Elderly Pedestrian Dies in Hit-and-Run Accident on Chicago's North Side

In places where there are no traffic signals or signs, pedestrians are expected to yield the right-of-way to vehicles before attempting to cross a street on foot. However, motorists are expected to yield to pedestrians when a person is already inside a marked crosswalk. If these traffic laws seem to conflict with each other, it is important to remember that they are written in order to provide as much protection for pedestrians as possible from being hit by vehicles.

But sometimes, it simply isn't enough to prevent fatal auto-pedestrian accidents.

An elderly woman was struck and killed this weekend on the North Side of Chicago while trying to cross the street. At about 7:15am on Saturday morning, a 76-year old pedestrian was attempting to cross North Kimball Avenue at the intersection of Sunnyside Avenue in the Albany Park neighborhood. A Dodge Caravan traveling north on Kimball struck the woman, broke her pelvis, and caused severe internal injuries. She died about five hours later at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

The van reportedly paused and shifted into reverse, but then fled the scene. Chicago Police later arrested the 51-year old male driver, who confessed to striking the elderly woman. The suspect has been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Depending on the exact circumstances of the incident, it is not completely certain that the man would have been charged with a crime had he remained at the crash site. But since he chose to flee the scene, he now faces a felony charge - which should be enough to establish fault in the accident.

As a result, the victim's family has strong grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit against the 51-year old man. Such a suit could result in reimbursement of hospital and burial expenses, as well as damages for loss of care and/or emotional anguish.