Tag Archives: Chicago pedestrian accident

Chicago City Council Considering Lower Speed Limit For City Streets

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According to WGN News, the Chicago city council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety could be taking up a vote this week that would recommend lowering the speed limit on city streets to 25 mph (down from 30 mph).

The new speed limit has the support of traffic and bicycle safety advocates. According to the committee, proposed change is purely a safety measure which would help protect pedestrians and bicyclists. According to the city’s data, a person struck by a vehicle traveling 30 MPH has a 60 percent chance of survival. That chance of survival increases to about 95 percent if the person is struck by a vehicle traveling 20 MPH.

“If you think about it from a logic standpoint, when a car is going faster it takes longer to stop. So when a car is going 30 miles an hour it takes about 120 feet to stop and just a 5 mile reduction it can stop at 85 feet. It gives cars a chance to stop,” said Audrey Wennink, the senior director of the Metropolitan Planning Council, which supports the change.

The commitee is also considering a new law that would permit Chicago residents to submit photos of parking violations. This new law would allow citizens to submit photos of vehicles illegally parked in bike and bus lines to the city through 311. The city’s Department of Finance would then issue citations to the vehicle’s registered owners after two warnings.

I will be watching the results of this committee hearing closely and will update the results. It will be interesting to see if this is eventually passed by the entire city council and signed by the mayor.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in Chicago pedestrian accident or Chicago bike accident, then call Chicago personal injury lawyers at The Bryant Law Group for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076. Or go to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.

Chicago Department Of Transportation To Implement Traffic Calming Insfrastructure

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The Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) announced last week through press release that they are going to be installing what are called “traffic calming” infrastructure into various busy intersections around the city. Traffic calming infrasructure includes rubber speed bumps, vertical posts, and hardened centerlines at intersections that encourage drivers to take turns at safer speeds, prevent drivers from taking a diagonal path through the crosswalk, and improve drivers’ visibility of people crossing the street.

The intersections that will have these safety measures installed include:

  • N. Ashland Ave. & W. Wilson Ave.
  • N. Ashland Ave. & W. Sunnyside Ave.
  • N. Ashland Ave. & W. Montrose Ave.
  • N. Ashland Ave. & W. Cullom Ave.
  • W. Grand Ave. & N. Austin Ave.
  • W. Division Ave. & N. Rockwell St.
  • W. Chicago Ave. & N. Leavitt St.
  • W. Chicago Ave. & N. Oakley Ave.
  • W. Chicago Ave. & N. Paulina St.
  • W. 63rd St. & S. Kedzie Ave.
  • W. 63rd St. & S. California Ave.
  • W. 63rd St. & S. Western Ave.
  • W. 71st St. & S. Halsted St.
  • W. 71st St & S. Ashland Ave.
  • W. 71st St & S. Damen Ave.

I have written about Chicago’s traffic safety plans multiple times over the last several years. Previous mayor, Rahm Emanuel, introduced his “Vision Zero,” plan whose ultimate goal was to have zero pedestrian deaths within the next ten years. Mayor Lori Lightfood has stated that she planned to continue the Vision Zero mission. Despite all this planning and work, pedestrian deaths and traffic deaths have going up the last two years in Chicago and in Illinois. I think the traffic calming infrastructure is a step in the right direction to help slow down and hopefully eliminate pedestrian deaths in our city.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago pedestrian accident or Chicago traffic accident, then call Chicago car crash lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

NHTSA: 2020 Saw Increase Hit And Run Traffic Fatalities

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The National HighwaysTraffic Safety Association (“NHTSA”) released its’ data last month on 2020 traffic deaths. US roads saw the largest increase on record in deaths per mile traveled in 2020, including a 26% increase in hit-and-run fatalities that outpaced the increase in overall deaths.

Hit-and-run deaths have grown steadily in the last 15 years as a share of traffic deaths. Victims of hit-and-runs are also increasingly pedestrians and cyclists. In 2020, 69.6% of hit-and-run deaths were either pedestrians or cyclists, compared with 61.1% in 2006. Roughly one in four pedestrian deaths in 2020 was a hit-and-run.

Early analysis shows that pedestrian deaths did not decline in 2021, indicating that 2020 wasn’t a fluke. Overall traffic deaths per mile in the first nine months of 2021 increased marginally from 2020.

