Illinois traffic fatalities down, despite spate of Chicago car accidents over Mother’s Day weekend

Through early May, a total of 258 people have been killed in fatal Illinois car accidents, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Forty-five deaths involved drunk driving accidents, while another 36 fatal crashes involved unlicensed drivers. To date, 13 fewer fatal crashes have occurred this year than during the same period a year ago.

Mother’s Day weekend Chicago car accidents included:

A rollover accident on I-57 near 99th and Halsted streets sent six people to the hospital on Mother’s Day. The accident occurred in the Far South Side’s Washington Heights neighborhood at about 3 p.m., the Breaking News Center reported.

Three of the victims were transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, while the remaining victims were taken to other area hospitals. The accident involved at least one overturned vehicle, according to Illinois State Police.

-On that same weekend, a 62-year-old Evanston man was killed after his vehicle crashed in the southbound lanes of I-57. State police report the vehicle struck something in the roadway before crashing into a concrete median about 2 p.m.

-Also, an Englewood car accident injured four people, one of them critically, after a minivan and a car collided on South Carpenter Street, shortly before 1 a.m., according to the News Center.

Police report the 22-year-old driver of a Ford Thunderbird disobeyed a stop sign on Carpenter Avenue at 64th Street, where he collided with a Plymouth Voyager.

-Finally, a 5-year-old boy was killed when a car driven by his mother’s boyfriend crashed into a tree in a south suburban neighborhood, the News Center reported. The Chicago Heights car accident occurred about 3:30 a.m. at Steger Road and Carpenter Street. The boy was pronounced dead at St. James Hospital and Health Centers.

Authorities have not determined whether alcohol was involved; the 22-year-old man was treated for minor injuries and given a blood test, the results of which were pending.

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