Four people, including a child sent to Comer Children's Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, were injured Friday evening when a vehicle crashed at the notorious Oak Street S-curve on DuSable Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville. Chicago Fire Department officials said the crash happened around 5:15 p.m. in the 500 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
The crash was first reported by CBS News Chicago, which noted that emergency crews dispatched multiple ambulances to transport the four victims to specialized medical centers. Adult victims were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center just minutes from the crash site, while the injured child was routed south to Comer Children's Hospital in Hyde Park, according to CBS Chicago, which reported that local hospital specialization dictates how victims of multi-patient crashes downtown get routed to care.
A Curve With a Dangerous History
The stretch of roadway where Friday's crash occurred is widely known as one of the city's most treacherous bends. The posted speed limit at the Oak Street S-curve drops to 25 mph, well below the corridor's standard 40 mph limit, and the curve is outfitted with flashing warning beacons, reduced-speed pavement markings, and skid-resistant road surfacing, the same CBS Chicago report notes. CDOT even painted specialized white pavement markings with gradually decreasing gaps leading into the curve, creating an optical illusion meant to trick drivers into feeling they are accelerating so they slow down before the turn.
Despite those measures, the curve remains a persistent crash hotspot. Chicago Department of Transportation data recorded 199 vehicular crashes at the Oak Street S-curve between January 1 and November 29, 2020 alone, resulting in 32 injuries and one fatality, per the same account. In November 2020, a rented Ferrari 488 Spider flipped and caught fire at the same curve after striking a concrete barrier at high speed — the two occupants survived with minor injuries, but the crash renewed demands from community groups and aldermen for structural changes to the bend.
Back-to-Back Crashes on the Drive
Friday's crash comes just one day after a 49-year-old female motorcyclist was killed in a fiery collision on DuSable Lake Shore Drive downtown, a pattern of severe collisions along the corridor that Hoodline previously reported underscores broader risks along the roadway. Statewide, the Illinois Department of Transportation recorded 1,337 traffic fatalities in 2025, with urban arteries including DuSable Lake Shore Drive, the Eisenhower Expressway, and the Dan Ryan Expressway flagged as primary crash corridors due to sharp curves, heavy commuter volume, and changing weather, according to Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys.
A Multi-Billion-Dollar Fix Still Debated
The crash lands amid an ongoing, multi-billion-dollar effort to redesign the very roadway where it happened. In August 2024, state and city transportation officials selected the Essential design alternative for the Redefine the Drive project, which proposes softening the sharp Oak Street curve and expanding lakefront parkland along North DuSable Lake Shore Drive, as reported by Courthouse News Service. IDOT and CDOT have studied the seven-mile overhaul since 2013.
But the fix isn't without controversy. Community activists and local politicians have pushed back on the proposal, worried that softening the curve and potentially raising the corridor's speed limit to 45 mph could encourage faster driving rather than improve safety, Courthouse News Service reports. Transit advocates have separately urged IDOT to prioritize dedicated bus lanes over expanded car infrastructure as part of the redesign.
