According to the lawsuit filed on April 24, 2018 in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, the driver allegedly failed to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a person operating a bicycle, an action that is in direct violation of 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code and Section 9-40-160 of the Chicago Municipal Code. The lawsuit also alleged that the driver disregarded a traffic control signal, drove too fast for the dark conditions and failed to yield the right-of-way and these failures caused Mr. Smith to suffer injuries that resulted in his death.
All Illinois drivers have a duty to keep a proper lookout for bicyclists or other vehicles upon said streets. If a driver were to fail to keep a proper lookout for a bicyclist and then struck said bicyclist, that driver would be liable for the injuries the bicyclist suffered. All Illinois drivers also have a duty to make sure that their vehicles move into a lane of traffic safely and that they exercise due care to avoid colliding with any person operating a bicycle.