A 31-year-old Soutwest Side man faces charges stemming from a Thanksgiving Chicago drunk driving car accident that claimed the life of a pedestrian, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The 21-year-old Chicago pedestrian was killed after being struck by a car about 3:10 a.m. Thursday in the 6900 block of South Cicero Avenue.
The at-fault driver was reportedly northbound when he swerved into the southbound lanes and struck a car before continuing north and striking the victim, who was standing outside his vehicle. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn on Thursday morning.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported the victim had run out of gas and had climbed out to push when the accused driver’s Chevy Equinox allegedly rear-ended an Oldsmobile and kept going before striking the victim.
The driver had a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit, according to the Tribune, and was held on $300,000 bail on Saturday. He faces several charges, including felony aggravated driving under the influence.
Last year in Illinois, nine people were killed and 961 injured in serious traffic accidents over the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
As reported last week on our Chicago Injury Lawyer blog, about 40 percent of holiday fatalities nationwide involve a drunk driver compared to 28 percent during the rest of the holiday season, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.