The NHTSA and other traffic experts could not provide the reasoning behind the gradual increase, but there were some suggestions as to the problem. Some believe that the decline in public transportation ridership in 2020 could have led to the increase in pedestrian deaths and hit and runs. Others have pointed out that alcohol and impaired driving fatalities grew 14% in 2020, outpacing the 7.2% increase in overall traffic deaths when compared with 2019.

What is the plan going forward and what can the government do to help curb the increase in pedestrian traffic deaths? The NHTSA plans to propose changes to the new car assessment program that may emphasize safety features that protect people both inside and outside vehicles. In 2020, 34% of traffic deaths occurred outside vehicles, a rate that’s increased steadily since hitting a low of 20% in 1997. The agency has also said it’ll develop rules for requiring automatic emergency braking for pedestrians on new passenger vehicles, but not heavy trucks.

The Department of Transportation plans to feature a “safe system” approach, which emphasizes the responsibility of all actors in a system, including roadway engineers. US road design has long prioritized moving vehicles at high speeds rather than protecting all road users.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in Chicago pedestrian accident or a Chicago truck accident, then call the Chicago personal injury lawyers at the Bryant Law Group, LLC. for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Chicago To Install Audio Crosswalk Signals For The Blind

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Various news outlets reported last week that the city of Chicago is taking a huge step in improving the safety for blind pedestrians. The city announced it will install approximately 50 to 100 new audio signals at intersections throughout the city. A high-pitched chirp attached to pedestrian signals lets those with visual impairments know it is safe to cross the street. Others have voice signals.

According to the reports, the blind community will have input as to exactly where the the new signals will be installed.

This is an encouraging to step by the city to help citizens who cannot protect themselves. Unfortunately Chicago has lagged behind other cities around the country. For instance, San Francisco and Minneapolis, two cities much smaller than Chicago each have over 200 audio signals at crosswalks.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago pedestrian accident or a Chicago truck accident, then call Chicago accident attorney, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Chicago To Add Five New Speeder Cameras This Summer

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The Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) announced last week that they would be adding five (5) new speeder cameras around the city by the end of the summer. Two (2) of the cameras will be placed at Hiawatha and Kosciuszko parks on the Northwest Side. The other three (3) cameras will be placed near Major Hector P. Garcia MD High School on the Southwest Side, Near North Montessori School on the Near Northwest Side and Gary Comer College Prep High School on the South Side.

CDOT told the Chicago Tribune that ““Automated speed enforcement is a proven deterrent to speeding, and one of the most effective tools in our toolbox for reducing speeding and saving lives.” They further pointed out that this was another step in Mayor Emanuel’s “Vision Zero” plan, which is aimed at eliminating all traffic accident deaths by the year 2026.

I have written on the site multiple times about red light and speed cameras. Based on multiple studies (and a bribery scandal), the red light cameras have come under a lot of scrutiny for any safety value added to the community. On the other hand, speeder cameras, have not undergone as much scrutiny. For one, they are newer to Chicago and we don’t know the actual net impact they are providing for motorists and pedestrian safety. According to CDOT, safety cameras are actually making streets and walkways safer throughout the city. According to the Department the number of speeding violations has been trending down in areas with speed cameras since they were deployed in 2014, and average traffic speed has dropped from 26 mph to 22.5 mph. Crash data also show that the number of car crashes in areas with speed cameras was down 4 percent in 2015 compared to 2013, while for the rest of the city crashes were up 13 percent.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago pedestrian accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Arizona Back-Up Uber Driver Was Watching TV On Her Phone At Time Of Fatal Crash

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I wrote several months ago about the self-driving Uber accident that killed a pedestrian. It was unclear at the time whether the self-braking system had failed or whether the pedestrian who walked out onto the street gave the vehicle enough time to stop.

Many of those questions have now been answered in a 300 page accident report from the Tempe, Arizona police. According to a car accident lawyer, the back-up driver was watching the television show “The Voice” on her phone when the car crash occurred. The report concludes that if the driver would have been paying attention to the road rather than her phone, she could have braked on time as she could have reacted 143 feet prior to striking the pedestrian.

