Illinois is at the heart of the country’s interstate system. Major coast-to-coast highways such as the I-70, I-80 and I-90 flow through the state and intersect with north-south corridors such as the I-39, I-55 and I-57, creating 2,185 interstate miles, making Illinois the third ranking state in the U.S. Additionally; there are 7,796 miles of bridges and 15,989 miles of state highways. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported Illinois as the fifth busiest interstate system in the nation with 31.033 billion miles travelled a year.
In 2015, the last reported full year, there had been 998 fatalities due to motor vehicle crashes. This statistic includes vehicle occupants (both the driver and the passengers), and non-occupants (cyclists, pedestrians) involved in the accident. This is up from 2014, where the number of fatalities was 923. Currently, in 2016, there have been 616 fatalities.
Each year the Illinois Department of Transportation publishes a statistical finding of crashes in the state. This finding details each type of accident, including, but not limited to: the number of crashes, where they were located, the time of day, the type of crash (auto, railway, train), if the crash was fatal, injuries incurred in the crash, the sex of the driver, pedestrian crashes, bicycle crashes and deer crashes.
In 2014 (the last year published), there were 296, 049 crashes involving motor vehicles. Injury crashes accounted for 20.6 percent of the crashes, while fatal crashes accounted for less than one percent. Vehicle accidents that involved pedestrians accounted for 1.6 percent, while crashes involving speed accounted for 32.4 percent of the states accidents. Motorcycles were involved in 1.2 percent of the accidents and tractor-trailer accidents accounted for 3.9 percent of the total accidents in Illinois. Work zone accidents equaled 1.4 percent of total crashes in 2014. Of those, 3.0 percent were fatal. Furthermore, crashes involving deer accounted for 5.2 percent of overall incidents.
Once these statistics are fleshed out, they showed that more than two people are killed each day and more than 9 injured. Much can be done to reduce the number of bus, car, truck and motorcycle crashes and Illinois traffic fatalities in the coming years.
More information could be found by visiting the Illinois Department of Transportation website.
If you, or someone you know who lives in Illinois, have been involved in an automobile accident, please call us for an immediate free consultation. The Lamber Goodnow Chicago injury team and our co-counsel firms have years of experience working with Chicago vehicle accident victims and will fight to secure the compensation that you deserve.