Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog

Drunk driving was responsible for one-third of the nearly 6,000 fatal Cook County traffic accidents that have occurred in the past 15 years, according to an analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times.

The report found similar statistics in the collar counties around Chicago.

The Chicago drunk driving accident attorneys at Abels & Annes have closely followed the issue of deadly drunk driving accidents in Illinois, both here and on our sister site, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog. As we reported earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Transportation will spend $11 million dollars to combat drunk driving accidents in Illinois this year.

The Sun-Times report lists Cook County's portion of I-94 as the 11th most-dangerous road in the nation, with 301 fatal traffic accidents reported between 1994 and 2008.

"People still don't understand that drunk driving is a violent crime," Susan McKeigue, state executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving-Illinois, told the Sun-Times. "They think Uncle Ted getting snookered on Christmas Eve and driving away is funny."

MADD statistics show that half of all motorists involved in a drunk driving accident have never before been stopped or arrested for DUI.

Other dangerous Chicago-area roads identified in the study include Illinois 173 in north suburban Lake County where 30 people have been killed and Illinois 53 in Will County where another 30 motorists have died in traffic accidents.

The study looked at 562,712 fatal accidents that claimed 627,433 lives. And, while fatal traffic accidents have declined over the years, it noted that the 37,261 people killed in 2008 traffic accidents is 10 times the number who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Besides drunk driving, authorities blame the majority of fatal traffic accidents on speeding and distracted driving, including the use of cell phones or text messaging while driving.

Continue reading "One-third of fatal Cook County traffic accidents linked to drunk driving" »

Four women were killed in a Chicago car accident early Saturday morning after their car slammed into a tree in the South Side's Englewood neighborhood, the Tribune reported.

Police and paramedics responded to the crash at 2 a.m. on the westbound side of Garfield Boulevard near Morgan Street. Police said the car may have been speeding when it went off the road and struck a tree.

One woman was pronounced dead atStroger Hospital while two others were pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. A fourth victim, identified as the driver, was also taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

KWQC News reported a fifth victim remains hospitalized in critical condition.

The women were all reported to be in their 20s or 30s. The car, a silver Pontiac sedan with temporary plates, remained in the grassy area well into the early morning hours, its front-end mangled and its right side wedged against a tree. The vehicle's roof was missing and its engine sat in the grass at the front of the car.

Police believe the Pontiac went off the road, knocked over a small tree and then struck a larger tree 30 or 40 feet from the roadway. Wreckage from the car was strewn over several hundred feet, including a tire that came to rest more than 100 feet from the car.

Police cordoned off the roadway and the Major Accident Investigation Unit is investigating the crash.

As of Saturday March 6, a total of 109 fatal Illinois car accidents had claimed 122 lives in 2010, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. A total of 139 Illinois traffic fatalities occurred during the same period last year.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched a new website that will act as a national clearinghouse for information on distracted driving.

As we reported last month on Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, a patchwork of laws are springing up across the country, which ban cell phones, text messaging, and other poor driving habits, making it incumbent upon the motorist to know the law.

Drivers have been forbidden from using a cell phone in Chicago since 2005. And new laws took effect Jan. 1 in Illinois, outlawing text messaging by drivers or the use of cell phones in school zones and construction sites.

The site, www.distraction.gov, is the centerpiece of the government's effort to increase public awareness of the dangers of serious and fatal car accident that result from driver distraction, including text messaging and cell phones.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 6,000 people a year die and more than half a million are injured in distracted-driving traffic accidents. Nationwide, 1 in 4 car accidents are blamed on some form of driver distraction.

Forms of distracted driving also include eating, drinking, talking with passengers and using other in-car technologies, like stereos and GPS devices.

Government data shows 11 percent of drivers killed in fatal crashes were distracted -- up sharply from the 8 percent reported just 5 years ago.

At particular risk are young drivers under 20 (already at increased risk of a serious or fatal car accident). The government reported that 16 percent of fatal crashes involve young drivers who were distracted; drivers ages 20 to 29 had a rate of 12 percent.

The national campaign also includes television commercials features U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood promoting the new website.

