Despite the requirements that drivers stop at stop signs and stop for anyone in a crosswalk the driver of the Toyota Tundra did not stop and struck the boy. This is a senseless and preventable act in any situation but is even more shocking because the driver was an off-duty Chicago Police Officer. All drivers are required to follow the Rules of the Road as found in both the Illinois Vehicle Code and the Chicago Municipal Code.
The basic facts of the case suggest that there were additional violations of the Illinois Vehicle Code:
- Section 11-1003.1 states: “[E]very driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian, or any person operating a bicycle or other device propelled by human power and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary . . . .”
- Section 5/11-1002(e) states: “Whenever stop signs or flashing red signals are in place at an intersection or at a plainly marked crosswalk between intersections, drivers shall yield right-of-way to pedestrians as set forth in Section 11-904 of this Chapter.”
- Section 11-904(b) requires drivers approaching a stop sign to come to a complete stop before entering a crosswalk at an intersection and to yield to the right-of-way of any vehicle that has entered the intersection.
- Section 11-601 requires drivers to reduce the speed of their vehicle to avoid a collision.
The Toyota Tundra involved was not a typical passenger vehicle. In fact, the vehicle is not even a typical Toyota Tundra. The Chicago Police Officer was driving a heavily modified Toyota Tundra pick-up truck. A Toyota Tundra is a very large pick-up truck to begin with weighing over 5,000 pounds – in other words the truck weighs over two and a half tons. Video of the truck shows several obvious modifications.
First the truck has a “lift” which is the terms used when additional suspension is added to the vehicle so that it can ride over terrain more easily and in the process literally raises the height of the vehicle. Images from news video from the scene shows that persons standing next to the vehicle, even a person standing on the curb, were not as tall as the roofline of the truck. The truck’s lift is so extreme that it is outfitted with “step bars” because otherwise the truck is too big to climb into. Second, the vehicle is outfitted with knobby oversized tires such as those typically found on vehicles utilized for off roading. Third, the truck has a “bully bar” which is typically found on police and military vehicles that are used to push objects with the front of the vehicle.