An August car accident that killed a Chicago motorcycle rider has resulted in felony DUI charges against the car’s driver.
The 47-year-old North Ashland Avenue woman has been charged with aggravated DUI in connection with the Chicago car accident that killed a North Side motorcyclist, ABC7 reported.
The case made news after a nurse sued the city after she reported being arrested by police for failing to give a blood test to the woman charged, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Traffic fatalities in 2009 are down nationwide, according to statistics released this past weekend by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which reviewed data for the first six months of the year.
So far in 2009, 16,626 people have been killed in traffic accidents, a 7 percent reduction compared to the 17,871 traffic deaths reported in the first half of 2008.
The Chicago car accident lawyers and personal injury and wrongful death attorneys at Abels & Annes continue to monitor state and national traffic statistics. While overall traffic deaths are declining, instances of drunk driving and motorcycle accident fatalities continued to increase last year.
And in Cook County, bicycle and pedestrian fatalities continue to be a problem. Through September, more than one-third of Chicago’s 110 traffic fatalities involved a Chicago pedestrian accident or a Chicago bicycle accident.
In Ilinois, where crash statistics are available through the end of September, the downward trend in traffic fatalities continues: 698 motorists died in 628 fatal crashes through the first 9 months of the year, compared to 796 fatalities last year. The 96 fewer fatalities represents a 12 percent decrease year-over-year.
Of the 628 fatal accidents, 204 deaths were attributed to alcohol-involved traffic crashes and 131 involved unlicensed drivers, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Also of note, is that the pace of decline in nationwide traffic fatalities slowed as the economy recovered. In the first quarter of 2009, a 10 percent reduction in fatal accidents was reported, compared to the 4 percent reduction in the second quarter amid a significant recovery in the stock market and reports of an improving economy.
Traditionally, the deadliest time on the nation’s roads has been the second half of the year — which includes back-to-school, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays as well as the start of the winter driving season.
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Two people were killed and two others critically injured when a car crashed into a pole in the Austin neighborhood on the city’s West Side on the evening of Friday, October 2nd, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The 29-year-old driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital shortly before midnight. A passenger was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Chicago car accident occurred about 10 p.m. Friday when the car went out of control and struck a pole near the intersection of Lotus and Chicago Avenues, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center.
In the Chicago Northwest suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois a man and a woman were killed in a deadly auto accident early Sunday morning, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Four others were hurt in the car crash.
The accident took place at Oak Street and Riverside Drive around 2:10 a.m. Emergency response workers arrived at the crash site and found one damaged car with one person inside and another vehicle 75 feet from the intersection with 5 people inside. All six involved were taken to area hospitals by the Park Ridge, Des Plaines, Niles and North Maine fire departments.
The victims have been identified as Younan Chalabi, 25, of Des Plaines and Christine Merza, 37, of Morton Grove, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. Both were passengers, and therefore played no role in causing the accident.
An Ohio man faces charges in connection with a weekend Chicago drunk driving accident that claimed two lives.
The 27-year-old Cleveland man had a blood-alcohol level of .148 — nearly twice the legal limit — when the car he was driving slammed into another car, killing two South Side men, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cook County prosecutors report the man had just gotten into another car accident before Saturday night’s fatal crash. Prosecutors allege the man downed a bottle of Arbor Mist and three vodka martinis, struck a car at 62nd and Ashland, and took off at a high rate of speed after berating the victimized motorists.
One man was killed and more than a dozen others injured in separate multi-vehicle car accidents last Thursday in the Chicago area.
In the first incident, an eight-vehicle Chicago car accident in suburban Crestwood claimed to life of a Country Club Hills man on Thursday morning, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Southtown Star reported that a speeding driver caused the accident after slamming into several vehicles at a Crestwood intersection.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and AAA are urging motorists to come together next week in avoiding anything that leads to distracted driving.
From Oct. 5 to Oct. 11 the “Heads Up Driving Week” hopes to teach motorists better driving habits to avoid the dangers associated with distracted driving.
Distracted driving is a contributing cause to a large number of serious and fatal car accidents. Earlier this year, the Chicago car accident lawyers and personal injury and wrongful death attorneys at Abels & Annes wrote about the dangers of distracted driving as part of our Safe Driving series.
