I have written on this blog multiple
times that Chicago has taken significant steps to make streets safer for
pedestrian walkers. The city has installed speeder cameras near schools and
parks. The punishment for vehicles disobeying cross-walks has stiffened. Stop
signs for pedestrian cross walks haven been installed on busy roads such as
LaSalle, Clark and Division etc… All of these steps among others have been
implemented by Mayor Emanuel since he has taken over, yet, the Chicago Sun
Times reported last week that 48 pedestrians were killed in vehicle accidents in 2012. This was a sharp uptick from the previous two years and the
highest in four years.
The city needs to be asking itself
why there has been a sudden increase despite the measures taken to protect
pedestrians. “The weather was better. It was relatively mild, especially
in the winter,” Active Transportation Alliance Director Ron Burke said. “And
driving went back up for the first time in a while. … It looks like probably
more people were out walking because of the mild weather. That alone creates
potentially, unfortunately, some additional crashes.” Others say
distracted driving is also a key factor: “People are more distracted. All you
need to do is look around and see everyone on a cell phone, texting or
listening to music and not paying attention to the road,” said Jose Ucles,
spokesman at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Chicago’s numbers
follow a national trend that shows an increase of traffic fatalities of all
types. In data from January through September — the latest available — the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said traffic fatalities
increased by 7.1 percent over the same nine months in 2011. That represents the
largest such increase since 1975 — the first year when NHTSA started collecting
data on traffic fatalities, the study found.
As I have stated
before, there needs to be tougher penalties against those cause auto accidents while
texting and driving and especially if there are personal injuries. Without
tougher penalties, I believe that pedestrian accidents will increase or at the
very least stay at the same level.
If you or someone
you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago truck accident,
then call Chicago personal injury attorney Aaron Bryant for a free legal
consultation at 312-588-3384 or go to the firm website at
www.blgchicago.com.
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