A 55-year-old woman has been charged with a fatal crash in northwest suburban Mount Prospect.
Hanna Burzynksa, of Elk Grove Village, was charged with driving in violation of a restriction and improper passing of a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk, according to Mount Prospect police.
Joni Beaudry, 55, of Mount Prospect, was crossing Central Road at Weller Lane in the crosswalk about 9:41 a.m. June 10 when she was struck by a black Lexus SUV driven by Burzynksa,, according to police.
Beaudry activated the crossing signal and began to cross when eastbound traffic in the curb lane of Central Road stopped. The driver of the SUV, Burzynksa, did not stop while driving in the eastbound median lane and struck Beaudry, police said.
Beaudry was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she was pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Burzynska was initially cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, police said. The charge of failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash will be amended to driving too fast for conditions.
An investigation determined that Burzynska was the cause of the crash and that she was driving 40 mph in a 35 mph speed zone. Witnesses in both eastbound and westbound traffic saw Beaudry activate the warning beacons at the time of crossing, police said.
Police also found that Beaudry’s actions were a contributing factor to the collision. State traffic law requires pedestrians to enter the roadway only when it is safe to do so, police said.
“Until we change out driving habits and start stopping for pedestrians, I fear we will continue to see tragedies like this one. A family is devastated by the loss of a wife and mother,” according to Police Chief Tim Janowick. “To improve safety, drivers must become more attentive to their environment. Put down cell phones, take out the earbuds, and focus on driving. At the same time bicyclists must be cognizant of their responsibility to obey the traffic laws when traveling on the roadways.”
Burzynska is scheduled to appear in court at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 14 at the Cook County 3rd District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows, Ill., police said.
