurisdiction.
Outside of traffic fatalities, Buckley said 29 cyclists and 11 pedestrians have been struck by cars in Riverside since 2014. He said a majority of the cases involving a cyclist were caused by the cyclist.
“They were either on their cell phone or not looking where they were going,” Buckley said.
Valerie Kramer, founder of Ride Riverside and the leader behind the Vision Zero petition, said she reached out to the village to confirm IDOT’s data before she had planned to give public comment about the petition at a village board meeting in May.
“Chief Buckley said to reference the data on IDOT and that getting more detailed data would be difficult, so that’s what I did. I used the data from IDOT, and I wanted to share for people that it’s not entirely safe,” she told the Landmark. “It’s encouraging that our advocacy efforts have resulted in the village police department taking a closer look at traffic safety data. This kind of engagement is exactly what we want.”
Kramer said that, while roads like Harlem and First avenues are under IDOT’s jurisdiction and known to be more dangerous as higher-volume throughways, “They’re also in Riverside, so we still have a responsibility to work with IDOT. I know that it takes a lot more time and effort, but I think it’s something we still should pursue.”
On Vision Zero, Buckley said it could take time for the village to determine what it can do to change the roadways.
“We’re involving our traffic engineer as well as our public works director, our parks and recreation director. We’re all going to work together to try to come up with some plans and, after that, see what is a viable plan for here in Riverside, and then, after that, it’s the funding portion of it,” he said.
In the meantime, he said educating Riverside’s cyclists and pedestrians, especially children, is the key to improving traffic safety in town. This year, Buckley said he tasked a Riverside sergeant with making a presentation for Riverside students on the importance of bicycle safety before summer break.
“Having lights on your bikes. Knowing how to look before you cross an intersection, how to use hand signals,” he said. “We still see kids out there not doing the right things, so it means we still have our work cut out for us by educating, but I think it does make a difference when it comes down to it.”
He said the most important aspect is making sure cyclists are aware of their surroundings and acting with safety in mind. When crossing the street, he recommended pedestrians and cyclists alike make eye contact with approaching drivers, so they know they’ve been seen.
“Riverside is a safe community for riding bikes and for pedestrians, but we all need to do our part. My whole goal is to have zero accidents,” he said.
Kramer agreed education and enforcement of traffic safety laws are important to ensuring people can safely navigate Riverside, but she said that shouldn’t be all.
“Those are seen as cheaper and easier, and it also puts the responsibility on the guilty party. I will say, we are all guilty, I’m guilty, of committing traffic errors. I used to drive to Riverside from Chicago when I didn’t live here, and I remember speeding on some of these streets to get to work. I look back in horror that that’s what I did, but it was because it was easy to do,” she said. “Now that I live here, I think, ‘Oh God, these speeding drivers. They could hit my child.’ I think education is important. I think enforcement is important, but that’s not the only solution.”
Correction, Aug. 14, 2025, 12:30 p.m.: The headline of this article was updated to more accurately reflect the statements and sentiments of Riverside officials. The Landmark regrets any confusion caused by the previous headline and apologizes for the error.
