Tag: fatality tracker

Fatality Tracker: Two senior citizens killed in separate traffic crashes Friday night

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 25 (12 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 6 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 8
Skateboard: 1 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)

The Chicago Tribune reports this morning about two fatal pedestrian crashes.

Crash 1

Friday, November 16, 2012
6 PM
5000 block of N Western Avenue, Lincoln Square

A vehicle struck two people, both of whom were taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston.

One of them, 85-year-old Evanston resident Raymond Lending, was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. [It’s not mentioned where the pedestrians and vehicle were when the collision occurred, nor if the driver received any citations.]

Crash 2

Saturday, November 17, 2012
12:43 AM
5200 block of S Cicero Avenue, Archer Heights

[A] 61-year-old man was struck by a vehicle about 12:43 a.m. while crossing the street, [Chicago Police Department News Affair Officer Ron] Gaines said. The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 1:33 a.m.

The driver in the Archer Heights collision is in police custody, but no charges have been filed yet, Gaines said.

At the end of the year I will be collating the statistics from our Fatality Tracker; a majority of the people who’ve been killed, as pedestrians, are older than 50 years old.

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time. View previous Fatality Tracker posts.

Fatality Tracker: 44-year-old pedestrian killed in hit-and-run crash in West Rogers Park

Tsering Dorjee, 44, seen here with his youngest son
Tsering Dorjee. Photo by Bill’s Digital Photos.

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 23 (12 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 6 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 8 (our last update listed 7)
Skateboard: 1 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)

Update November 17, 09:30: The driver turned himself in on Thursday. Fernando Jasso Perez, 23, has never had a driver’s license. “Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. set bail at $750,000 for Perez, who was charged with reckless homicide and failure to report the crash” (source). The Chicago Sun-Times published an editorial Friday urging state legislators to create a visitor drivers license for illegal immigrants. One of the benefits they espoused? “Police officers making a stop would know who is driving the car. With the threat of deportation lessened, illegal immigrants would have less of a motivation to leave the scene of an accident.”

Tsering Dorjee, a 44-year-old Tibetan man from India, was killed in a fatal hit-and-run crash on Monday around 6 PM in the 6400 block of N Maplewood Avenue in West Rogers Park and police are still looking for the driver, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Dorjee worked in the Cook County Clerk’s office and was the president of the Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s very distressing and very disappointing because, in our community, we have very few deaths but they are natural – sickness or old age,” [Lhakpa] Tsering said [president of the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago]. “This is the first time a hit-and-run has taken a life in our community.’”

The car was described as a dark blue Volkswagen Beetle with the Illinois license plate P121817. Police asked anyone with information to call 312-745-4521.

Dorjee’s brother-in-law, Dakpa Jorden, 46, “was also injured in the collision and suffered a fractured neck and leg”, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time. View previous Fatality Tracker posts.

Fatality Tracker: Driver turns truck right in front of cyclist, killing him

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 22 (10 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 6 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 8 (our last update listed 7)
Skateboard: 1 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)

A person riding a bike on westbound Augusta Boulevard was killed this morning when a driver of a truck traveling in the same direction turned right onto northbound Ashland Avenue. The crash happened at “about 10 AM”. The Chicago Tribune reports:

The Cook County medical examiner’s office said the man was in his 50s and was pronounced dead at 10:35 a.m.

The driver of the truck, Danny Darling, 47, of Michigan City, Ind., remained at the scene and was ticketed for making an improper right turn, Mirabelli said.

There is a discussion about this on EveryBlock, with details from apparent witnesses. In 2011, 7 bicyclists died in traffic. An improper right turn is another name for “right hook”, which is regulated by Municipal Code of Chicago 9-16-020. In this case it carries a fine of $500.

View Ashland & Augusta in a larger map. This is one of those intersections where the bike lane ends very prematurely before the intersection, in this case ~190 feet before the westbound Augusta stop bar.

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time. View previous Fatality Tracker posts.

Fatality Tracker: Man skateboarding to his car involved in hit-and-run crash a week ago has died

[flickr]photo:8131712409[/flickr]

A memorial for Reggie outside Café Con Leche. 

