Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog

Setting clear driving safety rules for your teenage driver and not giving them their own vehicle can reduce the chances of your child being involved in a serious or fatal car accident.

Those findings were the result of two studies funded by State Farm Insurance Co. and conducted by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Chicago car accident lawyers and child injury attorneys at Abels & Annes urge parents to talk frequently with their children about driving safety. Automobile accidents are the No. 1 cause of death for teenagers ages 15 to 19, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

According to the Associated Press, results of the most recent studies, released Friday and published in the October issue of Pediatrics, show talking frequently with your teenager about driving safety and not allowing teenagers free access to their own vehicle can help prevent some of the 5,000 teenage road fatalities each year.

One in every 7 fatal accidents in the United States involves a teenager and fatal traffic accidents account for 40 percent of all teenage deaths. Another 250,000 teenagers are seriously injured each year in automobile accidents.

"With teen drivers, you have to recognize that it's a public health issue," said Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, a Phoenix pediatrician who co-wrote an American Academy of Pediatrics report on teen drivers.

The research is based on a nationally representative survey of more than 5,500 teens in grades nine through 11.

More than 2,000 students who reported driving on their own were the focus of one study; 70 percent said they had their own cars or were the main drivers of cars they used.

Dr. Flaura Koplin Winston, the lead researcher in one of the studies, said it's alarming that so many kids have their own cars or feel that they have free use of one. She said that freedom can lead to "a sense of entitlement about driving" that may make them less cautious.

Among these drivers, 1 in 4 had been involved in crashes, versus just 1 in 10 of teens who shared access to a vehicle.

Kids who said their parents set clear driving rules and monitored their whereabouts had half as many crashes and better driving habits. These teens were 71 percent less likely to drink and drive and 30 percent less likely to use a cell phone while driving than kids with parents who were uninvolved in their driving habits.

Dr. Niranjan Karnik, a University of Chicago specialist in adolescent mental health, said the research underscores the importance of active parenting and graduated licensing laws for teens.

The AAA Foundation has resources for safe teen driving, which can be accessed at www.teendriving.com.

The Chicago car accident attorneys recently wrote about Illinois' Operation Teen Safe Driving, which also offers resources for teenagers and their parents.

Continue reading " Talking safe driving with your teenager, reducing vehicle access, can reduce risk of serious car accident " »

Three separate Chicago auto accidents on the North Side have resulted in injuries to 15 people over a 24 hour period.

The first accident took place on Saturday night, it involved 2 cars and injured 9 people, according the Chicago Breaking News Center. The crash took place at Central and Irving Park just before 10 p.m. in Portage Park. Two people were seriously injured and taken by ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.

Seven others were injured and taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital and Our Lady of Resurrection Hospital.

The Chicago Police Department is handling the crash investigation. The cause of the accident has not been reported.

The second accident took place early Sunday morning around 5 a.m. on North Lake Shore Drive, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The accident injured five people.

The auto accident took place at Montrose Ave. and the Drive, and there was an EMS Plan I response, which sends five ambulances to the scene.

The people hurt in this accident were all reportedly in serious to critical condition. Three were taken by ambulance to Illinois Masonic and two people were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The cause of the second accident was also not reported. It has also not been reported if drugs or alcohol played a roll in either crash.

The 3rd accident also took place on Lake Shore Drive, this time by Oak Street. It was a single car accident on Saturday night where a driver lost control and hit a wall. An injured passenger was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with back and neck injuries.

A Chicago man faces an arrest warrant on charges accusing him of killing a 78-year-old Indiana pedestrian in a drunk driving auto accident.

The 26-year-old faces charges of failure to stop after a pedestrian accident, reckless homicide and operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of more than .08 percent, according to the Chicago Tribune, which reported the charges were filed in Lake County, Indiana, in connection with the March drunk driving accident.

Authorities said the Chicago-area defendant had driven to Indiana to buy cigarettes when he caused the accident that killed Zyuajan Mitrovich.

CBS2 reported that the defendant was approaching the Indiana-Illinois line when his green pickup struck Mitrovich, who was apparently walking near the entrance to the Indiana Toll Road.

Witnesses said the defendant did not stop and was followed to a nearby Shell gas station after the accident, which occurred at about 5:30 a.m. on March 28.

