Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog

An elderly motorist has been ticked for an Illinois bicycle accident that claimed the life of a Chicago student and seriously injured two of her classmates on a downstate spring break trip, the Breaking News Center reported.

As reported Saturday on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, the girls were on break from the University of Chicago Lab School when they were struck by a minivan while biking on a rural road about 320 miles south of Chicago.

A 17-year-old student was killed and her two friends, both 18, were seriously injured after the van, driven by an 86-year-old man, crossed the center line and struck the girls on a rural stretch of road near Shawnee National Forest.

The man was only issued one ticket and no criminal charges will be filed, according to Illinois State Police. He was cited for improper lane usage.

One of the surviving students has undergone several surgeries at an Evansville, Ind. hospital and suffered serious injuries, including two broken arms, a broken jaw and other facial injuries.

The other student was transported by helicopter to another hospital in Evansville, where she was treated for a broken collarbone and broken ribs.

The driver reportedly told police he may have fallen asleep at the wheel before the crash occurred. He has a valid driver's license and a clean driving record.

Under Illinois law, drivers ages 81 to 86 must pass a driving test every two years to maintain their driving privileges and must pass the test every year beginning at age 87.

A Chicago semi accident seriously injured four people on the Dan Ryan Expressway, according to the SouthTown Star.

The accident involved two semis and a car and occurred about 10:30 p.m. Monday in the southbound local lanes near 63rd Street. The lanes were closed to traffic until early Tuesday morning as work crews cleared the scene, the Sun-Times reported.

A semi rear-ended a car as it slowed while approaching slower traffic, according to Illinois State Police. The semi was then struck by another semi, which caught fire.

The driver of the second semi was cited for following too closely.

A woman and three men were injured in the crash. One victim was taken in serious to critical condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn; one was taken in serious to critical condition to the University of Chicago Hospitals.

The other two were taken in good to fair condition, to the University of Chicago Hospitals and St. Bernard Hospital.

In 2008, there were 14,632 Illinois trucking accidents, which claimed 115 lives and injured 2,940, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Chicago trucking accidents account for the vast majority of Illinois semi accidents. More than 12,000 of the accidents occurred in urban areas.

A Hammond man is facing serious criminal charges for a car accident that claimed the life of a construction worker 30 minutes south of Chicago in northwest Indiana.

The victim was working on a night road crew, filling potholes, when a car slammed into him in the construction zone on I-80. The victim flew through the windshield and landed in the front seat of the car. The accident happened so fast a coworker was left standing next to the victim's yellow construction vest in a pool of blood, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center.

Both Indiana and Illinois have tough laws aimed at protecting road construction workers from serious or fatal work accidents. The National Work Zone Awareness Week is coming April 6 to 10, and will include a safety awareness campaign conducted by Illinois Work Zone Safety Partners.

In this case, the victim's co-worker barely escaped injury.

"My hand to God, I don't know why I'm not dead," the co-worker said in a media interview. "I was standing close enough to him to hold his hand."

In 2008, there were 7,813 Illinois road construction accidents, which killed 31 people and injured 1,985, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Of those, 7,360 occurred in urban areas, primarily Chicago.

Employees who are seriously injured in road construction accidents in Illinois may be entitled to workers' compensation and other benefits.

The 35-year-old driver, a Calumet City native, was charged Friday with reckless homicide and failure to stop at a fatal crash. He faces up to 16 years in prison if convicted. He was charged the same day as the funeral for the victim, who was a father of two.

The defendant's drivers license has been suspended four times since 1998, including once for refusing to take a breath test, state authorities reported.

The victim's friend and co-worker said he stood in front of the car in an attempt to stop it from fleeing the scene. He said the defendant began fleeing on foot and the car started to roll into the traffic lane. The construction worker stopped the car, while watching the driver flee on foot.

Indiana State Police found the driver 21 hours later, hiding in an alley just miles from the scene of the crash. Several beer containers were found in the 1993 Mercury Cougar and authorities say he admitted to drinking before the crash.

A 2-vehicle Chicago car accident on Monday morning sent 7 people to local hospitals, four in critical condition, WGNTV reported.

The accident happened shortly after 4 a.m. at the intersection of Irving Park and Western Avenue, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

A Lexus T-boned an Audi in the middle of the intersection, sending the driver of the Lexus through the windshield. Two others involved in the accident had to be extricated from their vehicles by rescue personnel.

Emergency personnel reported that there were four men and one woman, ages 25 to 33, in the Audi and two men in the Lexus, ages 30 and 32, according to the Breaking News Center.