The National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”), released a separate report last month, which said the autonomous driving system on Uber’s Volvo XC-90 SUV spotted the pedestrian about six seconds before hitting her, but did not stop because the system used to automatically apply brakes in potentially dangerous situations had been disabled. Thus, the duty of stopping on time for pedestrians or other vehicles was left to the back-up driver.

The family of the deceased pedestrian has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both the driver and Uber. In most states, Uber insures their driver’s vehicles up to 1 million dollars per accident. I’d imagine that the family of the deceased are seeking over 1 million and to collect over the policy limits they would need to allege in their complaint and prove that Uber was negligent in the training and supervision of their driver (i.e. the driver was not made sufficiently aware that the self-driving brake system would not stop in certain situations).  Maybe the drivers are overly reliant on the autonomous braking system, and that they should have been trained to be more vigilant even when the self-driving program is on. The family could also allege that Uber’s technology was faulty or that it should not have been disabled, especially at night. I will be following this case as it progresses.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago pedestrian accident or Chicago Uber accident, then call Chicago accident attorney, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

City of Chicago To Use Data And Analytics To Reduce Car Crashes

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The City of Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) issued a press release this week regarding their “Vision Zero” plan, which is an effort to eliminate all pedestrian traffic deaths in the city by the year 2026. The plan was introduced one year ago.

As part of their  release, CDOT announced it has entered a data partnership with Arity, a subsidiary of The Allstate Insurance. Arity is a connected car technology company that collects nearly one billion miles of driving and connected car data per month from more than one million mobile phone and in-car devices. Arity has a unique, user centric view of a city’s mobility patterns and ability to identify driving behaviors that carry the most risk and cause severe traffic accidents.  CDOT stated that it will be using the data and predictive analytics to better understand the risk factors of specific segments of roadways and intersections throughout Chicago.

From the release: “partnership will be used help the City identify the risk factors on specific roadways and help determine where to best prioritize and focus investments in infrastructure and traffic safety resources, as well as how to tailor interventions to improve road safety in Chicago.”

I think this is an incredibly important investment by the city.  I imagine that the use of this advanced data will  city will be able to determine where to put additional cross-walk and pedestrian signs, where to add four-way stops, where widen roads and I’m sure other safety measures.

It’s interesting that this was just announced. As I wrote within the last few weeks, pedestrian deaths in Chicago are outpacing the number of fatalities over the last several years. “Vision Zero” is off to a slow start, but hopefully this partnership with Arity will help curb that trend.

If you or a loved on has been seriously injured in a Chicago pedestrian accident or Chicago traffic accident, then call Chicago personal injury attorney, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Chicago City Council To Vote On Floating Car Share Use

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The Chicago Tribune reported this week that the company Car2Go is looking to operate in Chicago. The city council will vote this week as to whether they can operate here in Chicago. Car2Go, a car share company, allows members to pick up a car parked somewhere within a designated zone, use it for anything, and then park it somewhere else in the zone. The company is looking to operate, for now, on the North side, the loop and near South side. Certain areas of Lincoln Park and Lakeview are not included in the zone at this point.

Car2Go is different from other car share companies like Zipcar because they do not require you to return the car to the exact same spot it was picked up from. Based on this model, it looks like Car2Go allows  more flexibility than other car share companies as it allows you to basically take one way trips. For example, if you want to go out for the night in a certain neighborhood, and are not sure how long you will be gone, you can park the car in your destination area and not have to worry about taking it home at the end of the night where you started. It appears to be a micro version of Zipcar.  It will be interesting to see whether Zipcar adapts and provides more flexibility for their drivers and their ability to drop vehicles off at different locations. Car2Go is currently operating in eleven (11) U.S. cities along with cities throughout Europe and China.

Like Zipcar, Car2Go pays for insurance, gas and parking, while consumers pay for the time the car is used. Costs vary depending on the type of vehicle and the city — for a two-seater blue-and-white Smart Car, consumers typically pay about 41 cents a minute, $15 per hour and $60 per day.

There has been some opposition to this new ordinance, including from Ald. Michelle Smith, 43rd Ward, who represents Lincoln Park and opposes the ordinance, questioned whether the company will be paying the city enough for its privileges. (Under the ordinance, Car2Go  will pay a $75 per vehicle fee for parking in areas controlled by residential permits, as well as property lease and rental car taxes).

