Woman Killed in Truck Accident on Milwaukee Avenue in Niles, IL
Niles, IL -- March 9, 2023, a woman was killed following an accident where a delivery truck struck her on Milwaukee Avenue.
Initial details about the accident say it happened at Milwaukee Avenue and Maryland Street early Thursday at approximately 8:25 a.m.
It appears the woman, an unidentified 50-year-old, was walking across the intersection at the time. Details say she was in a crosswalk, but they didn't specify which direction she was walking. While crossing, a delivery truck made a left turn off westbound Maryland to southbound Milwaukee. The truck hit the pedestrian while turning.
Due to the collision, the woman sustained fatal injuries. No one else was hurt, and police have not given additional details about the accident at this time.
Right now, I can't help wondering how this sort of thing happens in a location like this. Generally speaking, people see a pedestrian accident like this with no immediate reported charges or citations, and they tend to just assume the pedestrian was jaywalking or in a dark area. But right now, it appears this happened in daylight hours at a relatively clear intersection with lights and a marked crosswalk. So what exactly went wrong?
Was this driver trying to beat a yellow light? Were there issues with visibility not addressed in the news? Are current conditions at the intersection worse than the images I've found online suggest? Were there other pedestrians crossing that witnessed this? Were crosswalk signals on at the time? Even if the pedestrian didn't have a signal to cross, would a reasonably prudent driver have been able to see and avoid them? Was this all an unavoidable accident, or did someone's reckless actions lead to a woman losing her life?
If nothing else, I can only hope the victim's loved ones are going to get answers to these questions and many others. The information available to the public right now hardly comes close to showing a complete picture, but what matters is ensuring that picture is made whole for the people who truly deserve to know what happened here.
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