Wrong-way car accident kicks off Memorial Day travel

 Posted on December 00,0000 in Car Accidents

Memorial Day weekend: another holiday associated with large amounts of travel, especially road travel. According to AAA, they anticipated 1.6 million people travelling on the roads this past weekend. Unfortunately, with the increase of drivers on the road comes a potential increase in car accidents.

For example, a bad accident kicked off the travel weekend and injured four people. The accident occurred on the Chicago Skyway next to 85th Street. Everyone thankfully survived the wrong-way car crash.

According to police, a driver was travelling north in the southbound lanes of the Skyway when it crashed into a pick-up truck. The collision pushed the truck into the concrete median and it eventually flipped over. Police cited the 24-year-old driver with two citations: one ticket for driving without a driver&s license and one for travelling the wrong way.

The scene caused major delays and traffic was backed up for hours. The wrong-way driver broke his arm and was taken to a nearby hospital. Two passengers in his car were also injured and taken in for treatment. The pickup truck driver was treated and released from a local hospital as well.

Although it is not yet known what caused the driver to travel the wrong way, over holiday weekends drivers may be travelling along unknown routes and may be easily distracted by children in the backseat or other surrounding circumstances. Maintaining focus is a big part of staying safe during travel weekends.

A distracted driver is a danger to everyone on the road. A car accident caused by a distracted driver could not only ruin a holiday weekend, but could result in severe injuries for the victims of these crashes. In such cases, it is important that victims understand their legal rights - a personal injury lawsuit could potentially recover compensation to help address the financial ramifications of an accident with a negligent driver.

Source: ABC 7 News, "4 injured in wrong-way Chicago Skyway crash," Leah Hope, May 23, 2013