Police Officers Recovering After Drunk Driving Slams Officers’ SUV
CHICAGO, Ill. — Two Chicago police officers are healing, and the operator of the car that hit them is under arrest after a spectacular crash. A surveillance camera captured the crash on video. Fox News 8reported that the offending driver had a blood alcohol content that far exceeded the legal limit. The suspected drunk driver was severely injured in the crash. A third car was involved, and that person escaped injury. Fox News 8 reported that the officers’ medical condition was listed as stable. *
A video taken from a traffic camera or building surveillance video shows the dramatic crash in great detail. The video shows the white Chicago police sports utility vehicle coming toward the camera and straight across the intersection after their traffic light turned green when a red Honda Civic coming from the camera’s right careens into the police cruiser. Officers said that the traffic light was red when the Honda Civic sped into the intersection. The Civic struck the police car on the driver’s side rear quarter with such velocity that the police car came off its four wheels and spun 90-degrees to the right. In doing so, the cruiser struck another vehicle that was turning right from the side of the intersection the police just left.
The officers were on patrol out of Chicago PD’s 19thDistrict. They were lucky not severely injured in the crash. The police allege that the driver’s presumptive blood alcohol level was .205, or over 2 and one-half times the legal limit in Illinois. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
Drunk driving still accounts for tens of thousands of car crashes every year in the U.S. Despite warnings and the proliferation of ride-share companies, people continue to imbibe excessively and crash their cars. Depending on the circumstances of the collision and what led up to it, the drunk driver and other parties could be liable for losses. Indeed, the driver faces liability for injuries and deaths caused by intoxicated operation, but so does that person’s employer if the driver was on the job when the drunk driving crash occurred, driving a company vehicle in the accident, or was drinking on the job and left the employer’s place of business. Additionally, under Illinois’ Dram Shop Act, bars and restaurants that over serve patrons who get into an accident face civil liability as well.
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