Chicago Illinois Car Accident Lawyer Blog

This afternoon, a woman was struck by a vehicle on Chicago's Kennedy Expressway after she ran onto the expressway.

According to the Illinois State Police, the accident happened around 12:30 p.m. at Pulaski Road near Irving Park (on Chicago's Northwest Side) in the southbound lanes.

Continue reading "Woman Struck By Vehicle On Chicago's Kennedy Expressway On Northwest Side" »

A man, said to be in his 30s, was struck by a car and killed early this morning on the Dan Ryan Expressway (Interstate 94).

Details are limited at this time.

Continue reading "Man Dies On Chicago's Eisenhower Expressway (I94) After Walking Into Traffic" »

In the September 13 blog post, titled "Pedestrian Safety In Chicago - Report Findings," various statistics and report findings were highlighted regarding Chicago pedestrian accidents and pedestrian safety for the years 2005-2009.

The City of Chicago has implemented a unique initiative to emphasize the need for drivers to be aware of pedestrians. As seen in a October 25 Chicago Tribune story titled "Mannequins stand up for safety along Wacker Drive" :

Mannequins representing dead pedestrians were placed along Wacker Drive downtown on Tuesday to focus public attention on fatal crashes in Chicago involving vehicles and people on foot, officials said.

The move to shock drivers into being on the lookout and yielding to pedestrians is part of a new large-scale safety effort aimed at reducing injuries and fatalities citywide, officials said.

The campaign kicked off with the installation of 32 mannequins along Wacker Drive from Michigan Avenue to Wells Street, representing 32 pedestrians killed in 2010 crashes.

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In addition to the mannequins, other high-profile elements of the campaign will include messages on bus shelters, trash bins and information panels posted on sidewalks; and outreach to taxi drivers, schools and senior citizen centers.

About 80 percent of vehicle-pedestrian crashes in Chicago occur at intersections and commonly involve people crossing the street with the walk signal, according to a new city study released this summer. The No. 1 cause of the accidents was drivers failing to yield, the analysis found.

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Continue reading "City Of Chicago Initiative To Highlight Pedestrian Accidents And Pedestrian Safety" »

On September 13, there was a blog post titled "Pedestrian Safety In Chicago." The post cited various statistics and findings regarding pedestrian accidents in the Chicago area.

One finding of the report was the hazard pedestrians face even when they are walking within crosswalks or otherwise crossing the street "with the light."

Unfortunately, this facet has been reinforced with a pedestrian accident that occurred Tuesday afternoon, in which a woman in a motorized wheelchair was struck and killed in a crosswalk by a cement mixer on Chicago's South Side.

From an October 11 Fox Chicago article on the accident titled "Chicago Woman in Wheelchair Run Over, Killed" :

A south suburban Glenwood man driving a cement truck was cited for negligent driving for blowing a stop sign, fatally striking a woman in a motorized wheel chair Tuesday afternoon on the South Side.

About 3:30 p.m. in the 300 block of West 39th Street, an eastbound cement truck blew a stop sign and struck the woman -- identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Joyce Thomas -- according to a police News Affairs statement.

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She was in the crosswalk in a motorized wheelchair when the wreck occured, police said.

Michael Carter, 31, of North Wabash Street in Glenwood, was cited for negligent driving, striking a pedestrian in the roadway, and failure to stop at a stop sign, the statement said.

Continue reading "Dangers Faced By Pedestrians In Chicago" »

Recently, the City of Chicago released a report titled "City of Chicago: 2011 Pedestrian Crash Analysis." (pdf)

The report was created by T.Y. Lin International under the direction of the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT). The report incorporated data from 2005-2009.

There are several findings of this report that are notable and can be helpful to pedestrians' safety, especially with regard to safety within crosswalks.

