Cook County Court Clerk Adds Traffic Ticket E-Payments

If a Cook County Illinois driver (or someone driving in Cook County), recieves a speeding ticket, they can now access the ticket online immediately and pay online. According reporting from CBS News, the Cook County Court Clerk, Mariyana Spyropoulos, launched an e-ticket pilot program in Decembe. Her office stated the new program replaces a manual process in which clerks had to get traffic tickets into the court records system by retyping them after police officers had then written out by hand.

The new system allows citations to be transmitted electronically and enter the court records system pre-filled. Thus, clerks can review, validated, and open cases without having to retype anything, Spyropoulos’ office said.

With the e-Citation system, citations appear in the court system within  24 to 48 hours, as compared to seven to 10 days under the old system.

The clerk’s office noted that 40 Chicago area municipaties are now using the e-Citation system.

This is obviously much more efficient for ticketed Chicago drivers, but does fail to mention that this is not available to drivers who wish to contest their moving violations in person in front of a judge.

If you or a loved have been seriously injured in a Chicago auto accident or Illinois truck accident, then call the Illinois personal injury attorneys at The Bryant Law Group, LLC. at at 312-614-1076 or go directly to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com. Free legal consultations are available.

Chicago Rated As The Worst Traffic Congested City In The U.S.

Traffic analytics company, INRIX, issued it’s 2025 Global Scorecard last month and it was not good news for Chicago, Illinois. Chicago was ranked as the most congested city in the United States for 2025, ahead of New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Boston.

Chicago drivers lose an average of 112 hours annually in peak traffic over the time they would have spent in normal traffic. That’s 10 more hours lost in peak traffic than drivers in New York (102 hours), which came in second in the U.S., followed by Philadelphia (101 hours), Los Angeles (87 hours) and Boston (83 hours). For Chicagoans, the lost time cost the average motorist $2,063, while the city as a whole lost $7.5 billion, according to INRIX.

Overall, congestion resulted in U.S. drivers losing an average of 49 hours annually to traffic jams, an increase of six hours from 2024. That’s also the equivalent of about six working days, costing $894 in lost time and productivity.

A snapshot of Chicago’s INRIX report can be seen by clicking here.

I think it’s important to point out several reasons why Chicago rose to the top spot. First, the mulityear Kennedy Expressway construction project was completed through a bulk of 2025. It started in March and ran through the end of November. The closed lanes and exits along 1-90/94, plus the closed express lane led to denser congestion and longer commutes all summer and fall.

Also, the Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) chose 2025 to close multiple bridges all at the same time for much needed repairs. Those include the Lake Street, Cortland Street, Chicago Avenue and State Street Bridges. The Cortland and Chicago Avenue closures make transportation incredibley difficult when driving between the east and west sides of the city and often times requires jumping on the Kennedy for short periods in order to cross the Chicago river.

All of this construction, all at once, has made commute times much worse for Chicagoans. I will be interested to see if Chicago improves next year now that the Kennedy construction is complete.

If you have been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call the Illinois personal injury attorneys at The Bryant Law Group, LLC., for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or you can go directly to the website at www.blgchicago.com.

Kennedy Expressway Contruction Project Nearing End

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for Chicagoans who travel on I-90/94 Kennedy expressway. The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) announced this week that they are nearing the end of the years long project.

According to ABC 7 On Wednesday, IDOT reopened three major outbound Kennedy exit ramps: Kimball Avenue, Addison Street and Pulaski Road/Irving Park Road (Illinois 19). The Kimball Avenue ramp to outbound Kennedy was closed on Tuesday night, IDOT said. It is expected to reopen in approximately three weeks. The outbound Kennedy ramp to Addison Street was also closed, it is anticipated to reopen in approximately three weeks. All northbound lanes north of Addison street are now oben.

These recent lane and exit openings are a huge relief for commuters in and out of the city and especially those who are driving to O’Hare airport. If a driver gets on 90/94 north of Ontario, they miss the only onramp to the express lane which has caused terrible gridlock for northbound drivers all summer.

IDOT states that the project will be completely finished on time by Thanksgiving. That cannot come soon enough.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call the Illinois personal injury attorneys at the Bryant Law Group, LLC at 312-614-1076 or go directly to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.

Honda Announces Recall Of 290,000 Vehicles For Engine Issue

The National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration (“NHTSA”) announced this week that Honda is recalling 294,612 of their vehicles in the U.S. to rpair an issue that may cause engines to stall or suffer a loss of power. A software error in the fuel injection electronic control unit (FI-ECU) may cause an engine stall or a loss of power, increasing the risk of a crash or injury, the U.S. auto safety regulator said.

The vehicle models affected include certain 2022-2025 Acura MDX Type-S, the 2023-2025 Honda Pilot, and the 2021-2025 Acura TLX Type-S vehicles. If you own once of the types of vehicles, please take to your local dealer for the appropriate repair. The software program will be updated and repaired by dealers free of chagre.

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a Chicago traffic accident involving a Chicago auto defect, then call the Illinois personal injury attorneys 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.

GM Recalls Close To 500,000 Trucks

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) announed this week that General Motors is recalling 461,000 trucks and SUVs based on a transmission issue. The vehicles recalled include the 2020-2022 Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, 2021 Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon.

The specific auto defect involves a transmission control valve on the impacted vehicles may fail causing the rear wheels to lock up, the NHTSA said, which would increase the risk of a crash.

GM dealers will install a new transmission control module software free of charge and GM will provide a special coverage program for repairing transmissions identified as containing a defective control valve.

If you own one of these types of vehicles, please contact your dealer as soon as possible to avoid any further risks.

Should you or a loved become injured from a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, then call the Illinois personal injury attorneys at the Bryant Law Group, LLC. for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or go directly to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.

City of Danville, Illinois Given $9 Million Grant For Traffic Safety

The bipartisan federal infrastructure bill that passed back in 2022 continues to pay off for the state of Illinois. CNHI News reported this week that the city of Danville and Vermillion County will recieve over $9 million from the federal department of transportation to help improve traffic safety in the area.

It was announced that the funds will be used to promote safety and improve the overall quality of life for residents in the community in and around Danville. Work will take place on Seminary Street and Bowman Avenue and will include the installation of bike lanes and sidewalks.

The grant will also fund efforts to improve lane departure safety in eight high-risk areas, including Catlin-Homer Road, Westville Road/Forest Glen Road, Perrysville Road, and Kickapoo Park Road. These targeted improvements aim to enhance roadway safety for all users.

It has been incredible to see the federal infrastructure money at work improving roads and bridges around the country. More importantly, the investments I have seen in streets and highways have all been aimed at improving traffic safety in all communities including urban and rural or large and small.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago traffic accident or Illinois truck accident, please call the Illinois personal injury attorneys for a free legal consultation at The Bryant Law Group at 312-614-1076 or go to the firm’s website a www.blgchicago.com.