Was I seeing things, or was that a mannequin standing in the bushes on Wacker Drive? It was a mannequin. After reading the Chicago Tribune online, I saw the article regarding The City of Chicago's new safety campaign. It is a safety campaign aimed at keeping pedestrians safe on our streets. Wacker drive is lined with 32 mannequins. They are symbolic for the 32 pedestrians that were killed in pedestrian related car crashes last year in Chicago.

The City of Chicago is initiating a campaign to keep our pedestrians safe on the streets. Last year, there were 32 pedestrian fatalities in the city. What was alarming was that there were over 3,000 injured related pedestrian accidents in Chicago. Many of those injuries were serious and life threatening. Chicago residents will begin to see public safety messages in the least expected places. They will show up on trash can, inside taxi cabs, on benches and buses. Also, in an effort to keep pedestrians safe on the streets, cameras are being installed all over the city.

Yes, you can expect to see an increase in the number of cameras at intersections all over the city. They will be placed in areas that have been designated with high pedestrian traffic. Camera's in an intersection, that's a topic for my next blog. Cameras that have the ability to ticket drivers at intersections. This comes to my mind. What happens when you loan a car to a friend? They go through the intersection when the light is changing. You are the registered driver, so you get the ticket. Fair or unfair? I will discuss that issue in an upcoming blog. I don't want to diminish the importance of cameras for pedestrian foot safety.

The police department will be out in full force to ticket drivers that fail to yield to pedestrians. Motor vehicle operators who fail to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk will be ticketed. The fines vary from$50 to $500. A new IL state law requires drivers to stop for a pedestrian. Yes, they must come to a full stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. The majority of pedestrian automobile crashes in Chicago occur at intersections. They more often than not involve people attempting to cross the street. Most accidents occur with a green walk signal. The leading cause of pedestrian accidents was the failure of motor vehicle drivers to yield to pedestrian traffic.

Just think about the injuries that can occur when a car, truck or bus strikes a pedestrian. The injuries can be catastrophic due to the sheer weight of the motor vehicle. Pedestrians are an exposed target. By this, they have no protective armor to shield them from the crash. If you are riding a bicycle, your head is protected by a helmet. Walking on the street you have no protective gear. A pedestrian when struck by an automobile could sustain injuries such as a Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI. Pedestrians are also vulnerable to a spinal cord injuries, such injuries can lead to paraplegia and quadriplegia. More often than not, pedestrians have a high incidence of fractured bones from these crashes.

As a Chicago car accident and injury lawyer, I understand that motorist negligence is one of the most common causes of pedestrian-car accidents. It is a motorist's duty to obey to the rules laws of the road. Thousands of pedestrians are killed every day due to a driver's negligence

Source: Mannequins help kick off pedestrian safety blitz, Chicago Tribune, Oct 26, 2011