Rash of Chicago car accidents caused by wrong way drivers

In the past month there has been a series of six wrong way auto collisions in the Chicago area, ABC news is reporting. The most recent Illinois auto accident occurred on the Eisenhower Expressway.

An accident victim who survived was interviewed by ABC and said that as he was driving to work on Saturday morning inbound on Interstate 290 in the area of Austin he was faced with the situation of a van headed the wrong way towards him traveling at a high rate of speed. “I just said oh my God and I just turned my car”, the motorist reported.

Three people were hurt on Lakeshore Drive near Roosevelt on February 9th after a Chicago resident operated an $80,000 Nissan sports car going the wrong direction. NBC news reported that the vehicle was traveling northbound and southbound lanes when it struck a white Toyota around 2 AM, and then careened into a van.

The woman driving the Nissan and her passenger, along with the Toyota driver, were taken by ambulance to Northwestern Hospital. Rescue personnel had to cut the roof off of the Nissan to extricate the passenger.

The sports car involved was a Nissan GT-R, which some consider a dangerous street legal race car. The vehicle has a V-6 530 hp engine that tops out at 193 m.p.h and goes from 0-60 in 3.8 seconds. The Nissan was actually just on display at the Chicago auto show.

Prior to the Lakeshore Drive accident, as we previously reported on our Chicago car accident lawyers blog, four men were killed on Interstate 80 when the driver of that vehicle headed the wrong way down the highway.

IDOT states that drivers heading the wrong direction has become a common occurrence, taking place 30 to 40 times a year on average in Illinois alone. IDOT is starting to take a look at how to reduce these accidents, considering they often cause severe or fatal injuries. Most of these crashes involve alcohol and most occur at night in urban areas.

The State currently has Wrong Way and Do Not Enter signs posted at ramps exiting and entering highways. The question now becomes whether more can be done to prevent these accidents.

Every once in a while the Chicago area sees a group of similar odd accidents. Last year there was a string of incidents where motorists were losing control of vehicles and hitting buildings and/or houses. One downtown eatery in Chicago has been on the wrong end of taxi accidents on at least three occasions.

Of the recent wrong way accidents that have occurred, it has not been reported if any Chicago personal injury law firms are involved or if any negligence lawsuits have been filed.

If you have been hurt by a reckless driver in the State of Illinois, contact our office for a free consultation with an injury lawyer today. Call 312-475-9596 if you would like to talk to an attorney now.