A bystander at the gas station reported the defendant was wobbly on his feet. The truck was leaking fluid from the radiator and the alleged drunk driver walked around it several times before walking away after attempting to flag down several cars.

Police found him walking away from the station, where results of a blood-alcohol test were .11, over the legal driving limit of .08 in either state.

Crash records show he was traveling 63 mph in a 30 mph zone near the entrance to the toll road.

He originally faced charges in Cook County, but those charges were dismissed after it was determined Mitrovich was walking in Lake County, just over the state line, when he was hit and killed.

For more information about Chicago drunk driving cases, safety tips and legal resources, please visit Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog for previous posts provided by the Chicago drunk driving accident lawyers at Abels & Annes.

The Chicago car accident attorneys at Abels & Annes urge motorists to register with the Illinois Secretary of State's new "in case of emergency" database.

The database, which launched last month at www.cyberdriveillinois.com, allows authorities to contact relatives of an accident victim in a timely manner. While nobody likes to contemplate the likelihood of a serious or fatal accident, allowing law enforcement to immediately contact a family member could save your life.

In addition to confirming your identity and insurance information, a loved one can tell medical and law enforcement authorities about special medical conditions and provide other crucial information in the wake of a serious Chicago car accident.

Timely notification of a loved one will also allow them to immediately assist in collecting accident and insurance information regarding the accident, assist in making medical decisions on your behalf, and arrange representation with a Chicago car accident lawyer to protect your rights.

"Often it takes a considerable amount of effort and much-needed time (that) this program will reduce significantly," Officer Jeffrey Stolzenburg, an accident investigator with the Libertyville Police Department, told the Chicago Tribune.

The program is open to all Illinois' residents with a driver's license, instruction permit or identification card and can greatly reduce delays in instances where the contact information on your driver's license is not updated or law enforcement fails to reach anyone at your home.

Drivers are also encouraged to save a primary contact in case of emergencies under an "emergency contact" heading on your cell phone as law enforcement will often use an injury victim's cell phone to reach relatives in an emergency.

The information in the state database will remain confidential and only be made available to law enforcement personnel.

Illinois joins Florida and Ohio as the only states to adopt the emergency contact database.

"Too many times (police) arrive on the scene of a horrific accident and they don't know who to contact," Rep. John D'Amico, D-Chicago, told the Tribune.

Continue reading " Chicago drivers encouraged to register with Illinois' "in case of emergency" database " »

A weekend Illinois car accident involving seven vehicles injured 13 people, according to the Southtown Star.

The Chicago area car accident at Vollmer Road and Governor's Highway in Flossmoor, Illinois sent nine people to the hospital by ambulance. Four others were treated at the scene.

The accident, which occurred at 4 p.m. Saturday, closed the streets in either direction for several hours.

A black SUV was eastbound on Vollmer Road, when it entered the westbound lane and struck a pickup truck, according to police. The SUV's driver then continued east, ran a red light at Governors Highway and collided with a Buick.

Police reported that the collision caused the SUV to roll over several times, hitting four vehicles waiting for the traffic light to change. The SUV came to a stop on its roof about 300 feat east of the intersection.

The SUV's driver was removed from the vehicle and taken to the hospital. The extent of the injuries caused in the car accident have not been reported.

Paramedics from Country Club Hills, Matteson and Chicago Heights responded to the scene and transported eight others to area hospitals, according to police.

The Flossmoor police investigated the accident. Whether drugs or alcohol were involved, or what traffic citataions were issued to the SUV driver, has not been reported.

In this type of Chicago area car accident case, the injured parties will all most likely have civil claims to make against the SUV driver's auto insurance carrier. However, in a case such as this where there are so many injured parties, there may not be enough insurance coverage to satisfy all of the claims. If that is the case, the injured parties have a right to make uninsured / under insured motorist claims against their own insurance policies.

A 36-year-old woman from Chicago was killed Wednesday morning in a van vs. motorcycle accident, according to Oak Park-Leaves.com. The motorcycle crash took place near the Austin Blue Line station in Oak Park, Illinois.

The van driver had just dropped someone off at the CTA train and then made an illegal u-turn. The motorcycle hit the van as it cut across her lane while making the turn. The U-turn was made from the far right southbound lane to get into the northbound lanes.

The motorcycle rider suffered severe head injuries. She was rushed by ambulance to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood where she was pronounced dead at 11:30 a.m.

