The male driver of a red GMC Sierra pickup truck has been cited with multiple traffic offenses connected to a pedestrian crash that killed a McHenry woman on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
According to the McHenry Police Department, Matthew Straley, age 37, of McHenry was cited with …
failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash,
failure to yield at a crosswalk, and
disobeying a traffic control device.
McHenry County Court records from the Clerk of the Circuit Court (22nd Judicial Circuit) indicate multiple court events for a Matthew C. Straley of the same age with multiple traffic violations in McHenry County ranging from August 8, 2006 to September 24, 2018 (16 court events involving traffic violations).
At the time of publication of this article, CARDINAL NEWS was unable to confirm a connection of the identity of the Matthew Straley involved in this week’s fatal pedestrian crash to the identity of the Matthew C. Straley with multiple traffic violations involving two decades of court events in the McHenry County Circuit Court.
VICTIM’S IDENTITY RELEASED
The McHenry County Coroner’s Office on Thursday, March 28, 2024, released the identity of a woman killed in a pedestrian accident as Patricia Barnes, age 73, of McHenry.
Police, firefighters, and paramedics from McHenry responded about 6:38 a.m. Wednesday, March 27, 2023 to a report of a pedestrian hit by a vehicle at Elm Street and Oak Drive in McHenry. Battalion Chief 1230 on arrival reported a woman down in the roadway at Elm Street and Oak Drive in McHenry.
A female pedestrian, age 73, was transported with Advanced Life Support treatment by McHenry Township Fire paramedics to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. A LifeNet medical helicopter had been placed on standby and was available at the base, but was not used. The identity of the woman, who is a resident of McHenry, was not initially released pending notification of family members.
The McHenry County Regional Crash Assistance Team is working with the McHenry Police Department to investigate the incident.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the male driver of a 2012 Red GMC Sierra was southbound on Oak Drive north of Route 120, and was attempting to make a left turn to travel eastbound on Route 120 when the woman was struck. The male driver, age 37, was cooperating with investigators.
Oak Drive intersects with Route 120 in a T-intersection that is controlled by stoplights with illuminated pedestrian signals.
There is also a street sign that warns motorists of turning vehicles to yield to pedestrians. There are crosswalks across Route 120 on both sides of Oak Drive and there is a crosswalk across Oak Drive north of Route 120.
The Speed Limit for eastbound Route 120 is reduced from 45 MPH to 35 MPH about one mile west of the crash scene near Curran Road. The Speed Limit for westbound Route 120 is 30 MPH east of Oak Drive, and is 35 MPH west of Oak Drive.
There is no Speed Limit posted on southbound Oak Drive, according to Google Maps Street View images. There are advance pedestrian warning signs and crosswalk warning signs for southbound Oak Drive traffic for the strip mall driveways north of Route 120, but there are no pedestrian warning signs just north of Route 120 for southbound Oak Drive.
On the north side of Route 120 there are two busy strip malls on either side of Oak Drive. Fort McHenry Park and Whispering Oaks Park with with a Bike Trail are located just south of the T-intersection of Route 120 and Oak Drive.
Sunrise was 6:41 a.m. in McHenry, Illinois. Weather was overcast at the time of the crash at all NWS weather stations in north Chicagoland with only Greater Rockford Airport reporting precipitation as light snow (no accumulation) at 5:54 a.m.
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