crashes

It's not clear exactly why this area is a problem spot, but it appears that better guard rail protection is needed.

The car-pedestrian crashes included 48 cases with incapacitating injuries, but there have been no media reports of serious bike/ped crashes in the ward. So why is Alderman Reilly focused on banning bikes on the riverwalk?

This information is crucial for identifying hotspots for collisions and other trends that can better inform the fight against serious and fatal crashes.

Chicago Department of Transportation commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld told the City Council's Committee on Pedestrian & Traffic Safety that equipment problems that have plagued the city's red light camera enforcement program have mostly been resolved. Although some aldermen were there to pounce upon the media ruckus around the cameras, other aldermen understood that red light cameras can play a role in keeping Chicago's streets safer.

The crash site from the driver's perspective.

The Law Office of Brendan H. Kevenides and the Law Offices of James M. Freeman, both sponsors of Streetsblog Chicago, are merging to create Freeman Kevenides Law Firm. Both firms originally focused on cases involving people who were struck while biking, while Freeman also took on pedestrian crash cases. The new firm will continue the advocacy they're known for, but with greater strength and frequency, Freeman and Kevenides say.

A recent decision by Illinois's 1st District Court of Appeals could make it harder to hold city governments and individual drivers accountable for pedestrian safety.

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:

Keith Griffith is a Chicago-based freelance writer and arts critic.