Personal Injury Law

Driver Cited for I-290 Car, Train Collision

By Kris Briggs

Service along the CTA?s Blue Line came back on schedule after an accident between a car and a train the early morning of June 11, 2009.

Photo by urbanFLORIDA

Police suspect that wet and slick conditions on the roads caused a 2008 Dodge Charger driven by Jose Rivera, 31, of Melrose Park, to rear-end another car, which then caused his vehicle to lurch over an embankment on the Eisenhower Expressway onto train tracks where it then became pinned under an oncoming train.

Train passenger, Dale Ellis, says, ?Just going on normally. All of a sudden it felt like we got hit by something. There was a dragging and a lot of shaking. All the lights went off in the car and the doors popped open. Then the train finally came to a stop. Everybody was running around trying to see if everybody was ok."

Thirty people were on the train. No serious injuries were reported, but 9 people were treated at local hospitals for minor injuries.

James Purl, 13th Battalion Chief, Chicago Fire Dept. said, "There was a couple neck and back injuries, and then I know a foot injury and just probably people distraught from the accident."

About thirty minutes after the initial incident, another train arrived to take passengers away from the scene. The Blue Line was down for several hours.

Noelle Gaffney, CTA spokesperson, said, "There doesn't appear at this point to be significant damage. Obviously, we want to get the train moved so we can look at everything underneath, but the preliminary indications are that there wasn't significant damage."

A third car whose driver saw the crash struck a median.

Rivera was cited with improper lane usage and no insurance. Further citations are pending.

Car Accidents in Chicago

Unfortunately, car accidents occur on a regular basis in our city and across the country. Sometimes it is because of negligence on the part of another person. It is our mission to assist those who may have been injured or harmed due to the negligence of another driver. Whether your injuries consist of whiplash or burns to your head or neck, nerve damage or spinal chord injures, broken or dislocated a bones or limbs, or loss of life, our attorneys are specifically trained to assist you in your time of need.

Driver cited in I-290 car, train crash, ABClocal.go.com, June 11, 2009

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Law Blog on June 12, 2009 (boomark / email).