The Oak Park Police Department handled the crash investigation. The driver of the van was ticketed for improper standing on the roadway, improper U-turn on a hill, and no proof of insurance.

The at fault driver was released on bond and has an October 14 court date. An autopsy for the victim is scheduled for Thursday.

As seen in this collision, being involved in a motorcycle accident can be very dangerous, often resulting in severe injury or death. In 2007 alone, there were around 103,000 motorcycle riders injured in accidents across the United States, and 5,154 riders were killed. 143 of those deaths occurred in Illinois, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Also see the story as reported by the Austin Weekly News and the Chicago Breaking News Center.

On the South Side of Chicago four people were seriously injured in a car accident on Tuesday night, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. The car crash involved 2 vehicles and took place at the intersection of 63rd Street and Damen Avenue around 10:30 p.m. One of the injured was a child.

Five ambulances were called out to the scene of the auto accident. One of the injured was taken by Chicago Fire Department ambulance to John Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in serious to critical condition. The three others were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The cause of the crash and whether either driver was ticketed has not been reported.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced a distracted driving summit in Washington, D.C. Sept. 30-Oct. 1 in an effort to combat car accidents caused by distracted driving, specifically the use of cell phones and text messaging while behind the wheel.

Earlier this summer the Chicago car accident lawyers at Abels & Annes blogged about Illinois' leadership role in banning the use of cell phones and text messaging while driving -- the state's new text-messaging ban was one of fewer than 10 tough new distracted-driving laws passed out of more than 170 that were introduced nationwide last year, according to a report by the New York Times.

Illinois' text-messaging ban (as well as a law banning cell phone use in school zones and road construction sites) became law last month and takes effect Jan. 1. Violators face a fine and repeated violations can lead to license suspension.

The City of Chicago already has a law in place prohibiting drivers from using cell phones.

The federal government estimates more than 4,000 people a day are in an auto accident as a result of distracted driving.

"If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting, but unfortunately, laws aren't always enough," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "We've learned from past safety awareness campaigns that it takes a coordinated strategy combining education and enforcement to get results."

LaHood called the summit a "crucial first step in our efforts to put an end to distracted driving."

In June, the Chicago personal injury lawyers and wrongful death attorneys at Abels & Annes wrote about distracted driving as part of its Safe Driving Series.

Nationwide, 80 percent of accidents are attributed to distracted driving -- more than 1.5 million drivers will get into an accident this year because of driver distraction.

From a California commuter train accident that killed 25 people, to a Florida trucking accident that claimed the life of a former lawmaker's daughter, high-profile incidents attributed to text messaging continue to make news.

The American Trucking Association has pledged its support for the summit with the hope of reducing truck accidents attributed to distracted driving.

"Improving driver performance by eliminating distractions, including those caused by text messaging, will greatly improve the safety of all motorists," ATA president Bill Graves said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation promises concrete steps will be taken following the summit.

"The bottom line is, distracted driving is dangerous driving," LaHood said. "I plan to announce a list of concrete steps we will take to make drivers think twice about taking their eyes off the road for any reason."

Continue reading " In effort to reduce car accidents, federal distracted driving summit planned " »

As a result of a Chicago car crash, a 16 year old teenager has died, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. The accident took place on Wednesday in the Garfield Park neighborhood around 6:30 p.m. and the teen died a day later. Several others were hurt.

The car accident happened in 300 block of North Hamlin Avenue. The boy who died was a backseat passenger in an Oldsmobile headed south on Hamlin that was being driven by a 20 year old. There was also an 18-year-old passenger in the car. The Olds hit head on with a northbound Saturn. The Saturn was occupied by a 37 year old female driver and a teenage passenger.

Chicago paramedics initiated an EMS Plan 1 response that immediately sends five ambulances to the accident site. All 3 in the Oldsmobile were taken by ambulance to Mt. Sinai Hospital. The two in the Saturn were also taken by ambulance to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. The Cook County medical examiner's office says the 16 year old pronounced dead at 2:16 p.m. on Thursday.

The Chicago Police Department Major Accident Investigation Unit is handling the investigation, and it has not been reported which vehicle caused the accident or if either driver was issued a citation.

Also see the story reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.

