The Chainlink

Cab driver hits and kills man on sidewalk at Milwaukee and Chicago

This morning, 6:15 am, cab driver veers onto sidewalk, hits a light pole, flips the cab four times or more, and hits and kills a 30-year-old man who was sitting on a bench waiting for the bus. So horrible. One commenter at the end of the story said her boyfriend witnessed this and estimated the cab driver was going 60 mph.

 

Tribune story is here.

 

Views: 2781

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tim S on August 14, 2012 at 6:38pm

Just got back online.

Saw the aftermath at 9:30 AM and it still looked like there was a superhero/transformers battle for sure. I have to say this was by far the worst destruction of "stuff" I have ever seen after a crash, it was crazy.

Permalink Reply by David P. on August 14, 2012 at 7:54pm

+awholeton

notoriousDUG said:

Being a professional means that you put doing the job properly in front of customer, or even employer, demands.  It is no excuse and makes the whole thing even worse.

Think about it; if he did this because he was being egged on by the passenger for a tip he took a life for probably 5 bucks.

Anne Alt said:

I don't know if this applies to today's situation, but I've often found that passengers are a big factor in the reckless driving problem.  If they make unreasonable demands of the driver, that driver often can't resist the lure of a big tip.  I try to avoid being one of those passengers on the rare occasions when I take cabs.

Serge Lubomudrov said:

That goes for a lot of cab drivers in Chicago. I know, they must earn a living, but not by endangering lives and health of their passengers, other drivers, bikers and pedestrians.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 14, 2012 at 8:01pm

Unfortunately, being a "professional" in today's world (and also yesterday's as well) simply means one is getting paid for one's services.  No more, no less.

Any other definition is simply romantic hogwash.  People are people -professionalism is simply a word.  Language, and any expectation regarding job performance, is always in flux.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 14, 2012 at 9:08pm

There was a great "Straight Dope" years ago on what it means to be described as "professional"-- will try to find it.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 14, 2012 at 9:09pm

Hey, they had it right up on that internet thingy!

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/877/what-makes-a-man-a-pro...

(not quite as great as I remember it...)

Permalink Reply by Laura on August 14, 2012 at 9:30pm

Saw it on my way to work this am. It has been stuck in my head all day. How horrible. Luckily I was traveling on Chicago and didn't see the body.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on August 15, 2012 at 9:51am

Thinking like this is what helps to propagate the problem you point out.

If we expect people to be professional and do not patronize those who are not we have no right to complain when people are not professionals because we are making it OK for them to do their job poorly.

Lets turn it around.  Would you get out of a cab where the driver was acting in a unprofessional manner?

James BlackHeron said:

Unfortunately, being a "professional" in today's world (and also yesterday's as well) simply means one is getting paid for one's services.  No more, no less.

Any other definition is simply romantic hogwash.  People are people -professionalism is simply a word.  Language, and any expectation regarding job performance, is always in flux.

Permalink Reply by rb on August 15, 2012 at 9:51am

that is horrible. My thoughts go out to all the families.

Cabs scare me especially here in Chicago. 30 tickets seems to be excessive- wonder how someone can accrue that many and still have a license.

Permalink Reply by blair on August 15, 2012 at 10:03am

I've tried reporting cabs in the past, but always end up hanging up after 10-15 mins on hold with 311.  I recently had a horrible cabbie that drove over the center line on Ashland at about 50mph, weaving in and out of traffic with just inches to spare.  I got out early when the cab was almost t-boned when he turned without the right of way.  I reported online this time (http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bacp/provdrs/consumer/sv...) and received a print out of my complaint in the mail just a few days later.  You need to sign and return within 10 days, but it sound like they're going to try to take some sort of legal action against this cabbie.  I was impressed with how much better this system worked than calling 311.  Something to keep in mind as a passenger, pedestrian or cyclist.

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on August 15, 2012 at 10:14am

Where/when was his name released? 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on August 15, 2012 at 10:26am

This is one of many examples where online 311 reporting can work better.

122782_ said:

I've tried reporting cabs in the past, but always end up hanging up after 10-15 mins on hold with 311.  I recently had a horrible cabbie that drove over the center line on Ashland at about 50mph, weaving in and out of traffic with just inches to spare.  I got out early when the cab was almost t-boned when he turned without the right of way.  I reported online this time (http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bacp/provdrs/consumer/sv...) and received a print out of my complaint in the mail just a few days later.  You need to sign and return within 10 days, but it sound like they're going to try to take some sort of legal action against this cabbie.  I was impressed with how much better this system worked than calling 311.  Something to keep in mind as a passenger, pedestrian or cyclist.

Permalink Reply by Liz on August 15, 2012 at 11:16am

I honestly hope one or more of these pedestrian fatality cases results in a lawsuit for allowing dangerous drivers to keep their chauffeur license.  It may finally get the city to yank licenses for those who have have too many violations written against them, regardless of dismissal.  The review process for cab drivers needs to be much more strict than it is today. 

"Most of the tickets were written by Chicago police officers, and the city's Law Department by rule handles nearly all of those cases. For the 28 cabdrivers studied by the Tribune, the Law Department's dismissal rate was 75 percent.

Yet the dismissal rate was less than 40 percent for county prosecutors, who handle tickets issued by the Illinois State Police, some written outside Chicago and the most serious ones issued in the city."



Cameron Puetz said:

More on the number of tickets that cab drivers get dismissed:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-23/news/ct-met-chicago-t...

Cameron Puetz said:

Sadly, that's pretty typical for a Chicago cab driver. They are very good at getting tickets dismissed so that they are able to keep driving.



rb said:

that is horrible. My thoughts go out to all the families.

Cabs scare me especially here in Chicago. 30 tickets seems to be excessive- wonder how someone can accrue that many and still have a license.

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service