Articles Posted in CTA Accident

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Chicago is an incredibly busy city with people always on the go. Throughout Chicago, but especially in the Loop and downtown area, you can see people utilizing all modes of city transportation in the same area: personal vehicle, taxi, train, bus, bicycle, and by foot. However, no matter the mode of transportation, everyone must always be vigilant and avoid negligent behavior. Because we are such a busy city with so many people traveling fast and with places to go, we must be aware of each other and always practicing safety as to not put others in danger and cause accidents.

Unfortunately, crashes do happen, and can be especially dangerous when they occur in the busiest and most congested areas of the city. According to a recent article by ABC News, one person died after a Chicago bus crashed into and came to a stop on a pedestrian plaza. In addition to the loss of one life, eight others were injured, and multiple cars were involved in the crash. At the time of the crash, the CTA bus was turning off Lake Street at the intersection of Michigan Avenue. The bus collided with four cars and then came to a stop on a pedestrian plaza. The bus driver received a ticket for failing to stop at a red light and failing to exercise due care. Due care, as many of our readers know, is something we always stress the importance of in our blogs. Exercising due care is a legal responsibility everyone on the road must uphold, and when we breach this duty and act negligently, accidents can and do occur. When people suffer injuries or death as a result of someone’s negligence, they will be held liable and accountable under the law.
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The City of Chicago’s far-reaching borders incorporate some 237 square miles of land, and yet, for most of the city’s nearly 2.7 million residents, the majority of their desired destinations are just a few minutes, and a few dollars, away. No matter where one’s destination may be, the ubiquity of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) public transportation options aim to ensure that all people are able to get where they need to go safely. The sheer size and scope of the network serviced by the CTA’s 1,800 buses and 1,200 ‘L’ train cars is enough to gain it recognition as the 2nd largest public transit system in the nation, however, due to the organization’s very nature as a facilitator of mass transportation (carrying approximately 1.6 million Chicago residents around the city every weekday), the CTA also assumes enormous responsibility in cases where passenger or bystander safety is compromised; yesterday, a serious accident involving a CTA ‘L’ train created just such an event.

Early Monday morning, an ‘L’ train traveling along the CTA Blue Line failed to come to a stop at its final station, the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, resulting in a violent collision with a safety bumper situated at the end of the track. The momentum of the train carried it forward, jumping the bumper and derailing its cars causing them to careen up a nearby escalator and set of stairs. Although initial reports claim that 32 people suffered serious (but non-life threatening) injuries as a result of the crash, in a miraculous turn of events, the incident did not lead to a single fatality. (City of Chicago; Chicago Transit Authority)

Currently, several officials believe that the operator of the train may have fallen asleep at the helm; however, said conductor required hospitalization for her injuries, and as a result, she has not yet been reached to provide a comment on the issue. Reports provided by the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308, a local union group representing the operator, seem to support the likelihood of the driver falling asleep at the wheel, pointing out the fact that the individual driving the train had worked more than twenty hours of overtime during the week leading up to the incident. Authorities say they will remain on the scene this week reviewing station videos of the incident and analyzing reports showing communication signals, as well as information regarding the train’s condition at the time of the crash. In addition to local authorities, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will also be traveling to the scene of the accident in an effort to determine the circumstances that may have led to the train jumping the stations protective bumpers, which they had previously believed were capable of preventing such an incident. At present, neither officials, nor the CTA have provided a timetable for the reopening of the Blue Line O’Hare station. (Thomson Reuters)

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Sixteen were injured, with some left in serious or critical condition, when a car collided with a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus in Chicago’s South Side. According to The Chicago Sun-Times, the driver of the car failed to stop at the stop sign at an intersection before driving into the bus. This accident, however, bares a striking similarity to another recent CTA bus accident.

As reported by The Chicago Tribune, a CTA bus failed to yield at a stop sign, leading him to collide with a motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was subsequently pronounced dead seven hours after the accident. The accident took place on Michigan Avenue, where the bus driver was cited for failing to yield to a stop sign.

In other recent blog posts, our Chicago car accident attorneys discussed how stop sign-related accidents are the most prevalent form of accidents, greatly outnumbering rear-end collisions. The most common form of which, is failure to yield at stop signs, which is exactly what happened in these two CTA accidents.

The other commonality here is that CTA buses were involved in both accidents. Upon analysis of some CTA statistics by our Chicago car accident lawyers, there is a definite trend. A 2010 Chicago Tribune article cited Federal Transit Administration (FTA) statistics showing that one CTA bus accident occurs nearly every day of the year. However, not all accidents are accounted for. FTA standards for reportable accidents include “accidents resulting in $25,000 or more in property damage or at least one individual taken to a hospital.”

