Articles Posted in DUI

A judge has ruled that key evidence against a police officer accused of causing a deadly drunk driving accident cannot be used against him in court, the Sun-Times reported.

The fatal Chicago car accident occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 2007 and claimed the lives of two young men. The officer had been videotaped drinking a lot alcohol just minutes before the crash. However, a judge ruled this week that the evidence was illegally seized and cannot be used, severely weakening the case against him.

The victim’s family and anti-drunk-driving advocates are enraged by the ruling as safety advocates continue to warn the public about the dangers of drinking and driving. As we reported earlier this year on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, one-third of all fatal Cook County traffic accidents are linked to drunk driving. In all, more than 2,000 of the 6,000 fatal accidents that have occurred in Cook County over the past 15 years have involved a drunk driver.

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison on Friday for a Chicago drunk driving accident that killed a local woman and seriously injured two others, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The man pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated driving under the influence in connection with the crash last year in Riverside. He crossed into oncoming traffic and struck an SUV head-on. It was his third DUI conviction.

Test results found he had a blood-alcohol level of .24 — three times the legal limit in Illinois — and cocaine in his system. The accident happened about 10:40 p.m. last March 29, when he slammed into the SUV at First Avenue and 31st Street.

A woman faces drunk driving charges after a Chicago car accident Tuesday night that killed one woman and seriously injured a 9-year-old girl who was ejected from the vehicle, the Sun-Times reported.

The accident happened about 10:15 p.m. on Interstate 57 on the city’s Far South Side.

A Ford Escort was northbound near Halsted Street when the female driver loss control, crossed several lanes of traffic, and drove off the right embankment into a light pole, according to Illinois State Police.

Drunk driving was responsible for one-third of the nearly 6,000 fatal Cook County traffic accidents that have occurred in the past 15 years, according to an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times.

The report found similar statistics in the collar counties around Chicago.

The Chicago drunk driving accident attorneys at Abels & Annes have closely followed the issue of deadly drunk driving accidents in Illinois, both here and on our sister site, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog. As we reported earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Transportation will spend $11 million dollars to combat drunk driving accidents in Illinois this year.

The Sun-Times report lists Cook County’s portion of I-94 as the 11th most-dangerous road in the nation, with 301 fatal traffic accidents reported between 1994 and 2008.

“People still don’t understand that drunk driving is a violent crime,” Susan McKeigue, state executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving-Illinois, told the Sun-Times. “They think Uncle Ted getting snookered on Christmas Eve and driving away is funny.”

MADD statistics show that half of all motorists involved in a drunk driving accident have never before been stopped or arrested for DUI.

Other dangerous Chicago-area roads identified in the study include Illinois 173 in north suburban Lake County where 30 people have been killed and Illinois 53 in Will County where another 30 motorists have died in traffic accidents.

The study looked at 562,712 fatal accidents that claimed 627,433 lives. And, while fatal traffic accidents have declined over the years, it noted that the 37,261 people killed in 2008 traffic accidents is 10 times the number who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Besides drunk driving, authorities blame the majority of fatal traffic accidents on speeding and distracted driving, including the use of cell phones or text messaging while driving.
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The rate of fatal Illinois traffic accidents has been cut in half over the last 25 years but officials hope spending tens of millions of dollars to combat Illinois drunk driving accidents can cut the rate further by the end of next year.

The Chicago car accident lawyers and the Illinois drunk driving accident attorneys at Abels & Annes have published a series of posts in recent months, both here and on our sister site, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, about the continued fight against drunk driving accidents.

Impaired drivers are currently involved in about one-third of all fatal traffic accidents in Illinois.

2.2 motorists were killed in fatal Illinois car accidents for every 100 million miles traveled on state roads in 1985, compared to .99 deaths in 2008, according to the state’s new Highway Performance Safety Plan released for 2010.

One of the primary reasons cited for the decrease is enforcement of DUI laws and the prevention of Illinois drunk driving accidents, which have declined 20 percent in the last five years, from a rate of .56 in 2004 to .46 in 2008.

The Illinois Department of Transportation estimates it will receive more than 11 million in federal funding to combat impaired driving this year — the most of any targeted category. By comparison, the state is set to receive $400,000 to reduce Illinois motorcycle accidents.

The goal is to reduce Illinois traffic fatalities from 1,355 in 2004 to 883 by the end of 2011. The state hopes serious injuries decline by almost 50 percent — from 18,798 in 2004 to 10,361 by the end of next year.

As part of that goals, Illinois aims to reduce alcohol-related fatalities by about 25 percent, from 475 in 2004 to 314 by next year. Even so, more than 1 in 3 fatal Illinois traffic accidents would still involve a drunk driver.

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Bail has been set at $100,000 for an Irving Park man charged with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence in connection with a drunk driving Chicago car accident that claimed the life of a friend.

The 23-year-old man was found to have a blood alcohol level of .24 — three times greater than the legal limit of .08, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center.

The defendant was driving a Dodge Durango, owned by a friend’s parents, when he lost control while westbound in the 5100 block of Irving Park Road. The vehicle sideswiped a parked car and slammed into a light pole.