Recently in Car Accidents Category

Michael Levgard of Palatine decided to drive around lowered railroad crossing gates in the Chicago suburbs. While he saw one stopped train, he failed to see another speeding through.

Levgard was struck and killed by the passenger train, and his vehicle was dragged a quarter mile up the tracks, reports the Chicago Tribune.

We wrote before about what you should do following a Chicago car accident. Many of the steps were common-sense steps like stay at the scene of the accident, make sure everyone is okay, and call the police if necessary.

A Naperville woman clearly did not read that post as she reactedjust about as poorly as you could following a car accident and now faces criminal charges and perhaps civil penalties as well.

In a bizarre set of circumstances, Daniel Thompson was killed as he walked naked onto the Tri-State Tollway into oncoming traffic.

It’s not clear what possessed the 35-year-old Robbins man to do what he did or if this was some type of suicide attempt. But as a result of his actions, three were people were hospitalized in an attempt to avoid striking the man, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

A study by AAA showed that Chicago traffic accidents cost the greater Chicago area $11.3 billion a year.

The study hopes to make the public aware of the huge financial costs of vehicle crashes by putting a dollar amount on the problem, reports the Chicago Tribune. For every person in the city, traffic crashes cost $1,112 per person.

We've written before that Chicago is one of the most dangerous cities for pedestrians. The danger is most prevalent with children and the mayor has even pushed for hidden cameras to catch speeders in areas filled with children like school zones and parks.

Halloween can be a particularly dangerous time for children as kids are out at night trick or treating, often running across the street to go from home to home. To decrease the chances of Halloween accidents, there are precautions that parents can take.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposes the use of hidden speeding cameras and red-light cameras near schools to catch motorists violating traffic laws.

The amount of car accidents involving Chicago students has been staggeringly high, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. There were 861 crashes involving students for a four-year period ending in 2009. In addition, a study found that over 25 percent of drivers violated maximum speed restrictions in school zones and parks.

A 33-year-old Chicago man was struck by a Skokie police officer as he walked on a sidewalk. The city could face legal liability for the cop car accident.

On Wednesday morning, an unidentified 25-year veteran police officer was checking speeds using a radar gun in a school zone, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. An SUV sped by and the police officer was set to give chase.

Oak Park could be the first municipality in the country to ban eating while driving. The Oak Park distracted driving ban promises to be one of the most comprehensive laws of its kind if enacted and could restrict many more activities beyond talking on a cell phone while driving.

The proposed crackdown could ban everything from using hand-held cellphones to grooming to eating while driving, reports the Chicago Tribune. A proponent of the law calls the ban a “public safety measure” as distracted driving often involves a lot more activities than simply talking on a cell phone while driving.

In the newest Illinois bicycle laws, the hands-free law that applies to motorists will now also apply to bicycle riders. The hands-free law requires that drivers not talk on cell phones or text message unless using a hands-free device. And as many well-balanced bicyclists have been seen riding the Chicago streets while talking and texting, these laws are now also made applicable to them.

Bicycle riders are already subject to most of the same laws as other motorists, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. For example, they are to obey traffic signals and yield to pedestrians. But until now, bike riders were not subject to the hands-free law that had been applicable to motorists for years.

Whether you’re looking to catch a taxi cab or not, you should keep your eyes peeled for Chicago cab drivers. That’s because taxi cabs are responsible for over one out of every four car/pedestrian accidents, and traffic courts tend to ignore cab driver traffic violations — keeping dangerous cab drivers on the road.

In an alarming investigation by the Chicago Tribune, the paper found that taxi drivers are the most frequent abusers of traffic laws and also have the highest rate of having their charges dismissed by traffic courts.