Nationwide, it’s estimated that more than 1.3 million crashes a year are caused by distracted driving — or more than 4,300 crashes a day!
Next week’s effort has AAA calling for a week when drivers put away distractions and focus only on the road– saying the real number of accidents caused by distracted driving could be almost twice that many –8,000 per day.
The AAA Foundation reports that 80 percent of drivers say distracted driving is a serious threat to their safety yet two-thirds of drivers admit to talking on a cell phone while driving.
With the theme “Please – try it for a week – do it for life,” the Heads Up Driving Week lists 10 ways to minimize distractions while on the road:
– Plan Ahead
– Stow electronic devices
– Prepare kids and pets for the trip
– Satisfy that craving off the road
– Store loose gear and possessions
– Get your vehicle road-ready
– Dress for success before you get in the car
– Get your brain in the game
– Evaluate your own behavior from the “other” side of the road
– Use new technology to make you drive better
Drivers interested in learning more about these categories can click here to visit the Heads Up Driving Week website.
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A 24-year-old Waukegan man has been charged with leaving the scene of a Chicago-area car accident that killed a pedestrian last Sunday night in Aurora, Illinois.
The Chicago Breaking News Center reported that Aurora police were able to convince the man to turn himself in to authorities after he called several times to inquire about the victim’s condition.
He was also charged with obstructing justice and driving with a suspended license. Police reported he claimed he was rear-ended by another vehicle, which pushed him into the pedestrian and that he used a hammer and crow bar to damage his vehicle in an attempt to prove his story.
Setting clear driving safety rules for your teenage driver and not giving them their own vehicle can reduce the chances of your child being involved in a serious or fatal car accident.
Those findings were the result of two studies funded by State Farm Insurance Co. and conducted by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The Chicago car accident lawyers and child injury attorneys at Abels & Annes urge parents to talk frequently with their children about driving safety. Automobile accidents are the No. 1 cause of death for teenagers ages 15 to 19, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
According to the Associated Press, results of the most recent studies, released Friday and published in the October issue of Pediatrics, show talking frequently with your teenager about driving safety and not allowing teenagers free access to their own vehicle can help prevent some of the 5,000 teenage road fatalities each year.
One in every 7 fatal accidents in the United States involves a teenager and fatal traffic accidents account for 40 percent of all teenage deaths. Another 250,000 teenagers are seriously injured each year in automobile accidents.
“With teen drivers, you have to recognize that it’s a public health issue,” said Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, a Phoenix pediatrician who co-wrote an American Academy of Pediatrics report on teen drivers.
The research is based on a nationally representative survey of more than 5,500 teens in grades nine through 11.
More than 2,000 students who reported driving on their own were the focus of one study; 70 percent said they had their own cars or were the main drivers of cars they used.
Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, the lead researcher in one of the studies, said it’s alarming that so many kids have their own cars or feel that they have free use of one. She said that freedom can lead to “a sense of entitlement about driving” that may make them less cautious.
Among these drivers, 1 in 4 had been involved in crashes, versus just 1 in 10 of teens who shared access to a vehicle.
Kids who said their parents set clear driving rules and monitored their whereabouts had half as many crashes and better driving habits. These teens were 71 percent less likely to drink and drive and 30 percent less likely to use a cell phone while driving than kids with parents who were uninvolved in their driving habits.
Dr. Niranjan Karnik, a University of Chicago specialist in adolescent mental health, said the research underscores the importance of active parenting and graduated licensing laws for teens.
The AAA Foundation has resources for safe teen driving, which can be accessed at www.teendriving.com.
The Chicago car accident attorneys recently wrote about Illinois’ Operation Teen Safe Driving, which also offers resources for teenagers and their parents.
Three separate Chicago auto accidents on the North Side have resulted in injuries to 15 people over a 24 hour period.
The first accident took place on Saturday night, it involved 2 cars and injured 9 people, according the Chicago Breaking News Center. The crash took place at Central and Irving Park just before 10 p.m. in Portage Park. Two people were seriously injured and taken by ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
Seven others were injured and taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital and Our Lady of Resurrection Hospital.
Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog