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An 87 year old Chicago man was struck by a hit-and-run driver and was left in critical condition the Chicago Tribune reported. Chicago police report that the accident happened at 3:50 p.m. near 4400 West Fullerton in Chicago. The hit-and-run driver drove a green Jeep Cherokee that then drove to a gas station near North Kostner Avenue and jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot. The critically injured pedestrian was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital.

A recent study by the Chicago Department of Transportation found that there there are an average of two hit-and-run pedestrian accidents that cause injury or death to the victim occurring every day in Chicago. Hit-and-run crashes account for 33% of all vehicle-pedestrian crashes that occur in Chicago. Additionally, hit-and run crashes account for 41% of the fatal vehicle-pedestrian crashes in Chicago which is twice the national average.

Chicago Transportation Commissioner expressed his concern: “I think we have this culture of speeding and reckless driving.” As Chicago personal injury attorneys, the law office of Zneimer & Zneimer handle many such cases. Many times the injured pedestrian has no insurance to cover his or her hospital visits so the victim is not only stuck with a devastating injury but also devastating medical bills.

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A study commissioned by the Chicago of Transportation has found that Chicago averages two hit-and-run crashes that cause injury or death everyday. Hit-and-run vehicle-pedestrian crashes account for 33% of all vehicle-pedestrian crashes according to this study. The Chicago personal injury law firm of Zneimer & Zneimer has seen first hand the damage these hit-and-run drivers do. Many injured pedestrians do not have any insurance coverage so they are not only hurt by the hit-and-run driver but they are also stuck with the medical bills and the consequences of not being able to work while they recover. Hit-and-run drivers are a major problem in Chicago with 5,534 incidents of hit-and-runs over a five year period resulting in 3,683 injuries or deaths according to the study.

Another striking finding was the study found that cabdrivers were involved in 28% of motorist-pedestrian crashes in Chicago, with most of these crashes occurring in downtown Chicago.

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Chicago has recently opened its first protected bicycle lane on a short stretch of Kinzie Street at Clinton Street and Canal Street but unfortunately bicyclists can not as of yet call this short stretch of protected bike lane their own. As Chicago injury lawyer Peter A. Zneimer drove past this short section on Wednesday morning he observed a taxi cab parked squarely in the protected bike lane waiting at the front door on the apartment building located at Clifton Street and Kinzie Street in Chicago impeding all the bicyclists that were headed to work on the bike lane. A couple bicyclists were knocking on the taxi drivers window pointing out that he was blocking the bike lane but he did not appear inclined to move. This individual might have benefited from an instructive traffic ticket at the least. For bicycle lanes and protected bike lanes to work to prevent bicyclist injuries there has to be police enforcement to keep drivers out of the bike lanes otherwise there is no point to bike lanes.

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A new city of Chicago study shows that 80 percent of vehicle-pedestrian crashes occur at intersections and mostly involve pedestrians walking where they are supposed to, in a cross walk. The study also shows the number one cause of pedestrians being hit by cars is drivers failing to yield the right-of-way. Most pedestrians are hit by turning vehicles while the pedestrians are attempting to cross the street in the crosswalk. There are about 3,000 vehicle-pedestrian crashes a year in Chicago. The pedestrian always gets the worst of such an accident and some end up with serious injuries . The Chicago injury law firm of Zneimer & Zneimer handles many cases of pedestrians being injured while in a cross walk. Many of these crashes involve serious injuries such as broken bones. Unfortunately, many drivers are only carry the minimum insurance coverage of $20,000.00 or, even worse, no insurance at all so the injured person is forced to pay his medical bills out of his own pocket if he or she does not have health insurance.

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Chicago’s Active Transportation Alliance has launched The Neighborhood Bikeways Campaign which seeks a 100 mile network of protected bikeways in Chicago by 2015. A small section of protected bike lane has just been opened on W. Kinzie St. near downtown Chicago. Such protected bikeways have shown to decrease bike accidents in other cities such as Portland, Oregon and Quebec, Canada where they have been introduced. On one New York street where a protected bike lane was introduced bike accidents were reduced 30% while bike traffic rose 40%. The Chicago personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer are aware of how dangerous the streets of Chicago are for bicyclist by the number of bicycle injury cases we handle. If Chicago were to introduce a comprehensive network of protected bike lanes, not only would bike injuries in Chicago be reduced but many more people would use their bikes instead of driving which would relieve congestion on the roads and reduce auto emissions into the air.

