A fatal Illinois bicycle accident has claimed the life of a 17-year-old Chicago student, the Sun-Times reported.
The teen was on a spring break bicycle trip downstate when an 86-year-old driver in a minivan swerved across the center line and struck her and two friends head on, according to Illinois State Police.
All three students were from the University of Chicago Lab School. The two friends, both 18, were taken to hospitals in Evansville in serious but stable condition.
A Chicago semi accident claimed the life of a 6-year-old boy and critically injured his father in a Friday afternoon accident on the South Side, WBBM News reported.
The semi was southbound on South Ashland Avenue when it struck the victims as they attempted to cross the street between West 18th and West 19th streets shortly after 3 p.m. The Chicago Tribune reported the semi was traveling cab-only, and was not towing a trailer at the time of the accident.
Father and son were both transported to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
The widow of a pedestrian killed in a Chicago bus accident has filed a civil lawsuit against the driver and bus company, the Chicago Breaking News Center reported.
The 63-year-old South Holland man was killed Feb. 23 when a Megabus struck him in a crosswalk on the Near West Side.
The victim’s wife filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court last week against the discount interstate bus company and the driver, claiming negligence led to the Chicago pedestrian death.
Three-quarters of all fatal car accidents occur in urban areas or withing 5 miles of an urban area, according to new research released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
As reported earlier this month on Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, Chicago is the third-most congested urban area in the country after Los Angeles and New York, leading to an increased risk of serious or fatal Chicago car accidents.
In Illinois, the numbers are even more striking — 94 percent — or 19 of every 20 fatal accidents — occur within 10 miles of an urban area.
-95 percent of speed-related traffic fatalities in Illinois occur in and around urban areas.
-95 percent of fatal motorcycle accidents in Illinois occur in and around urban areas.
-99 percent of fatal Illinois pedestrian accidents occur in and around urban areas.
-96 percent of fatal Illinois trucking accidents occur in and around urban areas.
-94 percent of fatal Illinois drunk driving accidents occur in and around urban areas.
Nationwide, the numbers trend lower than they do in Illinois but are still striking:
-More than half (53 percent) of fatal motorcycle crashes occur in urban areas — 9 in 10 fatal motorcycle crashes occur within 10 miles of an urban area.
-74 percent of fatal pedestrian accidents occur in urban areas — while 95 percent occur within 10 miles of an urban area.
-About one-third of fatal trucking accidents occur in urban areas — 83 percent occur within 10 miles of an urban area.
-Two-third of all interstate highway fatalities occur within 2.5 miles of an urban area.
-85 percent of all speed-related fatal traffic crashes occur within 10 miles of an urban area.
-86 percent of all fatal drunk driving accidents occur within 10 miles of an urban area.
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Lawmakers are considering a back-to-back increase in the speed limit for semis and large trucks, which opponents contend could increase the risk of Illinois trucking accidents.
Lawmakers in the senate have proposed a law that would increase the speed limit to 70 mph on downstate highways. The new rule would apply to both cars and trucks and effect mostly rural interstate highways, WJBD News reported.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dale Risinger, of Peoria, said he didn’t think the increased speed for trucks would be a safety hazard. “Thirty-three states have 70 mph or greater on their highways, and those that have raised their speed limits have shown their accident rates haven’t increased.”
As reported on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, Illinois semis were just given the green light on Jan. 1 to increase speeds to 65 mph on most interstates outside the Chicago area.
Before Gov. Pat Quinn signed that increase into law, trucks were limited to 55 mph on Illinois highways.
Like that increase, the proposed legislation would not allow the higher speed limit for trucks traveling in Cook, Dupage, Kane, Lake, Mchenry and Will counties in the Chicago area.
Many people underestimate the increase in force that comes with a Chicago car accident at interstate speeds. As we reported last year in our Illinois Safe Driving series, speed not only increases a driver’s reaction time, it exponentially increases the force of collision — so an accident is not twice as likely to be fatal at 50 mph than at 25 mph — federal research shows it is 15 times more likely to be fatal.
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A taxi driver was seriously injured Sunday morning in a Chicago car accident near O’Hare International Airport, the Chicago Breaking News Center reported.
The driver stepped out of his passenger van and was struck by a vehicle on Interstate 90 near the airport.
It was the third time in recent weeks that a motorist was struck outside a vehicle in the Chicago area. As we reported last month here at Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, one person was killed and another seriously injured while standing outside a disabled vehicle and, in a separate incident, a 36-year-old woman was struck and killed by a semi while pulled over to check for a flat tire.
A woman and a 1-year-old girl were killed in a Chicago train accident on Saturday when a Metra train struck them as they crossed the tracks with family in suburban North Chicago, the Sun-Times reported.
The Metra Union Pacific North Line train No. 806 struck the woman carrying a baby just after 8 a.m. near the North Chicago station on Lakeside Drive, FOX News reported. The Lake County Coroner pronounced the women dead at the scene.
The infant was taken to Vista Medical Center East in Waukegan, where she was pronounced dead about 11:30 a.m.
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.
Two dozen people were injured in separate Chicago traffic accidents Sunday afternoon.
Eleven people, including 7 children, were injured Sunday afternoon in a Chicago traffic accident when two vans collided on the South Side, WBBM News reported.
The accident happened shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday at South Racine Avenue and West 68th St.
A worker was killed last week and another injured in a Chicago construction accident that occurred in the Loop, ABC 7 reported.
The victims are employees of People’s Energy and were conducting an underground test at Jackson and Wacker Drive when the Chicago work accident occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday afternoon. They were testing a 20-inch main when a steel pipe slipped and struck both workers, who were in a construction hole across the street from the Willis Tower.
Three ambulances responded to the scene at 1:45 p.m. after reports of workers trapped following an explosion, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
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