Evanston police say a United Parcel Service driver whose truck ran over a pedestrian Monday night has been issued a ticket for failure to exercise due care to a pedestrian.
The driver also reportedly has been suspended by UPS while the company investigates the incident.
Meanwhile, Evanston police say the condition of the 30-year-old Evanston woman who was trapped under the truck has stabilized after she underwent surgery at Evanston Hospital, but that she’s still listed in critical condition.
Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott says it appears that the pedestrian was traveling eastbound on the sidewalk on the south side of Central Street and entered the intersection at Ashland Avenue just as the eastbound truck was making a right turn onto southbound Ashland Avenue.
Parrott says the driver told police he never saw the woman until after he heard a thump as she hit the truck and her scream.
The 5 p.m. accident tied up traffic on Central Street for several hours as officers from the Major Crash Assistance Team investigated the incident.
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UPS and accident
I tried to see if lighting should have been a factor in this accident.
In that there is a stop light there and the street lights seem about the same as elsewhere, I could not draw a conclusion.
However Jan. 7 evening it struck me just how poor all the lighting on Central is. At first I thought multiple lights must be out but then realized it is just plain poor. I can only wonder we don't have more accidents. There are probably an adequate number of light poles—just the lights are much too weak. This has been known for years but a few—seemingly with power over the Council—want to keep the lighting to the level of when we had gas lights, though even they may have been brighter ! We live in an age—and have for a long time—where cars, bikes, buses, trucks and pedestrians must share. If you can't see, you can't drive/walk safely.
A number of times I've had to call 311 or city hall because a ten by ten block area has been out for hours. I'm told I'm the first to have called. I've pointed out to people on the street and even policemen on their routes—and they did not notice—the normal lighting is so weak they don't even notice when it is out !