A three-vehicle crash on Chicago's South Side sent eight people to area hospitals early Sunday morning, with two victims listed in serious condition. Police say the pileup happened in the 5400 block of S. Ashland Ave. shortly after midnight when a northbound SUV failed to stop at a traffic signal.
Officers responded to the crash scene a little after midnight, according to FOX 32 Chicago. Police told the outlet that a Dodge SUV was traveling northbound when it ran the red light and slammed into a Chevy truck and a Ford sedan, setting off the three-vehicle wreck.
Six in the SUV Listed in Fair Condition
The Dodge SUV was carrying six people at the time of the crash, and all six were taken to area hospitals, where they were listed in fair condition, per the report. The two occupants of the Chevy truck fared worse, both hospitalized in serious condition after the impact.
The Ford sedan held just one occupant, who refused medical services at the scene, the outlet's report notes. That leaves the eight hospitalized victims split between the SUV and the truck, with the truck's two occupants bearing the brunt of the more serious injuries.
Driver, Citations Still Unclear
The crash sits within a broader city traffic-safety challenge, though fatal-crash patterns do not establish what caused this collision. The Chicago Department of Transportation says 72% of Chicago traffic deaths involved drivers traveling at high speeds, while 85% involved reckless behavior behind the wheel. CDOT uses crash data to identify areas for safety improvements, but those citywide figures cover deaths—not injury crashes specifically or this Ashland incident. The department’s traffic-safety program tracks these risks and guides street-safety work.
As of the initial report, it remained unclear who had been behind the wheel of the SUV or whether police intended to issue any citations in connection with the crash. No further details on the cause of the signal violation have been released.
Illinois law provides a baseline for the signal violation under investigation: drivers facing a steady red circular signal generally must stop before entering the intersection and remain stopped until permitted to proceed, subject to statutory exceptions, including certain turns after stopping. The law specifies stopping at the stop line, or before the crosswalk or intersection if no stop line is present. That rule is separate from whether police ultimately issue a citation in this crash. Illinois’ traffic-signal law sets out those requirements.