Among these notable findings:

• "Total Pedestrian Crashes" numbered 3130 in 2009
• There were 34 pedestrian fatalities in 2009
• The age group of 15-18 had the highest crash rate per population
• Taxi involvement in pedestrian crashes in the Central Business District (CBD) was 28%
• Taxi involvement in pedestrian crashes outside the CBD was 2%
• Thursdays had the most crashes
• The "high crash time period" was from 3:00-6:00 p.m.
• 80% of fatal and serious crashes were within 125 feet of the midpoint of the intersection
• Hit and run crashes accounted for 33% of overall pedestrian crashes in Chicago
• "The most common pedestrian action at the time of the crash was "'crossing with the signal'"
• In the 2005-2009 period there were 17,487 total pedestrian crashes

Within the report, it is shown that by numerous measures pedestrian safety has improved over the years. As well, "Chicago has the lowest pedestrian fatality rate of large, densely populated cities."

However, as the statistics indicate, there is significant risk to pedestrians, even while they are within crosswalks. Special care should be exercised as motorists may be impaired and/or distracted while driving.

Continue reading "Pedestrian Safety In Chicago - Report Findings" »

Today at approximately 6:00 a.m. a woman was struck and killed on the inbound Eisenhower Expressway.

Details are limited at this time. The accident occurred just east of Manchester Road in Manchester.

According to a Chicago Sun-Times story, titled "Pedestrian killed on Eisenhower had been arrested that night for DUI" :

A South Side woman pulled over earlier in the night for DUI was struck and killed while apparently walking on the Eisenhower Expressway on Friday morning near west suburban Westchester. A trooper had given her a ride her to a nearby gas station after she bonded out.

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According to a witness statement, she was walking in a marked median area east of Mannheim Road when the truck crossed the median area and struck her, according to a release from ISP.

The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating, the release said. He has been charged with violating the restricted median.

Additional details can be seen in a variety of news sources including the Sun-Times story cited above and The Houston Chronicle story titled "Woman killed walking on interstate near Chicago."

A pedestrian accident happened this morning in Chicago when a woman was hit by a garbage truck while walking in the Uptown neighborhood.

Details at this point are sparse. As seen in today's article at WGNTV.com, titled "Woman struck by garbage truck in Uptown":

A woman was hospitalized in serious-to-critical condition this morning after she was hit by a garbage truck in the Uptown neighborhood, officials said.

The accident happened at about 9:42 a.m. on the 4400 block of North Broadway when a private garbage truck struck the female pedestrian, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

She was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital by Chicago Fire Department paramedics, but was alert and talking, Mirabelli said. No one else was injured.

Officials from the Chicago police department's major accident division are investigating, Mirabelli said.

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.

Yesterday, around 5:15 p.m., a woman driving southbound in the northbound lanes on Michigan avenue (downtown Chicago) struck two people in a crosswalk. Both pedestrians were injured.

The motorist, who is in her 80s, could be charged but so far has not. Police were still investigating the accident.

The accident happened on the 200 block of North Michigan Avenue, said Police News Affairs Officer Darryl Baety.

According to the story as seen at the July 2 ChicagoTribune.com article titled "Pedestrians hurt in wrong-way crash" :

After hitting the 31-year-old woman and 35-year-old man, the motorist also struck a vehicle in the northbound lane, and that vehicle was pushed into another vehicle stopped behind it, Baety said.

Chicago Fire Department paramedics arrived on the scene and took both pedestrians to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. One person was in serious-to-critical condition and the other was in good condition, according to a spokesman.

The motorist also was taken to Northwestern, but her condition was not available.

The two drivers of the other vehicles that were struck declined to go to the hospital and were treated at the scene.

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According to the Illinois Department of Transportation City Summary Crash Report for Chicago, Year 2009 (the most recent data available), there is a significant number of pedestrian accidents and fatalities in Chicago.

The Michigan Avenue area, especially where this accident occurred, is one of great pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

A taxicab struck a pedestrian around 8:47 this morning, killing the pedestrian. The accident occurred at the parking garage at Illinois and Columbus drive. Two others were injured, the driver of the taxi and the taxi passenger.

The pedestrian was dead at the scene, after being hit by the taxi after the taxi lost control. Shortly before impact he had been walking down the street. A surveillance video near the accident captured the pedestrian walking east on Illinois Street. After a few seconds, the cab can be seen apparently passing another car on the right just before the intersection with Columbus Drive. As the pedestrian passes a set of tables and reaches the driveway of the parking garage, the pedestrian turns his head to the right briefly, just before the cab skids toward the garage. The pedestrian then disappears from view and the cab comes to rest against the garage.