Continue reading "Federal campaign launches www.distraction.gov aimed at reducing distracted driving car accidents" »

An end to the historic drop in driving congestion, which began in 2007 and has continued through the Great Recession, will increase the risk of Chicago car accidents and urban accidents nationwide, The USAToday reported.

As reported earlier this year on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, Illinois reported the fewest traffic fatalities in almost a century last year. And fatal accidents nationwide have been trending downward since congestion began to wane in 2007, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Rick Schuman, the study's author, said the economy and traffic congestion are closely linked.

"As the job situation goes, so goes congestion," Schuman said. "If we have a recovery and we start seeing employment starting to grow, congestion will grow along with it."

Chicago is the third-most congested metro area in the country, behind Los Angeles and New York. WIth a population of 9.5 million, the study found the Chicago area was 42 percent as congested as Los Angeles and 86 percent as congested as New York.

It's unclear whether the uptick in congestion will last; pace of the increase remains less than 1 percent a month -- a far cry from the 21 percent increase in miles driven between 1995 and 2007.

Findings of the INRIX traffic scorecard include:

-Traffic remains down during the morning commute, a reflection of the high unemployment rate. Traffic was up during the remainder of the day.

-Friday at 5 p.m. remains the busiest commute and the worst day and time of the week to be on the road.

Continue reading "Chicago car accidents expected to increase with congestion; Chicago third-worst nationwide" »

A 19-year-old motorist was charged with felony reckless conduct on Sunday, after a Chicago car accident in which she is accused of hitting an Illinois State Police trooper who was conducting a traffic stop Saturday night on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

The Chicago Breaking News Center reported that the woman was charged and taken into custody following the accident.

She was expected to appear in court on Monday. The female trooper was transported to Stroger Hospital, where she underwent surgery and remained in the intensive care unit listed in stable condition.

The trooper suffered two broken legs and a broken pelvis, according to a law enforcement official. Multiple emergency vehicles responded to the crash, which occurred in the northbound expressway lanes of the Dan Ryan near 66th Street.

The state trooper, who is in her 20s, was outside her cruiser conducting a traffic stop when she was struck by a gold Toyota driven by the defendant.

As reported recently on Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, Illinois motorists are required to move over or slow down for stopped emergency vehicles.

Known as Scott's Law, Illinois' "Move Over" law, is named after Chicago Fire Department Lt. Scott Glenn, who was killed on the Dan Ryan after being struck by a drunk driver while assisting victims at a crash scene.

The law carries a penalty of up to $10,000 in fines and includes aggravated circumstances, such as the involvement of drugs or alcohol, which can result in a 90-day license suspension and up to two years in prison if an accident involves injury or death.

WGN News is reporting that the cause of the accident was that the driver was on her cell phone and not paying attention at the time of the accident.

One man was killed and another critically injured in a hit-and-run Chicago pedestrian accident early Sunday morning, according to the Breaking News Center.

The accident happened shortly after 2 a.m. at the Lynwood Sport Center, when two pedestrians were hit by a white Ford truck.

The truck reportedly fled the scene westbound on Glenwood Dyer Road; the driver was taken into custody minutes later at the intersection of Illinois Highway 394 and I-80/294. Investigation of the accident is ongoing and the 56-year-old driver of the pickup truck has not been charged.

A three-car Chicago car accident on Lake Shore Drive sent six people to area hospitals Friday afternoon, the Sun-Times reported. The crash occurred about 2 p.m. near Soldier Field at the intersection of Lake Shore Drive and McFeteridge Drive.

Two adults were transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and two were transported to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. Two other adults were transported in stable condition to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.

Police were investigating the crash, which involved two cars and a pick-up truck, according to ABC 7.

Fatal Illinois traffic accidents claimed 111 lives through the first 2 months of 2010, compared to 123 during the same period a year ago.

Protesters turned out on Valentine's day to campaign against Chicago's red-light cameras.

