Articles Posted in Auto Accidents

A speeding Chicago driver crashed into parked cars near Midway Airport on Saturday critically injuring all three occupants in his car. Edger Figueroa, the driver of the car, was cited for failure to reduce speed and for operating an uninsured vehicle. Figueroa and his passengers were hospitalized.

A driver of an automobile that blew a stop sign and smashed into another vehicle, killing a mother and her two children had two previous DUI’s on her record dating from 2001 and 2002.

Ann Marie Getz is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol when she crashed into a car being driven by Amanda Jahn. The crash caused the Jahn vehicle to roll several times in a field. Amanda Jahn and her two children, Kaitlyn, age 11 months and Ryan, age 3, died in the crash.

Ann Marie Getz, of Streator, Illinois, is charged with four counts of aggravated DUI and is now in Grundy County Jail with a $1 million bond.

Two cars crashed at the intersection of North Avenue and Wells Street in Chicago Wednesday morning sending one vehicle into the Starbucks coffee shop on the corner of the intersection.

No one inside the Starbucks was injured but a plate glass window was shattered.

The drivers of both vehicles were taken to Northwestern Hospital in stable condition.

A recent State Farm study found that teen auto accidents spike in October. State Farm found that claims for teen drivers go up 20% in October. Larry Williams, a State Farm agent in Chicago, speculates that the auto accidents are a result of the days getting shorter and darkness coming faster. Also he notes that the roads are slicker with weather changing.

A new study shows that the wide spread use of child safety seats and safety belts and the practice of putting children in the back seat has resulted in an 18 percent reduction in overall fatalities among children ages 0-12 since 1996. The findings were reported in the National Safety Council’s Journal of Safety Research.

Chicago City Council unanimously passed a proposed ban on sending text messages while driving in Chicago. Violators could face a $75 fine. The fine would increase to $200 if the violations occur at the time of a traffic accident.

Researchers from the Transport Research Laboratory report that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol or cannabis.

Drivers reaction time slowed 35% when they were writing or reading text messages while driving. In comparison, reaction time slowed by 21% for those smoking cannabis and 12% for those at the legal limit of alcohol the study found. The study also found that steering control worsened 91% for texters compared with 35% for cannabis smokers.

Chicago Alderman Edward Burke is proposing a $75.00 fine for texting while driving in the city. Despite the obvious dangers inherent in texting while driving, currently only five states ban it: Alaska, Washington, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.

Chicago Alderman are considering passing a law prohibiting drivers from text messaging or surfing the internet while driving on Chicago streets. The proposal is backed by Mayor Richard Daley.

A woman was killed in Dolton, Illinois near the Bishop Ford Freeway in a trucking accident when her car was struck by a Mack Truck.

The woman, Zina Kidd, was attempting to make a left turn when her vehicle was struck. The driver of the truck was given a ticket for failure to reduce speed to avoid another vehicle.