The cab passenger, a 51-year old woman, had to be cut out of the back seat, according to witnesses and police. She suffered a broken leg and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The cab driver, 71, was in fair condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital this afternoon. He suffered injuries considered non life-threatening, such as cuts and bruises.

More on this story can be seen at the June 27 Chicago Tribune story titled "1 dead, 2 hurt when cab hits parking garage in Streeterville."

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation City Summary Crash Report for Chicago, Year 2009 (the most recent data available), the amount of pedestrian accidents and fatalities is not insignificant.

Taxicab accidents are relatively common, due to the number of miles such vehicles are driven.

Taxicab accidents can be caused by a range of factors. These factors include driver error; drunk driving or drug use by the taxicab driver; errors in judgment by other motorists; equipment malfunction; poor weather conditions; and poor roadway conditions.

While it has yet to be disclosed as to what caused the above-mentioned taxicab accident, the Chicago Tribune story said the following:

Alex Perrin, 23, said he was walking to work at theChicago Tribune when he saw the Checker cab "going fast" down Illinois. It appeared to cut off another cab, then swerved out of control and hit a man standing on the sidewalk on the north side of Illinois, he said.

As the story also indicated:

The intersection of Illinois and Columbus was the scene of a fatal accident in May when a tour bus making a turn struck Justyna Palka, a 26-year-old graphic artist. The driver was charged with driving under the influence.

That accident was detailed in this blog in a May 4 post titled "Woman Struck And Killed By Tour Bus In Chicago, Illinois"

A May 4 entry on this blog relayed the unfortunate news of a pedestrian death involving a bus.

Now, the family of the woman killed by the bus has filed a Wrongful Death lawsuit, according to a Chicago Tribune article of May 17 titled "Lawsuit filed by family of woman killed by bus."

The Wrongful Death lawsuit argues that the bus company should not have hired the driver.

The bus driver, David Soto, is currently jailed on aggravated DUI charges in the death of Justyna Palka, 24. Officials say Soto, 47, had cocaine in his system at the time of the May 3 accident at the intersection of Illinois and Columbus Drive.

The Wrongful Death lawsuit argues that Pontarelli Group Charters should not have hired Soto, given an investigative alert and two prior convictions, and should have known of the alleged cocaine use.

"Pontarelli's utter failure to ensure that its professional drivers were appropriately qualified resulted in a truly unnecessary loss of life," said an attorney involved in the lawsuit. The suit was filed May 17 in the Cook County court system.

In the days following the accident, Pontarelli's co-owner said he didn't know about Soto's criminal history until after the accident. At the time, the co-owner didn't say whether Soto had gone through a background check before hiring.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed In Chicago, Illinois Fatal Bus Accident " »

On Tuesday night a woman, Justyna Palka, was struck and killed by a tour bus in the Streeterville area in downtown Chicago.

According to a May 4 story in the Chicago Tribune, titled "Woman killed by bus was 'a really smart girl, a really creative girl'", Palka, 26, was walking in a crosswalk on Columbus Drive at Illinois Street - with the light and therefore the right-of-way - when the bus turned into the intersection and hit her at about 6:50 p.m., police said.

Witnesses and other pedestrians tried to stop traffic while a person in hospital attire tried to resuscitate Palka.

According to a witness, after the bus hit the girl, the bus driver got out of the bus. According to a witness, the bus driver "was shaken up," as it appeared the bus driver may not have seen the girl.

According to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Joe Roccasalva, Palka was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition. She was pronounced dead at 7:04 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The driver remained in custody this afternoon but no charges have been announced.

According to Justyna Palka's personal Web site, she was born in Krakow, Poland and grew up in Dortmund, Germany. She moved to the United States in 2005. She graduated from the School of the Art Institute in 2009 with a bachelor's in fine arts with a concentration in visual communication.

According to Jack Rooney, the president of Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago, Palka worked as an art director and graphic designer at the firm.