Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
A 15-year-old Bowen High School freshman is dead following a weekend Chicago pedestrian accident after being struck by as many as three vehicles, including a drunk driver, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Chicago police said the teenager was struck by a drunk driver while walking home, thrown into the path of a second vehicle and hit again. Police are investigating reports that a third vehicle may also have been involved.
The girl had just stepped onto East 87th Street near King Drive when she was run down at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday. She died Monday morning at Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.
Her death was ruled an accident by the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which reported that she died of multiple injuries sustained in the accident.
The first driver was charged with DUI and ticketed for striking a pedestrian as well as a plate registration violation. The second driver has not been cited and the accident remains under investigation.
The victim was a popular student who had earned a place on her school’s honor role. She worked on the school’s yearbook and took part in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, according to a school spokesperson. Family said she was an aspiring beautician who had just recently landed a job at a beauty salon.
A total of 156 people were killed in fatal Illinois pedestrian accidents in 2008, the vast majority in and around the Chicago metro area, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
As reported earlier this week on Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, one-third of traffic fatalities in Cook County are blamed on Chicago drunk driving accidents.