Four people were critically injured in a Valentine’s Day Chicago car accident, after a motorist blew a red light, according to WBBM News Radio.
Police responded to the car accident on Michigan Avenue in Grant Park shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday, the Sun-Times reported.
Four people were critically injured and several refused treatment, fire officials reported.
Two motorists were taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in critical condition. A third motorist was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital; and a fourth was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The at-fault driver was cited for disobeying a red signal, according to News Radio.
Red-light violations are one of the leading causes of serious and fatal traffic accidents. In 2007, more than 900 people were killed and 153,000 injured in traffic accidents involving red light running, according to the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running.
The organization puts the economic costs of running red lights at $14 billion a year and reports that half of fatalities involve pedestrians or other motorists.
As reported last week on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, 1 in 4 fatal Chicago car accidents occurs at an intersection.
Running red lights or disobeying traffic-control devices is the primary cause of the 250 fatal Illinois traffic accidents that occur at intersections each year, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.