A woman riding as a passenger on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is in critical condition after the bike swerved and crashed while trying to avoid a car that was slowing to turn on Milwaukee Avenue in Glenview on Sunday evening. Neither she nor the motorcycle's male driver was wearing a helmet, according to police. The crash shut down all southbound lanes and one northbound lane of Milwaukee Avenue for hours during the response.
Police and firefighter-paramedics responded to the 9800 block of Milwaukee Avenue at 5:14 p.m. Sunday, arriving within four minutes of being dispatched, according to Journal & Topics. Police told the outlet that the motorcycle had been traveling in the curb lane of Milwaukee Avenue when a car ahead of it slowed to make a turn, prompting the motorcycle to swerve and wipe out. The female passenger was thrown from the bike and suffered critical injuries.
She was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, a 645-bed academic teaching hospital that operates one of five Level I adult trauma centers run by Advocate Health Care in Illinois, according to Advocate Health Care. Her condition as of the crash remained critical, and the report did not include an updated medical status.
Driver Cited for Speeding and Failure to Signal
The driver of the car that was slowing to turn was cited for speeding and for failure to signal, per the same report. Illinois law, under Section 11-804 of the state's vehicle code, requires drivers to give a continuous turn signal for at least 100 feet before turning in business or residential districts, and at least 200 feet in other areas; failing to do so is a petty moving violation that can carry fines up to $1,000, according to The Davis Law Group, P.C. It remains unclear whether additional charges could follow once a full crash reconstruction is complete.
The stretch of Milwaukee Avenue where the crash happened sits along the Glenview-Des Plaines border and is a four-lane arterial roadway with two lanes in each direction separated by a double-yellow line, posted for 40 mph, according to Cardinal News. The same 9800 block was the site of a fatal collision in March 2025, when a Cook County Sheriff's SUV struck and killed a 28-year-old pedestrian near Greenwood Road.
No Helmet Law in Illinois Leaves Riders Exposed
Neither the motorcycle's driver nor its passenger faced any citation for riding without a helmet, because Illinois has no law requiring motorcyclists of any age to wear one — one of only three states, along with Iowa and New Hampshire, without such a mandate, according to Meyers & Flowers. Illinois does still require motorcycle operators and passengers to wear protective eye gear such as glasses or goggles under Section 11-1404 of the state's vehicle code, unless the bike has a protective windshield.
The absence of a helmet requirement carries measurable consequences nationally. In states without universal helmet laws, 79% of fatally injured motorcyclists were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash, compared with just 12% in states that require helmets for all riders, according to NHTSA data. Illinois Department of Transportation figures published this year also show that while motorcycles account for less than 1% of the state's total motor vehicle crashes, they make up 12.1% of fatal traffic crashes and 3.1% of injury crashes, per Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.
Roads Reopened After Hours-Long Closure
Northbound lanes of Milwaukee Avenue reopened at 5:42 p.m. Sunday, but southbound lanes remained closed until 7:50 p.m. as crews worked the scene, Journal & Topics reported. Sunday's crash also falls within the seasonal window when motorcycle fatalities peak nationally — nearly half of all such deaths occur during June, July and August, according to the Illinois State Police.
The Glenview crash adds to a string of motorcycle collisions Hoodline has tracked across the region this summer, including a fatal Lake Shore Drive fire crash and a fatal Johnsburg crash that also involved a rider without a helmet. Investigators have not said whether the Glenview driver will face additional charges beyond the speeding and failure-to-signal citations already issued.
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