A wrongful death lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court accuses Portillo’s Hot Dogs LLC of negligence after a car crashed through one of its Oswego restaurants, killing a two-year-old boy and injuring 12 others. The tragic incident has ignited debate over business safety standards, premises liability, and whether Illinois law requires companies to install protective barriers to prevent foreseeable vehicle crashes.
Cases like this highlight how businesses can be held accountable when unsafe property design or poor traffic management puts customers at risk. Families affected by preventable accidents may have legal options to seek justice and financial recovery. If your loved one was injured or killed on commercial property in Illinois, a wrongful death attorney can help you understand your rights and pursue a claim. Contact our lawyers at Chute, O’Malley, Knobloch & Turcy for a free initial consultation. Call 312-775-0042.
What Happened in the Portillo’s Oswego Crash?
According to police reports, the crash occurred in July 2024 when a Lincoln MKZ driven by a 50-year-old woman suddenly accelerated through the glass storefront of the Oswego Portillo’s restaurant. The vehicle struck a toddler dining with his family, causing fatal injuries, and left several others hurt.
Authorities described the crash as accidental, though an investigation into potential criminal charges remains ongoing. In addition to the driver, the child’s father—acting as administrator of his son’s estate—filed a civil lawsuit against Portillo’s. The lawsuit alleges the restaurant’s unsafe parking lot design and lack of protective barriers created a foreseeable danger to customers.
Grounds for the Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Portillo’s
The wrongful death complaint asserts that Portillo’s allowed head-in parking directly in front of its main entrance without installing bollard, barriers, or parking stops to protect pedestrians and diners from vehicles. According to the filing, the layout placed customers within feet of parked and moving cars, exposing them to unnecessary risk.
The family seeks damages exceeding $50,000 under both the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and the Illinois Survival Act, claiming that Portillo’s failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent a well-known hazard.
Portillo’s has not issued a public comment on the litigation.
What the Case Means for Illinois Businesses
This lawsuit raises an increasingly common legal question for businesses in Chicago and across Illinois: When does the duty to keep customers safe extend to installing physical barriers between vehicles and pedestrian areas?
Illinois law imposes a duty of care on property owners to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition for lawful visitors. Restaurants, retail stores, and other public establishments must inspect their property, identify hazards, and take steps to prevent foreseeable harm.
While the law doesn’t make businesses insurers of safety, it does hold them accountable when negligence contributes to injury or death. For customers—classified legally as invitees—the duty of care is at its highest.
Premises Liability and Foreseeability
In personal injury law, foreseeability determines whether a business should have anticipated and mitigated a danger. The Portillo’s case hinges on whether the risk of a vehicle-into-building crash was foreseeable and whether reasonable measures could have prevented it.
Vehicle-into-building crashes are more common than many realize. Data from the Storefront Safety Council shows thousands of such incidents nationwide every year, causing hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. These collisions occur at restaurants, banks, and conveniences stores—business with parking or drive-thru areas near pedestrian zones.
Safety experts and architects have long recommended crash-rated bollards or similar barriers to protect customers in these environments. Their widespread use at many commercial locations supports the argument that the danger is well known, and preventable.
If the court finds that Portillo’s knew or should have known about this risk, its failure to install barriers may be viewed as a breach of its duty of care.
The Role of Bollards in Preventing Liability
At the center of this case lies a simple question: would installing bollards have made a difference?
Bollards—reinforced posts made of steel or concrete—are designed to absorb or stop vehicle impact. They are now a common sight outside storefronts, drive-thrus, and outdoor seating areas. When properly installed, they can prevent vehicles from entering pedestrian zones, effectively eliminating the risk of this type of crash.
From a legal perspective, bollards represent a reasonable, low-cost safety measure compared to the potentially devastating consequences of an accident. Courts often look at whether a business could have adopted an available safety solution without undue hardship.
If a risk is foreseeable and a feasible safety measure exists, failing to implement it can amount to negligence under Illinois premises liability law.
Understanding the Illinois Wrongful Death and Survival Acts
The family’s lawsuit invokes both the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and the Illinois Survival Act, two complimentary legal frameworks that provide compensation for different aspects of a fatal injury.
Under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, certain family members—such as parents, spouses, or children—may recover damages for their own losses resulting from a loved one’s death. These can include:
- Grief, sorrow, and mental suffering
- Loss of companionship, guidance and support
- Funeral and burial expenses
The Illinois Survival Act allows the deceased person’s estate to recover damages for losses to the victim experienced between the time of injury and death. Those damages may include:
- Pain and suffering endured by the victim
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages between injury and death
Together, the two statues help ensure that both the victim’s suffering and the family’s emotional and financial losses are recognized in court.
What Comes Next
As litigation proceeds, both parties will exchange evidence through the discovery process. The family’s legal team will likely seek internal documents from Portillo’s, review design plans for the restaurant, and depose company representatives about safety policies and prior incidents.
Expert testimony may play a central role, with specialists in restaurant design and traffic safety addressing whether bollards were a reasonable and standard measure for preventing such accidents.
For the grieving family, the lawsuit represents both a pursuit of justice and an effort to prompt broader change in how businesses think about safety in parking areas and drive-thrus.
Accountability and Prevention
No legal remedy can replace the loss of a child, but lawsuits like the one against Portillo’s serve a broader public purpose: holding companies accountable for preventable harm and encouraging safer practices industry-wide.
Families affected by similar tragedies can turn to Illinois’s premises liability and wrongful death laws to seek justice. A Chicago personal injury lawyer can help investigate whether negligence played a role, determine if the business failed to address a known danger, and pursue full compensation under state law. To discuss your case, contact our team at Chute, O’Malley, Knobloch & Turcy. Call 312-775-0042 for a free consultation.
