Senior Fatally Struck After Exiting Car During Traffic Dispute

The crash site at North Avenue and the Kennedy Expressway.

Kim Kyeyul, 72, died Saturday morning after he got out of his car to talk with a truck driver following a traffic crash and was then run over by the driver of another semi.

Around 6:45 a.m., Kyeyul, a resident of west-suburban Riverside, was traveling west on the 1400 block of North Avenue in Chicago in his 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer, according to Officer José Estrada of News Affairs. The driver of the first truck, a 32-year-old male, had slowed down in order to safely pass under the viaduct for the Kennedy Expressway, when the Kyeyul rear ended his vehicle, Estrada said. Polices sources said that, had Kyeyul survived the tragic crash, he likely would have been cited for failing to reduce speed to prevent a crash.

Kyeyul stepped out of his car and walked up to the trucker, who was stopped in the outside lane of the four-lane roadway, Estrada said. The confrontation became heated and Kyeyul stepped back into traffic. He was then struck by the second trucker, a 38-year-old male, who was attempting to pass.

Kyeyul suffered severe injuries to his upper body and pronounced dead at the scene, Estrada said. Neither truck driver was cited; their names have not been released.

Fatality Tracker: 2014 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths

Pedestrian: 8 (3 were hit-and-run crashes)
Bicyclist: 0