Fatal motorcycle wreck prompts lawsuit

A woman is suing over a motorcycle crash that led to the death of her mother.

Martha Zinda, as special administrator of the Estate of Jacquelyn Planz,, filed a wrongful death suit July 8 in Cook County Circuit Court against Donald Wojnicki.

According to the complaint,  Planz was a passenger on a motorcycle operated by the defendant on April 27 that was traveling southbound on I-294, south of I-55 near 75th Street in Lyons Township.

Zinda alleges Wojnicki lost control of the motorcycle, which caused Planz severe injuries and her eventual death.

She accuses the defendant of failing to keep a proper lookout, operating his motorcycle too fast for existing conditions, negligently losing control of it, not operating it within his lane of traffic, failing to maintain control of his motorcycle and being careless in the ownership and operation of it.

Zinda is seeking damages in excess of the minimum jurisdictional limit, plus costs, and is represented by Waukegan attorney Philip J. Ryan of Ryan, Ryan & Landa.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L007151.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.