While authorities contend the cameras are in place to reduce serious and fatal Chicago car accidents, several dozen Chicago motorists turned out for a national day of opposition, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The protest at the southeast corner of Addison Street and Western Avenue, urged motorists to honk their horns against the cameras, which mail photographs and tickets to offenders. A growing opposition movement contends the cameras are being used to generate revenue with little impact on reducing serious or fatal crashes at intersections.

Scott Tucker, the protest organizer and a Republican candidate for the 11th District state House seat, said he supports legislation to get rid of the cameras in Illinois. "It's taking money out of our pockets and putting it into a wasteful government economy," Tucker told the Tribune.

A spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Transportation said the cameras are "first and foremost about safety" and have been since the city began installing the cameras several years ago.

Intersection crashes caused by red-light runners continue to be a leading cause of serious and fatal Chicago car accidents.

Earlier this month we reported here at Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, that 1 in 4 fatal Illinois traffic accidents occurs at an intersection each year, killing more than 250 Illinois motorists.

Late last year, Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog reported on an investigation by the Chicago Tribune, which found an increase at half of the 14 suburban Chicago intersections where the cameras had been installed.

In October, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog reported the city issued more than half a million tickets in the first eight months of the year and collected almost $38 million in revenue.

This year's city budget includes money to add another 50 cameras to Chicago intersections, bringing the citywide total to 189.

Continue reading "Red light cameras protested by motorists despite claim they reduce Chicago car accidents at intersections" »

A series of serious and fatal Chicago car accidents on area expressways continues to highlight the dangers of highway speeds and congestion.

Two children and an adult were critically injured after being ejected from a minivan that blew a tire and spun out on the Dan Ryan Expressway Saturday afternoon, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Six people were riding in the Pontiac minivan when it spun out of control and slammed into a semi. The van was in the left lane of the southbound Dan Ryan Expressway at 81st Street when the accident happened about 2 p.m., according to Illinois State Police.

A 9-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy were ejected from the vehicle along with an adult male. Another child also was injured. The children were taken to the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, and an adult was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, all in critical condition.

In a second Chicago expressway car accident on Saturday, a girl was hurt in a three-vehicle accident shortly before midnight. The crash happened on the inbound Kennedy Expressway (I-90) near North Nagle Avenue on Chicago's Northwest Side. A young girl was taken to Resurrection Medical Center after the vehicle in which she was riding crashed into two other vehicles, according to the Sun-Times.

The teenage male driver was issued a citation for reckless driving; police report he was driving too fast and passing cars on the shoulder.

As reported last week on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, police continue to investigate several serious car accidents on Chicago expressways, including a multiple-vehicle accident on the Kennedy Expressway and an accident on the Eisenhower Expressway that seriously injured six motorists, including two children.

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, about 7 of every 8 Illinois traffic accidents occur in and around major urban areas, primarily Chicago. In 2008, 349,000 crashes occurred in urban areas, compared to 59,000 on highways and other local roads in rural areas.

While heavy traffic and high speed are obvious contributors to the dangers faced by motorists on Chicago expressways, many drivers underestimate how much more dangerous crashes are at highway speeds.

As our Safe Driving serious reported last year on Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, speed reduces reaction time and drastically increases the force of collision.

A car traveling at just 30 mph can stop before crashing into an object 45 feet away. But increase speed just 5 mph to 35 mph, and the vehicle will strike the object at 18 mph.

And the force of a collision increases exponentially with speed. This means an accident is not twice as likely to be fatal at 50 mph than at 25 mph -- federal research shows it is 15 times more likely to be fatal.

Additionally, many motorists take for granted their morning or afternoon commute on Chicago's expressways, even though expressway driving at high speed and in heavy traffic is exactly when we most need to pay attention to what we are doing.

Too often, motorists are seriously injured or killed by negligent drivers who are talking on the phone, eating, drinking, playing with the radio or engaging in other behavior that can have deadly consequences in a Chicago expressway accident.

Three pedestrians were injured over the weekend, along with two passengers in a Chicago taxi cab accident, the Sun-Times reported.

The accident happened about 3:55 a.m. near North Clark and West Division streets on the Near North Side. Police say a car struck two taxis before fleeing the scene. One of the taxis struck a pole and the car struck another taxi before driving away.

