Chicago Illinois Car Accident Lawyer Blog

A settlement has been reached between the City of Chicago and the family of Maya Hirsch, a 4-year-old girl that was struck and killed during a hit & run accident on May 20, 2006.

David and Danit Steinbach Hirsch, Maya's parents, sued the city in connection with the accident. They claimed that stop signs, as well as other traffic control markings and devices, were improperly placed and/or had deteriorated.

This settlement comes the night before the start of the civil trial. No details of the settlement or its value have yet been released.

Continue reading "City Of Chicago Settlement In Maya Hirsch Hit & Run Accident" »

According to Chicago Police, a 32-year-old male died after being hit by by an SUV early Saturday morning during a Chicago hit & run accident at Division Street and LaSalle.

The SUV was driven by a 21-year-old woman, who fled the scene of the accident but was caught a couple of blocks away.

The accident occurred at approximately 2:30 a.m., as the man was walking in a crosswalk; he was hit by the SUV, a Jeep Liberty, as the Jeep was heading southbound on LaSalle.

Continue reading "Man Dies After Hit & Run Accident Near Chicago's Division & LaSalle Intersection" »

The driver who was involved in a hit & run accident on Chicago's Michigan Avenue December 18 is still being sought. This accident seriously injured Meghann Eff as she was attempting to hail a cab on the Magnificent Mile at Pearson Street.

Eff is said to have suffered a crushed arm, broken legs, and two skull fractures during the incident, and still is in the intensive care unit. She faces months of rehabilitation.

She was hit by a car after having breakfast and then walking to Michigan Avenue in order to hail a cab.

According to police, after hitting Eff, the hit & run driver fled north on Michigan Avenue, then made a right in the wrong direction onto Chestnut Street.

A woman who witnessed the accident, Jenny Shieh, who works as a respiratory therapist at Northwestern University Hospital, was able to stabilize Eff until paramedics arrived. Shieh also prevented other cars from hitting Eff.

Continue reading "Hit & Run Accident On Chicago's Michigan Avenue Leaves Woman Seriously Injured" »

A 9 year old girl was hit by a car during a Hit & Run accident on Chicago's South Side last evening.

At this time not many details are known.

According to authorities, the girl was hit around 8:46 p.m. in the 1000 block of West 87th Street, in Chicago's Gresham neighborhood.

The girl was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

As of Thursday afternoon, police were still looking for the driver of the car. The car was described as a dark-colored sedan, possibly a Honda or Hyundai.

Additional details can be found in the Chicago Tribune article of August 11 titled "Girl, 9, critically injured in South Side hit-and-run."

A Chicago woman, Ashley Johnson, has been charged in connection with a fatal Hit & Run accident early Sunday morning on Chicago's West Side.

Prosecutors said Ashley Johnson, 22, was driving home from a bridal shower at the time of the accident. She was driving her Chrysler coupe eastbound on West Jackson Boulevard about 3:30 a.m. when she struck David Bunch, 49, who was crossing Jackson (at Homan Avenue) with a friend. The impact sent Bunch flying 120 feet across the intersection.

Bunch, of the 3500 block of West Douglas Boulevard, was pronounced dead a short time later at Stroger Hospital.

Johnson continued driving and parked her car in an alley near her home. According to prosecutors, it was found by investigators a short time later with significant front-end damage. Prosecutors say that Johnson came to the Harrison District Police headquarters over an hour later and admitted she had struck Bunch.

Johnson submitted to a DUI test after she turned herself in; the results are still pending.

Johnson was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury or death, driving without a license, and failure to use due care with a pedestrian.

More details can be found in the July 12 Chicago Tribune story titled "Chicago woman charged in fatal hit-and-run on West Side."

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has published statistics regarding Fatal Alcohol-Related Crashes(pdf) as seen in the 2009 Illinois Crash Facts and Statistics, p36. As can be seen in the 2009 (the latest available year) statistics, the most common (39%) time of such crashes is between 12-3:59 a.m. The most common day of the week is Sunday, at 29%.

The characteristics of the aforementioned pedestrian fatality, which took the life of David Bunch, occurred around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning, which is found within this most common day and time parameters regarding Fatal Alcohol-Related Crashes.

According to prosecutors today, a man with a history of drunken driving had a blood-alcohol content nearly four times the legal limit when he ran a red light and killed a woman crossing the street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Tuesday.

Sam Manyfield, 69, of Chicago, had his bail set at $350,000. He appeared in court on charges of aggravated DUI involving a death and reckless homicide in the crash that killed Yvonne Williams, 52.

Manyfield, of the 400 block of West 126th Street, was also cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian; driving on a suspended license; driving without insurance; and leaving the scene of an accident.

Manyfield, according to prosecutors, was driving his Jeep Cherokee north on Ashland Avenue about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday when he ran a red light at 46th Street. He struck Williams as she was crossing Ashland in a crosswalk. Witnesses saw the Cherokee continue north after the crash, going through an alley toward 45th Street.

A Chicago police sergeant pulled the SUV over on 45th Street, and when Manyfield got out of the vehicle he "could barely stand up under his own power," according to Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Waller.

"An empty bottle of gin fell from the Jeep when the defendant got out," Waller said.

Manyfield was taken to Mercy Hospital, where upon testing his blood-alcohol content was determined to be 0.316 percent, or nearly four times the legal limit of 0.08 percent, Waller said.

Manyfield's driver's license was currently suspended for failing to appear on a traffic ticket, Waller said. He has a 1992 conviction for DUI for which he received court supervision; as well, he has several convictions for driving on a suspended license.

Records show Manyfield also was ticketed with DUI four other times between 1997 and 2005 but the charges were eventually dropped.

Williams was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital of Cook County.

More on this DUI fatality can be found at the Chicago Tribune story of July 7 titled "Bail set at $350k for man charged in fatal DUI hit-and-run crash."

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has published statistics regarding Fatal Alcohol-Related Crashes as seen in the 2009 Illinois Crash Facts and Statistics (pdf), p36. As can be seen in the 2009 (the latest available year) statistics, the most common (39%) time of such crashes is between 12-3:59 a.m. The most common day of the week is Sunday, at 29%.

The characteristics of the aforementioned pedestrian fatality, which took the life of Yvonne Williams, occurred at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. According to the IDOT statistics, Fatal Alcohol-Related Crashes occur on Tuesdays 4% of the time; and between 8-11:59 a.m. 3% of the time.