A Tuesday morning Chicago bus accident on the city's Southwest Side, injured 10 passengers and the driver, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Chicago Transit Authority bus was a northbound Ashland Express bus that reportedly struck a light pole on the 2500 block of South Ashland Avenue at about 7:30 a.m., the Chicago Fire Department reported. The accident injured 10 passengers and the driver. Two were in serious condition, eight were in fair condition and one was reported in good condition.

The Chicago Breaking News Center reported as many as 10 ambulances responded to the bus accident. The Transit Authority is investigating, however the cause of the accident has not been reported.

According to the Center for National Truck and Bus Statistics at the University of Michigan, more than 300 fatal bus accidents occur each year in the United States. A recent study in 2006 found 9 fatalities in Illinois, including 5 transit busing deaths and two deaths as the result of a school bus accident.

That same year, busing accidents also killed 89 pedestrians and 12 bicyclists.

A 35-year-old man from the western suburb of Berwyn faces numerous charges after a Chicago drunk driving accident on Labor Day weekend that sent three children in his vehicle to the hospital following a Sunday crash outside Ford City Mall.

The man faces charges of felony DUI, reckless driving, failure to reduce speed, driving on a revoked license while intoxicated and causing an accident while intoxicated that causes bodily harm, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center.

A 7-year-old suffered a spinal fracture and other broken bones in the crash, according to the Chicago Tribune. The remaining children, ages 9 and 10, were also hurt.

The Tribune reported the driver was believed to have had a blood-alcohol limit more than three times the legal Illinois limit of .08. The driver of the car that was struck also suffered injury. The man charged was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center for treatment. He was also scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

The car crash happened outside the mall about 2:20 p.m., near Cicero Avenue and 76th Street. The vehicle carrying the children was headed south on Cicero when it crossed over into oncoming traffic and hit the other vehicle, police reported.

In 2007, about 1 in every 3 fatalities involved a drunk driver--more than 13,000 were killed nationwide, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For more information on Chicago DUI accidents, visit the Chicago car accident blog and Summer Safe Driving series.

Chicago personal injury lawyers from Abels & Annes have agreed to represent a 15 year old boy who was hit by a car in Cicero, Illinois on August 22, 2009. The child was riding his bike on a sidewalk in the area of 59th Avenue and 37th Street when a woman driving a car failed to yield while exiting an alley and hit him.

The Cicero Police Department investigated the cause of the car vs. bike accident. The police report states the car hit the bicycle's front tire, causing the boy to flip over the hood of her car. The woman then got out of her vehicle and asked if he was ok. The child said he was not ok, and the woman got back in the car and fled the scene. The police located the woman later the same day at her home in Cicero.

The child sustained low back injuries and pain on both rib cages. He was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital on the date of the accident where x-rays may have detected a spinal fracture. He was seen again at the hospital 2 days later for an MRI. The boy is going to follow-up treatment with an orthopaedic doctor in Chicago.

The child in this case was very lucky, as he walked away from the accident with non-life-threatening injuries. Not all children are as fortunate. The Chicago Breaking News Center is reporting that a 5 year old girl riding a bicycle was killed in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago Sunday afternoon when a driver failed to yield while exiting from an alley, the same exact facts of our accident.

The deadly bike collision happened in the 6100 block of North Sacramento Avenue around 5:30 p.m. The driver was ticketed by the Chicago Police Department for failing to yield to the bicyclist while coming out of the alley.

The girl was rushed to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston where she was pronounced dead a short time later.

Also see the Rogers Park bike accident as reported by WBBM News Radio 780.

In the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois a mother and daughter were injured in an auto accident on Tuesday. The driver who hit them was distracted at the time of the crash, as she was busy lighting a cigarette. To make matters worse, the driver was uninsured. The injured mother has retained Chicago injury lawyers at Abels & Annes to pursue an uninsured motorist claim against her own insurance carrier.

The accident took place during daylight hours at the corner of Kenilworth Ave. & 19th St. in Berwyn. The intersection is uncontrolled by traffic signals (no stop lights or stop signs). When the plaintiff arrived at the intersection she yielded to a car that arrived before her and then proceeded when it was her turn. When she was most of the way through the intersection the uninsured driver entered the intersection without stopping or yielding and struck her car.

When you approach an uncontrolled intersection in the State of Illinois, the driver that arrives first has the right-of-way. If two vehicles arrive at the same time, the vehicle on the right has the right-of-way.

