The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) announced yesterday that the third and final phase of the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94) in Chicago was start on March 17 and last through the fall. The construction take place on the outbound side of the I-90/94 from the Edens Expressway junction to Ohio Street.

Two mainline outbound lanes will be closed at a time. IDOT said during the construction, the reversible mid-gate entrance and exit will be closed. This means drivers who enter the express lanes will not be able to exit until they reach the Edens Expressway at Foster Avenue.

The expresslanes will…
Continue Reading Phase 3 Of Kennedy Expressway Construction To Start Next Week

St. Patrick’s Day is a little over a week away but the festivities begin next weekend throughout the Chicagoland area. The Lake County Sherrif’s Department is planning ahead as they announced extra traffic safety and enforcement for the entire weekend.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Illinois State Police and Illinois Department of Transportation for the “St. Patrick’s Day Traffic Safety Campaign,” which includes the strict enforcement of seat belt use, speeding, distracted driving and all traffic laws.

The St. Patrick’s Day traffic safety campaign is funded by federal traffic safety funds from the National Highway Traffic…
Continue Reading Lake County Adding Traffic Safety Measures For St. Patrick’s Day Weekend

The Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn police department announced this week that they received a federal grant for fiscal year 2025 Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (“STEP”) grant. The money, which is from form president Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastracture bill, will provide funding for additional law enforcement during hight traffic weekends, speficially holidays.

The additional enforcement will allow Oak Law police to implement different programs like ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,’ ‘Click It or Ticket,’ and ‘Drive High, Get a DUI.’”

The grant year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025, enables Oak Lawn Police Department to…
Continue Reading Oak Law Police Department Receives Federal Traffic Safety Grant

Multiple new outlets, including WGN News, report last week that the Chicago Department of Transportation (“CDOT”) plans to install 50 new speeder cameras around the city. CDOT spokespeoples have not announced specific locations but they will take into consideration crash data from different busy intersections and stretches of road along with requests from alderpeople. By state law, cameras can only be within 660 feet of a school or a park. These 50 new cameras will bring the total to 200 in the city.

These cameras have been scrutenized from the very beginning when they were installed under former mayor Rahm…
Continue Reading Chicago To Add 50 New Speed Cameras Around City

Chicago is currently undergoing a winter storm that will last throughout the day into tomorrow morning. Some parts of the Chicagoland region will get up to eight inches of snow. We are expected to be hit with another storm again on Saturday. If you can stay home and stay off the roads, please do so. The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) and the Illinois State Police provided the following winter weather driving tips just in case you do have to drive the next couple days:

• Check the forecast and ensure someone knows your travel route and schedule.
• Fill up your

…
Continue Reading Driving Tips For Upcoming Winter Storm

The llinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology announced last month that they are introducing a GPS technology that will warn drivers of emergency vehicles on the road. The technology is aimed to promote Scott’s Law or the “Move Over Law” which requires Illinois drivers to o slow down and change lanes when approaching stationary emergency vehicles, including law enforcement, highway maintenance vehicles with flashing lights in use and any other stationary vehicle with its hazard lights activated.

The GPS technology called, HAAS Alert, will allow Illinois state police to send safety alerts to some Chrysler, Dodge,…
Continue Reading New Illinois Traffic Technology Will Warn Drivers Of Traffic Risks

The National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration (“NHTSA”) announced this week that Honda is recalling 294,612 of their vehicles in the U.S. to rpair an issue that may cause engines to stall or suffer a loss of power. A software error in the fuel injection electronic control unit (FI-ECU) may cause an engine stall or a loss of power, increasing the risk of a crash or injury, the U.S. auto safety regulator said.

The vehicle models affected include certain 2022-2025 Acura MDX Type-S, the 2023-2025 Honda Pilot, and the 2021-2025 Acura TLX Type-S vehicles. If you own once of the types…
Continue Reading Honda Announces Recall Of 290,000 Vehicles For Engine Issue

According to Car Connection and the National Highway & Traffic Safety Admistration (“NHTSA”) Tesla had the most recalled vehicles in 2024. The electric vehicle maker had a total of 5,137,968 vehicles across five (5) different vehicle modes recalled in 2024. The issues ranged from the incorrect font size on warning lights to detaching parts. Many of the recalls were merely software updates to Tesla’s systems.

Ford Motor Company incurred the largest fine from NHTSA in 2024 when they were told to pay $165 million  in November for failing to properly address an ongoing rearview camera recall that most other automakers have had to…
Continue Reading Tesla Most Recalled Automaker In 2024

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) announced this week that Ford Motor Company has recalled 270,000 vehicles over concerns battery failure. The recall affects certain 2021-2023 Bronco Sport and 2022-2023 Maverick vehicles.

The NHTSA announced that 12-volt battery in these vehicles may experience degradation and suddenly fail, which can result in a loss of electrical accessories, including the hazard lights, or cause a loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash.

Ford stated that dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the 12-volt battery free of charge.

No serious car crashes or traffic fatalities have been reported…
Continue Reading Ford Recalls 270,000 Vehicles Over Safety Concern

It’s a new year and there are dozens of new laws that take effect in Illinois. Most of the new laws that I reviewed have to do with health insurance and insurance coverage. There were only three (3) new traffic and/or driver laws in Illinois that take effect in 2025. I have outlined these new laws below:

HB 4592 – Allows the Secretary of State to issue mobile ID cards and driver’s licenses.

SB 0275 – The Secretary of State’s Office will be required to offer applicants the option to be issued an 8-year driver’s license within the next two…
Continue Reading New Illinois Driver And Traffic Laws For 2025

The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) announced that the express lanes on the 1-90/94 expressway have officially repopened for the first time since their closing for consutruction in March 2024.

Their closure was part of a three (3) rennovation project run by IDOT. Since the express lanes closure, commute times in and out of the loop and out to O’Hare airport have increased dramatically. So much so, that a recent traffic study put Chicago tied for first in the U.S. for worst traffic congestion.

The express lanes (which referese directions depending on time of day and congestion) were originally supposed…
Continue Reading Chicago’s Kennedy Expressway Express Lanes Reopened

The annual Global Traffic Scorecard was released yesterday by INIX and it Chicago did not look good. According to the study’s findings, Chicago was tied with New York as the worst in the U.S. for traffic congestion and was only behind Hong Kong globally.

INRIX, a transportation data and analytics firm, showed that Chicago and New York commuters lost an average of 102 hours sitting in traffic last year. Los Angeles ranked third with 88 hours lost.

The average speed of a downtown Chicago commute was approximately 14 mph, tied for the third-slowest in the country. INRIX calculated that the…
Continue Reading Chicago Tied For Worst Traffic In U.S. In 2024