The question that has to be asked is whether a company like Car2Go actually reduces the number of cars on the streets where they operate. A study cited in the Tribune article stated that found that between 2 percent to 5 percent of Car2Go users sold a vehicle because of Car2Go, while another 7 percent to 10 percent held off on buying a car and that a Car2Go vehicle removes 7 to 11 vehicles from the road, and reduced total miles driven and emissions.

We won’t immediately know the effect this company will have on Chicago. First, the city ordinance will need to pass and then it will take at least a year to study how often the vehicles are being used and whether we see less vehicles on the road. Call me dubious, but I just don’t anticipate a huge decrease in traffic in such densely populated areas. People will still need to move around the city, whether it’s through a car share company, their own vehicle or from an Uber or Cab.

If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in a Chicago traffic accident or Chicago pedestrian accident, then call Chicago personal injury lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Uber Self-Driving Vehicle Leads To Pedestrian Death

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Multiple news outlets have reported that a self-driving Uber vehicle, struck and killed a female pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona on Saturday night. Immediately following the news of this tragic traffic fatality, Uber  suspended all road-testing of such autos in the Phoenix area, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

The vehicle in question was a Volvo, which  was in self-driving mode with a human backup driver at the wheel when it hit 49-year-old woman as she was walking a bicycle outside the lines of a crosswalk, police said. The National Transportation Safety Board, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are both investigating the accident.

At this point, it’s unclear who was at fault for this traffic accident. I have a lot of questions though, as this is not the first car crash or traffic fatality involving self-driving cars. First, what in the world was the human, “back up” driver doing at the time of the accident? If the vehicle’s cameras didn’t pick up the pedestrian, then the back up human should have been paying attention and stepped on the brakes or swerved the vehicle herself. Otherwise, what is the point of having a back-up driver in the vehicle. Also, self-driving car proponents continue to tout the safety benefits of these vehicles (i.e. they don’t get drunk, fall asleep or read phones), yet we continue to see accidents. I will continue to follow this story to see how Uber and other companies react and whether the federal government intervenes at some point to implement their own regulations.

If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago pedestrian accident, then call Chicago personal injury lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076.

Study Shows Ashland Ave Deadliest For Chicago Pedestrians

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The Chicago Tribune reported last month that through an investigation of police statistics, that Ashland Avenue has been the most dangerous for pedestrians over the last four (4) years.

The statistics showed that from 2014 to 2016 the most traffic fatalities occurred on Lake Shore Drive (15), Ashland (14), Western Avenue with (14), Milwaukee Avenue (9), and Stony Island and North avenues (8). Those numbers include motorist, bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities.

The road with the most pedestrian fatalities over this period was Ashland with 10.  Why is Ashland such a major problem for traffic accidents? Once reason the article notes is that on the South side of the city motorists who want to avoid the expressway, choose to drive on Ashland, which makes it a much busier street than others.

The article also notes that being poor can also mean you’re more likely to die in a traffic crash. The city’s Transportation Department reported this month that people experiencing medium and high levels of economic hardship make up 82 percent of the city’s traffic deaths.

What can be done on busy streets like Ashland to protect pedestrians?

One is to install refuge “islands” in the middle of crossings so pedestrians can stop and wait midblock if the light changes, and traffic bump-outs. The latter means extending concrete into the intersection to reduce the space needed to cross and get cars to slow down, Such measures have been added during resurfacing in crash-prone areas.

 

Reducing the width of vehicle lanes on arterials helps slow traffic, Schady said. Another solution, especially in the suburbs, is reducing driveway access points. Countdown lights help pedestrians see how long they have to make it across. Traffic lights can also include a delay before the light turns green so pedestrians can clear the intersection before traffic moves again.

A way to calm traffic on Ashland in particular could be a rapid transit bus system between Irving Park Road and 95th Street. The idea, proposed by the CTA and the Transportation Department in 2013, faced opposition from residents and businesses and is stuck in the planning phase.

All of these ideas are part of the “Vision Zero” initiative that the city undertook in 2014, which was to eliminate all traffic deaths in the city.

Once thing for certain is that motorists need to constantly be aware of their surroundings when driving in the city. You have to be aware of course of other drivers, but also pedestrians, especially on busy avenues like Ashland.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a Chicago car accident or Chicago pedestrian accident, then call Chicago personal injury lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, at 312-614-1076 for a free legal consultation.