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New Chicago Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein has suggested a number of ways to make streets safer for pedestrians in Chicago. He has suggested reducing the number of right on red intersections, giving pedestrians more time to cross the street, narrowing streets and reducing speed limits. Another idea he suggested is to have all directions of motorist traffic stop for 14 seconds every other cycle to allow pedestrians to cross. The goal, of course, is cut down on pedestrian injuries in Chicago and to give as much consideration to pedestrians as is given to motorists. The Chicago personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer are aware of the fact that many pedestrians are injured after being hit by drivers making a right turn on a red light because of the injured pedestrian cases we handle. The Mayor’s office plans a big pedestrian safety initiative to begin later this summer. The program will include an education outreach and intersection crash analysis to determine which intersections are most dangerous for pedestrians.

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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed changes in Chicago ordinances in an effort to make streets safer for pedestrians. Currently the law requires motorists to “yield” to pedestrians in a crosswalk. Mayor Emanuel proposes changing the ordinance language to require drivers to “stop” for pedestrians in the crosswalk. The goal is to make it 100 percent clear what a driver is supposed to do when a pedestrian is in a crosswalk. The Chicago injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer have handled numerous cases of persons hit and injured in crosswalks by motorists that did not yield the right-of-way. Anybody living in Chicago probably knows that motorists do not yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and any who assumes that a car will stop for them as they cross in a crosswalk risk serious injury or death. Police vehicles will not even stop for pedestrians. The only way a new ordinance can work to change motorists habits is if police enforce it and to give tickets to drivers who do not stop.

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New bicycle lanes have been constructed in downtown Chicago. The lanes are marked by flexible posts and run a half-mile on Kinzie Street from Milwaukee Avenue to Wells Street. For a short section of this route, bicyclists are separated from moving traffic by a parked car lane. These are welcome improvements but its only a tiny section of roadway. The rest of the bike route down Milwaukee headed downtown is no more than painted lines that disappear at intersections. The personal injury law firm of Zneimer & Zneimer have represented injured bicyclists in Chicago who were on this Milwaukee route when they were injured. Though Milwaukee Avenue has numerous bicyclists in the morning headed to downtown Chicago, little has been done to make the route safe for bicyclists. Cars and trucks regularly park and drive in the so called “bike lanes” with out any ramifications. When the bicyclists reach any intersection even the meager bike lanes disappear and the bikers are left to their own devices to weave amongst cars and trucks to cross the intersection. The Chicago bicycle injury attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer encourages Mayor Emanuel to keep doing more for bicyclists to make biking safer in Chicago.

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Animal lovers teamed with Chicago police and Chicago Streets and Sanitation workers to save a mother duck and her five ducklings who wandered on to Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. The mother duck and her ducklings were saved but attempting to save animals on the roadway can also be very dangerous. The Chicago lawyers of Zneimer and Zneimer encourage extreme caution and be aware of the extreme dangers of personal injury or death. On May 30, 2011, Edward Gardner of Naperville, Illinois was stuck and killed by a limousine as he tried to help baby fowl cross I-294.

Chicago Tribune reporter Alissa Groeninger asked an expert what to do. Sgt. Juan Valenzuela of the Illinois State Police advises that if a motorist sees animals in the roadway they should contact state or local police and should never try to clear the animals themselves. He adds that motorists are not equipped with emergency lights or warning devices that the police have so motorists should leave it up to the police or Illinois Department of Transportation workers.

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Governor Quinn announced on Monday that the Illinois Department Of Transportation (IDOT) will now be collecting information on dooring of bicyclist. Dooring occurs when someone in a parked vehicle opens his or her door into the path of a bicyclist who then runs into the door and is thrown off their bike. Quinn’s office said that the goal is to see if anything more can be done by the state to protect bicyclists. Local police departments across the state will begin tracking dooring accidents and report back to the state so that the data can be included in Illinois traffic accident statistics. The Chicago injury attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer note that a large percentage of the bicycle injury cases they handle involve dooring accidents. These accidents are especially dangerous because of the risk that the doored bicyclist will be knocked off his or her bike and be thrown into moving traffic and then get run over by a car, truck or bus.

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