Victims were down in the street when emergency vehicles responded. Authorities on the scene were unclear which vehicle or vehicles struck them. Three pedestrians and two passengers in one of the taxis were among the injured, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center.

The injured were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Authorities were reviewing evidence and looking for a two-door Toyota convertible believed to be the hit-and-run vehicle.

In 2008, 1,043 people were killed in fatal Illinois traffic accidents. Illinois pedestrian accidents killed 135 and injured more than 5,000, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

As reported last month on Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, Illinois recorded the fewest traffic fatalities in 88 years last year, when 928 motorists were killed.

But 2010 has gotten off to a rough start, IDOT reports 103 people were killed in Illinois traffic accidents during the first six weeks of the year -- several more than during the same period last year. Bad weather could be partly to blame.

An Illinois civil lawsuit has been filed in connection with a hit-and-run Chicago car accident last week that claimed the life of a toddler.

The child's parents filed the lawsuit after the driver accused in the crash was released on bond, ABC7 News reported.

As reported last week on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, the driver of a Toyota Camry allegedly sped away from one accident before he crashed into the car containing a young mother and her infant.

The Camry reportedly had its lights off when it slammed into her vehicle while turning left at Parker and Cicero avenues. In addition to her 13-month-old son, two friends ages 20 and 21 were also killed in the crash.

The Camry's driver, a 55-year-old Skokie man, faces numerous charges, including negligent driving, leaving the scene of an accident and driving too fast for conditions.

"We just want him to pay for what he did. That's it. He shouldn't be out on the streets," the child's mother told ABC7.

Nobody was reported injured in the first collision, when the Camry rear-ended a Ford Expedition. But before authorities could be notified, the driver allegedly sped off and slammed into the victims' Honda Civic.

Police are investigating several fatal Chicago car accidents that occurred over the weekend.

An 89-year-old man died early Monday morning after a car accident in northwest suburban Palatine, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center.

The Daily Herald reported that the Chicago resident was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. after being transported to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

Speed may have contributed to a fatal automobile crash early Saturday on Chicago's Northwest Side, according to the Southtown Star.

A 29-year-old man was killed after his vehicle struck a light pole in the 5400 block of West Belmont Avenue, police reported. He was transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at about 2:45 a.m.

An autopsy found death was caused by multiple injuries stemming from the crash and the police Major Accident Investigation Unit is investigating.

As of Monday Feb. 15, a total of 91 people have been killed in fatal Illinois car accidents so far in 2010 -- seven more than the 84 killed during the same period last year, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

We reported last month on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, that the 928 Illinois traffic fatalities in 2009 were the fewest ever recorded in nearly a century of reporting.

A new study calls into question whether tough new laws banning cell phone use or text messaging by drivers are having any impact in reducing the number of serious and fatal car accidents.

As we reported in the fall on Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, it has been illegal for drivers to use cell phones in the city of Chicago since 2005 and Illinois passed a law that took effect Jan. 1, which makes it illegal to text message or use hand-held cell phones in school zones and construction sites.

However, the new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, questions whether the new laws are reducing fatal traffic accidents, the USA Today reported.

The National Highway Traffic Administration reported almost 6,000 people were killed by distracted drivers in 2008, accounting for about 1 in 5 traffic fatalitites. However, the study examined crashes in New York, Connecticut, California and Washington, D.C., before and after handheld bans took effect and found no reduction in crashes.

"The key finding is that crashes aren't going down where handheld phone use has been banned," Insurance Institute President Adrian Lund said in a statement. "This finding doesn't augur well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving."

Nationwide, the government reported 5.9 million accidents in 2006, compared to 5.8 million last year. But, by analyzing crash claims, the Insurance Institute found no statistical difference attributable to cell phone bans.

One possibility is that drivers have switched to hands-free models, which research suggests are really not all that much safer than hand-held phones.

The study comes as an increasing number of states move to ban texting while driving; 23 states are considering such restrictions, while such bans are currently in place in 19 states. Earlier this year, the federal government banned hand-held devices from use by all bus drivers and commercial truckers.

Continue reading "Cell phone ban may not reduce fatal Illinois car accidents" »