Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog
A South Side Chicago crash between three vehicles, including a police squad car, resulted in injuries to four on Tuesday night.
Two Chicago police officers were responding to a call in the Gresham neighborhood with its lights and sirens sounding. The officers were traveling west on 79th Street when a passenger vehicle entered the intersection at Racine Avenue and collided with the squad car. The collision forced the vehicles to the side where a third car was struck as it waited at a light at the intersection.
Both police officers sustained injuries in the collision and were taken to Stroger Hospital where they were expected to survive. The drivers of each of the other vehicles were also injured with one being taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital and the other to Saint Bernard Hospital. Both of the citizen drivers were described as having minor injuries.
The driver that caused the crash has been cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision, and causing damage to city property. It is not clear whether she has been released from the hospital.
Collisions between cars and emergency vehicles, including police squad cars, are more common in Chicago than some realize. With a large population confined in a small geographic area, the Chicago police, fire, and ambulance units are constantly responding to emergency calls that require them to use lights and sirens as they travel. When an emergency vehicle is responding to a call with lights and sirens activated, all other traffic must yield the right-of-way and allow the emergency vehicle to pass.
Accidents that occur from failing to yield the right-of-way are common as well since yielding the right-of-way requires drivers to wait or be patient, a trait that is not always exercised in the city. Yielding literally means allowing another passage first or letting another car, pedestrian, or bicyclist proceed while you wait. When a driver fails to yield the right-of-way, two cars or vehicles are likely to be in the same space at the same time, causing a collision. Many of these crashes result in injuries.
If you have been injured in a collision where a driver failed to yield the right-of-way, you may have a claim for your damages. The law allows passengers in an at-fault driver’s vehicle as well as driver and passengers of another vehicle, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclist to recover when the negligence of a driver who fails to yield causes them to be injured. A personal injury attorney can help you bring a claim against the driver’s insurance company or even against your own in a case where an at-fault driver does not have insurance.
If you were involved in a collision with a driver who failed to yield, call the Chicago failure to yield lawyers at Abels & Annes, P.C. at (312) 924-7575 to speak with an attorney now. We work around your schedule and we make ourselves available 24 hours a day. Every case we take is on a contingency fee basis which means that if we do not make a recovery on your behalf, you do not owe us for our services, so please call us now and let us provide you with a free, no obligation telephone consultation today.
Prior Blog Entries:
Mookie Blaylock, Former NBA Star, Faces Charges in Fatal Car Crash, Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Blog, published June 4, 2013.
Driver Gets 10 Year Prison Sentence for Road-Rage and DUI Crash that Killed Biker, Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Blog, published June 3, 2013.
Resources:
2 cops, 2 others injured in South Side crash, by Adam Sege, Chicago Tribune, published June 5, 2013.