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 22 (10 have been hit-and-run crashes) (the Illinois Safety Data Mart reports 30 pedestrian fatalities today)
Pedalcyclist: 5 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 8 (our last update listed 7)
Skateboard: 1 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)

Reginald “Reggie” Destin died today from injuries he sustained in a crash on October 19 while skateboarding to his car in the 1700 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park. He was hit by an unlicensed and uninsured driver whose blood alcohol level was 0.188 with a previous DUI; the driver didn’t stay but was quickly caught by police. The Chicago Sun-Times has an obituary:

Destin was well known in the Chicago skating community and often frequented the skateboard shop Uprise, which is a block from the accident. He had jobs working for popular skateboard companies and owned a skateboarding shop called Push near Chicago and State in the late 1990s, Fonseca said.

Grid Chicago apologizes on behalf of the Chicago Sun-Times for their inaccurate use of the word “accident”.

We are classifying this as a skateboarding crash type, even though the Illinois Department of Transportation data will likely classify it as a pedestrian crash as skateboards are not recognized as vehicles or devices (like pedalcycles). Skateboarding is sustainable transportation; if you don’t believe me go to Destin’s crash location on a warm weather day to see people skateboarding to their destinations.

[flickr]photo:8128506744[/flickr]

A skateboarder in Chicago, at Milwaukee Avenue and Division Street – I don’t know his name. 

[flickr]photo:8128510826[/flickr]

Skateboarding is transportation. A happy skateboarder at Milwaukee and California Avenues – I don’t know his name either. 

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time. View previous Fatality Tracker posts.

Fatality Tracker: Why we do it, and bringing transit up-to-date

[flickr]photo:4596089597[/flickr]

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 22 (10 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 5 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 8 (our last update listed 7)

This is a special Fatality Tracker post. There were no pedestrian, pedalcyclist, or transit fatalities in Chicago recently. This post brings our transit number up-to-date as it was missing one person. I also wanted to explain why we publish Fatality Tracker.

On March 2, 2012, a man was struck by a CTA train at the Grand Red Line subway station. “Fire Department officials said the unidentified man was pinned under the trains at the station at 521 N. State at 5:45 p.m.”, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The article quoted Thank you to Tracy Swartz for helping us ensure that we were aware of all the fatal incidents.

Why Fatality Tracker?

I answered the question myself in April, but it’s useful to give others’ perspectives on the reasoning behind the sorrowful task of making a list of how and when people died. The following blockquotes are reader responses to an anonymous commenter on a post from September 2012 about the cab driver whose car killed Eric Kerestes.

There is a very real downside to transportation in this city in that sometimes people die. And far too often, these deaths could be prevented. We can not and should not sweep incidents like this under the rug. It needs to be made known, so we can see the current reality of transportation and discuss what needs improvement. Ignoring it in favor of pretty pictures and feel-good stories won’t make it go away. -BlueFairlane

That’s why.

GridChicago exists to fill a very clear void in local transportation reporting; in terms of ped-transportation-death tracking as well as a wide assortment of other non-private-motorized transportation matters. -Kevin M

That’s why.

It’s purpose is to bring to light the dangerous situations walkers and bikers face in Chicago on a day-to-day basis. This blog would certainly love to never post another entry to the fatality tracker, but the sad reality is that people are getting killed far too often by crazy, unsafe motorists. -Adam Herstein

Again, that’s why we do it.

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time. View previous Fatality Tracker posts. Overhead photo of the ‘L’ by Clark Maxwell.

Fatality Tracker: Senior woman killed in hit-and-run, driver not yet apprehended

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 22 (10 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 5 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 7

Bessie Manning, 85, was crossing Division Street, southbound on Waller Avenue in the Austin community area, when she was struck by a “dark-colored” car and likely died immediately. Police are looking for the driver of the car. The Chicago Tribune has more details.

As a reminder, the speed of a motor vehicle involved in a crash with an unshielded human (i.e. a pedestrian or bicyclist) is the greatest determining factor of injury or death in that crash (the speed of the vehicle in this crash hasn’t been reported but now is as a good a time as any to publicize it). Simply put:

  • 20 MPH at crash impact: 5% chance of fatality
  • 30 MPH, 37-45%
  • 40 MPH, 83-85%
  • 50 MPH, nearly 100% chance of fatality

View Waller Avenue and Division Street in larger map

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time and includes only people who died in the Chicago city limits. View previous Fatality Tracker posts.