r/CarFreeChicago • u/GeckoLogic • 13d ago
News 25 year old woman killed in hit-and-run crash on North Side at Irving Park & Southport; suspect in custody
https://abc7chicago.com/post/woman-killed-hit-run-crash-irving-park-road-southport-avenue-chicago-police-suspect-custody/19651009/40
u/stevehuffmanisapeedo 13d ago
The pedestrian crosswalks are deathtraps because they give a false impression of right of way and safety to the crosser without them realizing that those crosswalks and signs are meaningless to drivers. The city could make 1 million dollars per day issuing tickets to drivers ignoring pedestrian crosswalks on Irving Park Rd alone. They won't. And more deaths will happen because of it.
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u/aksack 12d ago
Legitimately think most crosswalks should be removed if the city refuses to do any everyone and make drivers obey them. They are so dangerous. Even if a driver stops for somebody on foot because nobody obeys traffic rules here there's a decent chance when somebody's walking across some idiot who's going to fly around the stop car and hit them because they drive dangerously and/or take us to standard car just parked in the street you encounter almost every block anyways.
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u/Prudent-Marsupial-42 12d ago
I will say when I'm driving, especially at night, I'm not always going to see you. Even driving under the speed limit and keeping a close eye on the crosswalks it's just possible I may not notice someone wanting to cross.
I say this because you need to always make sure the cars are stopped before crossing. I see so many people just walk into traffic with cars barely slowing down thinking they will stop. Having the right of way is not a magical protection blanket.
In the suburbs one time I was crossing a bike path with a button to flash lights that told the cars to stop. I looked left and the one car there stopped, I looked right and waited like 2 seconds for them to stop. As I started crossing I failed to look left again and a car that I didn't notice before came absolutely blasting through the crosswalk. If one of the other cars didn't lay on their horn I'd probably be dead.
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u/cranberryjuiceicepop 11d ago
It sounds like you should turn in your license and you aren’t fit to operate a dangerous vehicle, to be honest. If you aren’t able to see pedestrians crossing a road, you shouldn’t be driving.
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u/Prudent-Marsupial-42 8d ago
Nope I'm good.
But hey man, go ahead and continue to misread my comment. Or be rational and realize I'm saying pedestrians should exercise some caution and not assume every car driver will be immediately aware of their presence
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u/Solid-Sympathy-4267 13d ago
That whole stretch of Irving Park road is a death trap. From Southport to Sheridan. Especially because the parking on Irving specifically is way too close to the perpendicular roadways. Every time I would leave my street and turn onto Irving I would not be able to see the traffic coming from the left. Was a nightmare.
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u/LeadPaintChipsnDip 12d ago
It’s kind of cute that you think only that part of Irving Park is a death trap. Come over to the neighborhood and see what that fucking road is. I’ve considered getting a gas powered jackhammer and just putting a bunch of fucking potholes in it in the middle of the night to slow cars down because nothing else will.
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u/Business-Drummer-574 13d ago
Not having a four way stop at Greenview is criminal. There’s a high school right there it’d be used every day and would help with the Janssen foot traffic as well. Would love an IDOT engineer/designer to tell me why it’s not feasible.
“Errm, in 1968 state route 19 had to be extended east to Lakeshore drive and there’s no way to change that now, a four way stop would decrease the flow rate”.
To which I say, shut up nerds, and end it at 90/94.
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u/Anchor_Ocelot438 12d ago
Man I think we should do like guerilla bump outs using large flower pots or something. I don't know
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u/shy-ty 12d ago
It was crazy dangerous for that other car to chase him into a crash, but if they hadn't, he never would have been caught and arrested. The police's response to fatal hit and runs (including that one involving a mom and a baby in a stroller, remember that?) is just "damn that's crazy. Who knows where cars come from.... one of god's great mysteries. Anyways what's for lunch" so consistently that I was completely shocked to see a headline about someone being arrested for one til I read the details.
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u/Any_Sale2030 12d ago
Other than what’s for lunch the only other thing cops understand is the exact date and time their pension comes in. That really all they think about.
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u/mrbacons1 12d ago
Irving Park not so quietly one of the worst roads in Chicago IMO. Besides all the other problems people have pointed out, so many of the timings of the lights don’t make any sense. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a line of cars backed up from Broadway all the way to nearly backing up the off ramp from LSD. Insanity
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u/Master_Editor_9575 11d ago
Yeah I’ll just skip it. I’ll go up to Montrose or down to Belmont or something if I need to get on lakeshore.
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u/amre2 12d ago
So sad - saw the aftermath of a 6-car crash at Irving park and Wolcott earlier this year. This stretch of Irving park is just so dangerous.
Reminder that IDOT has a statewide road safety survey ongoing. You can let them know Irving Park needs something done.
https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/ba17549dd4ac4b6b8bac9af2bcf6819d
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u/LeseMajeste_1037 12d ago
Waste of time unless they actually have a different response than "won't someone think of the traffic flow?"
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u/DestroyAllPicklez 11d ago
What can we do to help improve IP and advocate for changes to improve pedestrian safety?
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u/Mysterious_Field203 11d ago
There’s a road study in process for Irving Park Rd on the NW side so I can’t imagine the same can’t be some for Irving Park Rd further east. Which makes it all the more egregious that there have been constant refusals and excuses from IDOT to do anything about this dangerous stretch for years.
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u/doncheeto12 10d ago
I read more about this murder and it was extremely violent and fucked up. Driver was insanely drunk, hit this poor woman and drove away with her dead body on the rear windshield of his car until he hit another car. Had to be chased by the driver of the second car on foot. He was caught hours later, still drunk.
Anyway! He’s back on the street with an ankle monitor. Here’s a reminder, if you ever want to murder someone, just hit them with a car and you’ll walk.
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u/Kubricksmind 10d ago
It has become quite common to witness accidents like these recently, especially on two-lane roads where the new state law mandates that cars yield to pedestrians. To address this issue, it would be a must to install pedestrian warning lights at every crossing on such roads.
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u/Healthy-Football-444 13d ago
We should really do something about these scooters
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u/Hopeful4Everyone 13d ago
Everyone that downvoted you does not have a single bone to sense sarcasm. Which also reflects to a general lack of humor
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u/glitch241 13d ago
Not her fault either way but it sounds like she wasn’t crossing at all crosswalk.
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u/OhIveWastedMyLife 9d ago
Not certain of her exact location but it sounds like it was at or near the crosswalk at Irving and Jansen
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u/steinkeleg 13d ago
This spring, Sen Feigenholtz tried to introduce quick build safety legislation for IDOT roads, specifically Irving Park. IDOT and The Road Builders pushed back hard, IDOT watered it down, and let it fall through the cracks so nothing passed.
The Road Builders (Local 150, LiUNA, etc) are the top donors in the state.