Eyes on the Street: Weekend Started Off With Double Curb-Jumping Crash

Chicago has a speeding problem 2/2
Looking south along Sheridan Road. All of the airbags deployed in this Ford Escape.

A reader sent in these photos of a collision between two drivers at Belmont Avenue and Sheridan Road on Friday at around 5 p.m. — more evidence of the speeding problem on Chicago streets. Our reader wrote:

Rush hour plus Cubs traffic departing the area probably made for congested circumstances, yet it seems excessive speed was a factor in this double-exit-the-roadway crash. Note that both vehicles are on the sidewalk [both are pointing slightly north]. The blue car is the area in which people alight the express buses that run up Lake Shore Drive to Belmont.

Chicago has a speeding problem 1/2
Looking west across Sheridan Road.

We put in an inquiry this morning with the police department about whether anyone was injured in the crash and have yet to get a response. We also asked the Department of Transportation for an update on the speed camera program, including when and where the first ones will be installed. This area would be eligible to receive automated enforcement under the 2012 speed camera ordinance.

One of the funny things about car crashes is that most people never see the aftermath. It’s as if nothing ever happened here. Clean up, move along, keep driving. The evidence that remains is much more subtle than an actual car wreck. I passed by on Saturday afternoon after a short ride on the Lakefront Trail to find only this small piece of missing fence and tire tracks on the parkway:

Car crash site at Belmont/Sheridan
Was there a crash here?

By the way, there were six other car crashes posted in Today’s Headlines, with over a dozen people injured.

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Today’s Headlines for Monday, October 17

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$15M Belmont Blue Upgrade Will Include Permanent Prepaid Boarding (Curbed) Metra Proposes 5.8% Fare Hike to Take Effect February 1 (DNA) CTA Gets $400K Grant to Incorporate Divvy Info, Payment Into Ventra App (FTA) Ventra App Has Been Downloaded 1 Million Times (Tribune) Tribune Looks at the Transportation Lockbox Amendment Four ‘L’ Stations Will Receive Artwork […]