Chapman v. Checker Taxi Co.

The appeals in this case are taken from judgments entered following a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County resulting from an accident in which a Checker taxi collided with a police car after striking a lane divider. The driver of the taxi, Robert Moore, and his fare-paying passenger, Michael Chapman, were killed, and the driver of the police car, Officer Ira Blackwood, was severely injured.

Several lawsuits were thereafter filed and the actions were consolidated for a jury trial. In the principal actions the plaintiff, Emma Lee Chapman, brought a wrongful death action against the…