Sadly, last Thursday night a car driver struck and killed a 52-year-old man who was crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at 47th Street in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood.
According to the initial Chicago Police Department statement, on Thursday, February 22, around 8:15 p.m., the man was walking across King at 47th. At this location, next to the Harold Washington Cultural Center, there are five main travel and turn lanes on King, which encourages speeding. The site is in Third Ward alderperson Pat Dowell's district.
A witness reported that the 37-year-old male driver of a white sedan was traveling north on King with a green light, according to the CPD statement. The witness added that the pedestrian "was in the middle of the street crouching down." The motorist struck the man, who was transported to University of Chicago Hospitals, where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner's office has not released his ID, pending notification of kin.
According to police, the driver was cited for failure to show due care for a pedestrian in the roadway.
The traffic crash report provides more information about what reportedly happened. It states that the motorist, a who was driving a 2024 Toyota Corolla sedan, told responding officers that as he was heading north on King with a green light, he saw two drivers ahead of him suddenly swerve into the left lane. He said he then struck and unknown object and immediately pulled over to the right to determine what had happened. He then saw the victim lying on the road.
According to the crash report, witnesses told police they saw the victim enter the street against his traffic signal and he "appeared to bend over to pick up and object" before he was struck.
The driver gave consent to undergo a DUI test at University of Chicago Hospitals.
Chicago Fatality Tracker
Pedestrian: 4
Bicyclist: 0
2024 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
• On February 22, 2024, a driver fatally struck a male pedestrian, 52, who was crossing South King Drive at 47th Street in the Grand Boulevard community.
• On February 8, 2024, a hit-and-run pickup driver ran a red and fatally struck a Jiekun Xu, 68, as she crossed Pulaski Road at 44th Street in Archer Heights.
• On January 21, 2024, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed David Marshall Hoyle III, 35, as he crossed 95th Street at Union Avenue in Washington Heights.
• On January 7, 2024, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed Jason Kardish, 40, as he crossed Ashland Avenue at Diversey Parkway in Lincoln Park.
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.
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