Written and Reviewed by Peter Zneimer
Chicago in recent year has invested heavily in improving cross walk safety. The city has added cross walk signs to many crosswalks. Some have included warnings that it is a violation of state law not to stop for pedestrians in a cross walk. The fanciest crosswalks have flashing lights that are activated by pushing a button that warn motorists that pedestrians are crossing. The City’s efforts to upgrade pedestrian safety should be commend given the rise of pedestrian injuries in Illinois. The personal injury injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. note that pedestrian accident cases typically have severe injuries because these accidents most often involve a motor vehicle striking a human body.
Given the steady rise of of pedestrian deaths in Cook County the money spent on improving pedestrian safety is wisely spent. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) pedestrian accident fatalities in Cook County increased by 28% between 2016 and 2020. In another study done by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) study showed that pedestrian deaths in Illinois rose 55% from 2005 to 2020.
The crosswalk upgrades are a good thing and it is good to see the city of Chicago is making the effort. However the biggest problem with crosswalks in Chicago is that almost no one stops for people waiting to cross at crosswalks. I have stood at the improved crosswalk across Clark Street near Ardmore Ave. clearly intending to cross and have counted upwards of 50 to 60 cars pass by without even slowing down. The improved crosswalk even contains a warning as you can see in the above photo that it is state law for motorist to stop for pedestrians. One could just start walking across in front of traffic but cars are moving fast on Clark Street and this would surely cause the motorist to slam on his brakes and possibly cause the motorist to be rear ended. On the infrequent occasions when someone does stop at the crosswalk it creates another potentially dangerous situation because Clark Street has two lanes going in each direction. Just because one car stops doesn’t mean the car traveling in the adjacent lane will stop or is even be aware that there is a pedestrian crossing so one has to peek out around the stopped car to make sure it is safe to go.
The one crosswalk improvement that really seems to work is the flashing lights crosswalks where the pedestrian pushes a button at the crosswalk that activate flashing lights. The crosswalk at Western Ave. at Belle Plaine was improved to include flashing lights which is merited since it is near a retirement community and a elementary school. When the flashing lights are activated the cars almost always come to a stop.
If you are injured in a pedestrian accident you can call the pedestrian injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. for a free consultation to ensure your rights are protected.