This means that the federal reporting of accidents is incomplete, seeing as “minor accidents,” i.e. those constituting less than $25,000 in damages, are not accounted for. Those “minor accidents,” however, are not reported even to the CTA headquarters. CTA repair garages do not monitor such information, so the agency had no ability to estimate the frequency of minor accidents.
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One of our Chicago car accident attorneys recently read a report about a collision between a car and a Chicago Transit Authority bus downtown Saturday morning. Chicagotribune.com stated that the car failed to stop at a stop sign and crashed into the CTA bus at 63rd and Throop streets at 11:18am. The No. 63 bus, says a CTA spokeswoman, was westbound on 63rd while the motorist was southbound on Throop. According to a Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman, an EMS Plan I was called, which automatically sent 5 ambulances to the scene, along with 25-30 Fire Department personnel.

The report stated that as a result of the collision, 16 people were transported to three different hospitals by ambulances. One person was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition, eight with minor injuries were taken to Saint Bernard Hospital, and seven were taken to Holy Cross Hospital, also with minor injuries.

While most of the passengers involved in this particular accident did not suffer serious injuries, our Illinois auto accident lawyers are concerned about the increase in car accidents throughout the state of Illinois and want to urge the public to be more cautious while behind the wheel, especially as we approach the Fourth of July holiday. According to the Population Reference Bureau, road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death by injury and the tenth leading cause of all deaths globally. The Bureau states, “An estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year, and as many as 50 million are injured…And if present trends continue, road traffic injuries are predicted to be the third leading contributor to the global burden of disease and injury by 2020.”

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A car and bus accident occurred on May 20th in which ten people were taken to local hospitals for treatment of their personal injuries. The Chicago bus accident occurred in Old Irving Park Neighborhood on North Pulaski Road when a car tried to make a turn and ended up turning directly into the path of the bus. According to Chicago Breaking News, at least six ambulances arrived at the scene and of the ten people injured, six were listed in serious to fair condition, three were listed in fair condition and one was listed in serious to critical condition. While little more is known about this Chicago bus crash, please click her for an article about the accident.

While bus crashes can be very dangerous and result in serious injury when they do occur, they are still, for the majority of the time, a very safe way to travel. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008 there were 247 total bus crashes that resulted in a fatality and only twelve of those occurred anywhere in the state of Illinois. This low number of accident compared to the number of car accidents in a given year show that bus travel is overall very safe. Illinois accident attorneys remind drivers to be careful when driving near a bus and to make sure to always give them an appropriate amount of safe. Busses are large and much more difficult to maneuver in emergency situations and also have much larger blind spots than a passenger car does.

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One of the victims in the South Side of Chicago van and CTA bus accident on October 6th has died as a result of injuries sustained in the bus accident. According to Chicago Breaking News, the victim was in the van which appears to be an adult day care van and was pronounced dead early this morning. The bus accident occurred when the bus was stopped at 83rd and Cottage Grove and the driver of the van was driving too close behind and struck the bus. The van driver has been cited for tailgating the bus. For more information on this bus accident, click here.

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A Chicago man was fatally injured after being hit by a bus late in the evening of September 20th. The victim had been standing on the sidewalk near a bus stop when a bus struck him as it pulled away from the stop. The victim was killed instantly according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. No one on the bus was injured resulting from the fatal accident. The bus accident is still under investigation. For more information on this fatal pedestrian accident, click here.

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One person was critically personally injured when a CTA bus hit a light pole on the West Side of Chicago. Eleven people were transported to area hospitals with personal injuries. One was in critical condition, eight were in fair condition and two were in good condition after the bus accident. The bus accident was originally reported as having involved a bus and a car, but it was simple the CTA bus hitting a light pole. If you have been injured on the CTA, please find an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the bus accident, please click the link.

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On the morning of June 11th, a multi-car accident led a car to jump a barrier and hit a CTA train. The blue line of the train was closed down for several hours following the car accident and a shuttle bus was used to transport passengers during the shutdown of the train line. The driver of the car that hit the train was cited for improper lane usage and not having insurance. Several people involved in the car accident were taken to local hospitals for their minor personal injuries but no one was seriously hurt. For more information on this car accident, click here.

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On the night of June 1st in downtown Chicago, one person was taken to the hospital in good condition after the taxi they were a passenger in was involved in a car accident involving a bus. All the passengers on the bus declined medical treatment and were transferred to another bus following the accident. There is no further evidence as to what caused the bus accident. For more information on this car accident, click here.

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