Tag Archives: www.blgchicago.com

Illinois Announces New Driver Safety Program

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Illinois Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, announced this week that his office is launching a driver safety program focused on young drivers and distracted driving. This new program is part of National Teen Driver Safety Week.

The program, call “One Road, One Focus” will call for safety zones in areas where lots of crashes have happened. It will also ask lawmakers to fund new grants for local departments to start their own enforcement programs and remind prosecutors to get accused distracted drivers’ license suspended in the event of serious injury or death. Also included is a mandatory video teens will have to watch before they get a learner’s permit, which will start in 2025.

Giannoulias had this to say about the safety iniciateve: “No text or email is ever that important and certainly not as important as a child’s life. There is nothing that is more important than paying attention to the road.”

I applaud this new program as I believe many new drivers don’t understand, or at least forget, how dangerous it is to pick up your phone while driving. It only takes a second or two of looking away from the road before a car crash can occur.

If you have been injured in a Chicago traffic accident or a Chicago truck accident, the call the Chicago personal injury lawyers at the Bryant Law Group for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or click on the firm’s website a www.blgchicago.com to learn more.

Law To Lower Speed Limit In Chicago Passes Through Committee

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I wrote earlier this week that there was a new law presented in the Chicago city council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety that would lower the speed limit on city streets to 25 mph. According to multiple new outlets, including WGN News, the proposed law passed through the committee process and heads to the full city council for a vote.

The law would lower the speed limit on city streets only. It would not apply to streets owned by the Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”). It’s not clear from the research I’ve done how many Chicago streets are under the jursidiction of IDOT.

The chairman of the committee, Alderman Dan LaSpata, is adament that this is not a money grab by the city. He stated the following at the committee hearing: “The goal is not more revenue. The goal is to change behaviors and save lives.”

The city says that 70 percent of the traffic fatalities last year involved motorists traveling at high speeds. Data shows that 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.

A separate measure passed Monday would create a pilot program that 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.

Again, I will be watching this closely to see if this passes the full city council vote and is signed by the mayor and will update as soon as news is released.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or in a Chicago pedestrian accident, then call the Illinois injury attorneys at The Bryant Law Group, LLC at 312-614-1076 or go directly to our website at www.blgchicago.com.

IDOT Announces Completion Date For Kennedy Expressway Construction

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According to NBC Chicago, the Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) will complete phase 2 of the Kennedy Expressway construction by late fall of this year. They did not provide an exact date.

Phase 2 of the Kennedy construction has included updating all of the Reversible Lane Access Controls (“REVLAC”) in the express lanes. IDOT provided the following statement on the construction so far: “The REVLAC system controls the gates and changes the direction of traffic in the reversible lanes. The work includes installing 120 gates, controls (local and remote), cameras, electrical components, fiber optic cables and terminal blocks along the 7.5 miles. Additionally, new overhead sign structures and signs were installed. While the pavement in the express lanes is drivable their use is extremely limited. The REVLAC work is ongoing, and the system currently is not functional.”

This is welcome new for those in the Chicagland area. Commutes from O’Hare airport in the city can take up to an hour depending on the time of day you are traveling. The Kennedy construction not only ties up the expressway but makes traffic throughout the northside of the city much worse and drivers look for alternate routes. Opening up the express lanes again will hopefully ease up traffic and shorten commute times. Hopefully the better technology and improvements made to the express lanes will make commutes on the Kenndey much safer. The completion of this project cannot come soon enough.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago traffic accident or Chicago truck accident, then please contact the Chicago injury lawyers at The Bryant Law Group for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or click on the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.

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.