Who’s to blame for the killing of a man on the sidewalk after two drivers crashed in West Ridge?

Tragically, on Monday morning two teen drivers crashed at the intersection of two major streets in the Acadia Terrace section of Chicago's West Ridge community, and one of the vehicles careened towards a man on the sidewalk, killing him.

According to the initial Chicago Police Department statement, on Monday, September 18, at about 7:30 a.m., an 18-year-old man was driving a Volkswagen Touareg crossover SUV east on Peterson Avenue (6000 N.) towards California Avenue (2800 W.) This segment of Peterson is part of U.S. Route 14 in Illinois, and the street has six travel lanes here, which encourages speeding.

At the same time, an 18-year-old woman was driving west in a Nissan Sentra sedan when she attempted to turn left, southbound, on California, the CPD statement says. "[The SUV driver] continued through a red light, striking [the sedan driver.] One of the vehicles then struck a pedestrian, who was on the sidewalk."

The CPD statement says the pedestrian, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. The sedan driver was taken to Ascension St. Francis hospital in fair condition.

According to the statement, the SUV driver was cited for "Failure to Yield – Red Light."

The traffic crash report states, and footage of the aftermath from a CBS Chicago report seems to confirm, that the pedestrian was struck on the sidewalk in front of a BP station at the southeast corner of the intersection.

While the initial CPS statement said the SUV driver blew a red, the crash report says he told police otherwise. "[The SUV driver] related to responding officers he was traveling eastbound on Peterson and the light was yellow when [he] drove into the intersection."

The crash report states that after the SUV driver hit the sedan driver, "The impact landed both units on the southeast side corner on [the] Peterson/California intersection striking [the pedestrian] who was standing in that location." In addition to killing the man, the crash damaged a city lamp post and the gas station's fence.

The ticket for failing to yield to a left-turning driver, when turning motorists are normally required to yield to oncoming traffic, is notable given the SUV driver's claim that he didn't run a red, said Brendan Kevenides, an attorney with the pedestrian and bike injury firm FK Law (a Streetsblog sponsor.) "However, I am wondering if the police viewed video of the crash and determined that [the sedan driver] started their turn before the change of lights, but that [the SUV driver] entered on a red, despite claiming that the light was yellow." He noted that there's a red light camera at this intersection. "That may shed light on what happened. Tragic situation regardless."

"All motorists have a duty to slow down at intersections and to only proceed through an intersection when it is safe to do so," said pedestrian and bike injury attorney Michael Keating of Keating Law Offices (a Streetsblog sponsor.) "What is clear from this crash report is that the pedestrian was doing absolutely nothing wrong and was simply standing on the corner. Based on what we know thus far, if the drivers of either of the vehicles had simply stopped and waited for green lights this crash was unlikely to have ever occurred." 

Streetsblog Chicago Fatality Tracker

Pedestrian: 21

Bicyclist: 3

Note: Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago surface streets, based on media reports and/or preliminary Chicago Police Department data.

2023 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases

• On September 18, 2023, the drivers of a sedan and a crossover SUV crashed at the intersection of Peterson and California avenues in West Ridge, and one of the vehicles veered towards an unidentified man on the sidewalk, killing him.
• On September 9, 2023, a hit-and-run sedan driver struck and killed a male pedestrian, 56, on the 500 block of South Independence Boulevard in Garfield Park.
• On August 23, 2023, an SUV driver with a suspended license failed to yield while making a turn from Hoyne Avenue onto Cermak Road and fatally struck Irene Celestino Devillino, 48, in the crosswalk.
• On August 20, 2023 a hit-and-run sedan driver fatally struck Ulysses Coleman, 38, in the 5200 block of North Avenue in Austin.
• On July 25, 2023 a hit-and-run driver killed pedestrian Soyfa Athamanah, 69, in 5100-block of N. Broadway in Uptown.
• On July 13, 2023, a man was fatally injured after he was dragged by a driver and he struck another motorist's car at 818 S. Pulaski Rd.
• On May 29, 2023, a hit-and-run driver killed Angela R. Mcknight, 49, crossing in the 1200 block of S. Independence Dr.
• On April 14, 2023, a Chrysler driver fatally struck a man, 59, on the 8800 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chatham.
• On April 8, 2023, a turning sedan driver struck and killed Tracy Burton, 55, crossing the street at Laramie Avenue and Jackson Boulevard in Austin.
• On March 29,2023, a sedan driver struck and killed a male pedestrian, 46, on the 2000 block of North Cicero in Belmont Cragin.
• On March 25, 2023, a driver ran a stop sign at Washington and Green streets in the West Loop, fatally striking James Robert Thompson and fled the scene.
• On March 19, 2023, a left-turning van driver fatally struck Guo Ning Li, 78, in a crosswalk at 24th Street and Wentworth Avenue in Chinatown.
• On February 20, 2023, a right-turning FedEx step van driver ran over and killed Marsha Frankel, 72, in a crosswalk at Roosevelt Road and Wabash Avenue in the South Loop.
• On February 14, 2023, a CTA bus driver fatally struck Kevin Herrera, 28, at at 47th Street and Ashland Avenue in Back of the Yards.
• On February 7, 2023, a driver fatally struck Erik S. Wills, 49, on the 8800 block of South May Street in Gresham.
• On February 6, 2023, a motorist struck and killed Stevenson Mays, 59, on the 5600 block of South Racine Avenue in West Englewood and fled the scene.
• On January 27, 2023, two drivers collided on the 5000 block of West Washington Street in Austin and fatally struck Jennifer Kelleher, 25, and then both fled the scene.
• On January 26, 2023, an SUV driver fatally struck an unidentified woman, 93, on the 300 block of South Laramie Avenue in Austin and fled the scene.
• On January 10, 2023, a sedan driver struck and killed an unidentified man, 33, on the 3500 block of West Lake Street in East Garfield Park and fled the scene.
• On January 3, 2023, a cargo van driver fatally struck Jaime Cuadra, 47, as he was exiting a vehicle on 87th Street in front of the Red Line station.
• On January 2, 2023, a 45-year-old man was crossing Lafayette Avenue at 79th Street in Chatham when a speeding driver ran a red, fatally struck him, and fled the scene on foot.
• On January 2, 2023, near 72nd Street and Damen Avenue in West Englewood, Roy Lee, 21, was getting into his car when a driver swerved into oncoming lanes, fatally struck Lee and hit three parked cars, then fled the scene on foot.

2023 Chicago bike fatalities

• On June 24, 2023, a left-turning driver fatally struck Józef Strus, 67, who was riding a bike at 57th Street and Natchez Avenue in Garfield Ridge.
• On June 7, 2023, bike rider Ron Mendoza, 43, died from injuries sustained in a July 5 crash with a car driver at Wrightwood Avenue and Pulaski Road in Logan Square.
• On May 7, 2023, bike rider Rick Lomas was traveling south on California Avenue in Humboldt Park when he was was fatally struck by a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix driver who left the scene.

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