Illinois sees 9-percent increase in traffic deaths

Posted on August 18, 2015
Chicago traffic
There were 591 traffic deaths in Illinois in 2015 through Monday. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Illinois Department of Transportation)

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – More cars mean more accidents, and that means more fatalities.

The National Safety Council said the first half of the year has recorded a 14-percent increase compared to last year.

More favorable weather and a better economy for driving are the reasons.

Illinois transportation secretary Randy Blankenhorn said numbers are up in this state, too.

“Not quite as high as the national average,” he said. “The comparison to last winter, no one was going anywhere. So we fell behind in the winter months, and we’ve pretty much stayed steady since then.”

Through Monday, the 2015 fatalities are 591 in Illinois, up 48 – not quite nine percent – from the same period a year ago.

Blankenhorn said another problem he’d like to solve: an increase in pedestrian fatalities.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…