The mother and child were taken by ambulance to MacNeal Hospital. The mother sustained neck and head injuries. She is going through follow-up treatment with an orthopaedic physician.

The Berwyn police department investigated the car crash.

Over the past year the use of cell phones and texting while driving have been a hot topic in Illinois, and new laws have been passed. We should not forget that other activities, such as smoking or eating food, can be just as distracting or more distracting than cell phone use.

Last month's 24-year prison sentence for a suburban Chicago woman convicted in a drunk driving car crash highlights a growing concern: The increase in DUI arrests and fatal DUI auto accidents among women.

The 43-year-old woman was convicted of aggravated DUI after running a stop sign last fall and slamming into 27-year-old woman, according to ABC7.

The 27 year old woman was killed in the car accident, along with her 3-year-old son and 11-month-old daughter.

According to an analysis this month by the Associated Press, Women in the U.S. are drinking more, and drunken-driving arrests among women are rising rapidly while falling among men.

Still, men accounted for roughly three times more drunk driving deaths in Illinois than did women, according to 2008 statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

But the study found DUI arrests among women have increased almost 30 percent between 1998 and 2007 while the number of men arrested declined by 7.5 percent.

"Women are picking up some of the dangerously bad habits of men," said Chuck Hurley, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Of particular concern is the trend's impact on children riding in cars with impaired drivers.

Nearly 250 youngsters were killed in alcohol-related crashes in the U.S. in 2007, according to the National Highway Safety Administration.

"Drunk drivers often carry their kids with them," said MADD's Hurley. "It's the ultimate form of child abuse."

The increase in arrests comes as women are drinking more than in the past.

One federal study found that the number of women who reported abusing alcohol (having at least four drinks in a day) rose from 1.5 percent to 2.6 percent over the 10-year period that ended in 2002. For women ages 30 to 44, the number more than doubled, from 1.5 percent to 3.3 percent.

Authorities believe the trend also indicates the tougher stance against drunk driving taken by law enforcement means women are also more likely to be arrested and held accountable than in the past.

The Transportation Department's annual crackdown on drunken driving, which begins later this month, will focus on women.

"There's the impression out there that drunk driving is strictly a male issue, and it is certainly not the case," said Rae Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "There are a number of parts of the country where, in fact, the majority of impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes are female."

Continue reading " Increase in drunk driving cases against women reported " »

Nighttime is the deadliest time for Chicago drivers and motorists elsewhere in Illinois, according to a new report issued by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Drunk drivers and low seatbelt usage were cited as two primary reasons for the drastic increase in car accidents and fatalities after dark.

The Chicago car accident lawyers and the personal injury and wrongful death attorneys at Abels & Annes often see drunk driving accidents and other injuries that occur at night for reasons ranging from poor visibility to alcohol and reckless driving.

Motorists should use extra caution, especially when out late at night or on the weekend. In response to the report, authorities promised to make a renewed push to get drunk drivers off the streets at night.

“We are working closely with Illinois State Police and local agencies to make sure that all motorists behind the wheel are driving sober,” said Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig. “One of our top priorities is to save lives and the data revealed shows that we need to focus our efforts on impaired driving at night.”

Illinois State Police announced increased enforcement through the Labor Day weekend.

“Drinking and driving is inappropriate regardless of the time of day," said Director Jonathon Monken. "Data tells us the likelihood of being involved in a crash or fatal crash where alcohol is involved increases dramatically at night. Therefore, the Illinois State Police will focus our efforts on DUI and seat belt enforcement during night time details throughout the Labor Day weekend."

The report found drunk driving a factor in 7 of every 10 Illinois fatalities occurring between midnight and 3 a.m. and less than 3 in 10 were properly seatbelted.

Those statistics are in marked contrast to higher-traffic daytime hours, where less than 2 in 10 crashes involved alcohol and less than half were not properly seatbelted.

According to the report and data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2 of every 3 motor vehicle accidents that occur between midnight and 3 a.m. involved a drinking driver.

And data shows 3 of every 4 drivers who died between midnight and 6 a.m. were not properly restrained.

For more information about impaired driving in Illinois, please visit www.drivesoberillinois.org.

Continue reading " Illinois warns of dangers of nighttime car accidents " »