Six patients, including three in critical condition, were transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center; one person was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

The roads were wet from recent rain at the time of the accident, which remains under investigation.

As we reported last month on Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, intersections are among the most dangerous places for car accidents; about 250 fatal crashes occur at intersections each year in Illinois and crashes at intersections account for about 1 in 5 fatal accidents nationwide.

A fun report took serious aim at a deadly habit of distracted driving recently, when MSN reported the 10 worst foods to eat while driving. Coffee during morning commutes topped the list of food or beverages most likely to contribute to a car accident.

The Chicago car accident lawyers at Abels & Annes have closely followed the distracted driving issue both here and on our sister site, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, which recently reported on a new government agency FocusDriven, which has been formed to combat distracted driving accidents nationwide.

An estimated 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involve some form of driver distraction within three seconds before the crash, according to a landmark study released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

"Most car accidents are caused by drivers not paying attention," says Eric Bolton, an NHTSA spokesman.

Distracted driving means anything that takes your eyes, hands or mind away off the road. Eating while driving is one of the most common and distracting habits on the nation's roads, according to government statistics.

In addition to eating and drinking behind the wheel, other common distractions include cell phones and text messaging; adjusting the stereo; children, pets and objects moving around inside the vehicle; smoking; dressing, putting on makeup shaving and reading.

Distracted drivers are most likely to be involved in rear-end collisions in which the vehicle in front of them is stopped. A report based on insurance-claims history found drivers had the most problems eating during morning commutes -- many of those motorists were involved in a traffic accident as they tried to clean up spills while driving.

The top 10 food offenders in a car are:

1. Coffee

2. Hot soup: Many people drink it like coffee and run the same risks.

3. Tacos

4. Chili

5. Hamburgers

6. Barbecued food

7. Fried chicken

8. Jelly- or cream-filled doughnuts

9. Soft drinks

10. Chocolate

Continue reading " Skipping coffee during morning commute may reduce the risk of Chicago car accidents " »

More than a dozen local police chiefs signed an endorsement of red light cameras, which was published over the weekend in the Chicago Tribune.

Supporters of the cameras, which photograph red-light violations and mail tickets to the vehicle's owner, contend they are a valuable tool in reducing Chicago car accidents. As the Chicago injury lawyers at Abels & Annes reported last month, 1 in every 7 fatal car accidents occurs at an intersection, accounting for 7,772 of the 37,261 nationwide traffic fatalities in 2008.

But, as reported reported last month on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, a vocal minority has become active in protesting the cameras as nothing more than a cash cow for local governments. Detractors also contend the cameras can lead to rear-end collisions and other accidents as motorists slam on their brakes to avoid getting a ticket in the mail.

During the first 8 months of 2009, the City of Chicago collected almost $38 million from nearly 200 red-light cameras operating within the city.

In endorsing the cameras, the chiefs cited several factors they contend are central to the debate:

-The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that almost 900 people were killed and an 153,000 were injured in crashes involving red light running in 2007.

-About half of those killed in accidents caused by red-light running are pedestrians or occupants of other vehicles.

-The U.S. Federal Highway Administration reports that broadside collisions have decreased by almost 25 percent at intersections monitored by red-light cameras.

The chiefs used as an example a Roselle, IL intersection, where red-light violations went from 115 a day before cameras were installed to 10 a day after the cameras began operation.

Additionally, the chief law enforcement officers that signed the endorsement contend the cameras have reduced violations at all intersections, not just intersections where the cameras are installed.

"Cameras make drivers think twice before engaging in dangerous behavior," the chiefs state. "In fact, over 95 percent of drivers who receive a red-light camera ticket will not become repeat offenders."

The chiefs also content that the cameras allow law enforcement to be deployed more efficiently, allowing more manpower to combat crime and recently helped apprehend a suspect in a hit-and-run Chicago pedestrian accident.

As of Monday, it is illegal to use a hand-held cell phone while driving in Evanston.

The Chicago Breaking News Center reported that Evanston Police will be warning motorists of the new ordinance by conducting educational enforcement actions next week.

Evanston Now reports that this let-you-off-with-a-warning period will last through next week but will not apply to drivers involved in reckless or negligent behavior or those involved in traffic accidents.

Cell-phone use by drivers has been illegal within the city limits of Chicago since 2005 as authorities seek to reduce Chicago car accidents caused by distracted drivers.

The Evanston ordinance also bans test messaging, sending, reading or listening to an electronic message or browsing the internet while driving.

As reported earlier this month on Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, the federal government is pushing all states to ban text messaging while driving. Illinois' ban took effect Jan. 1 and also prohibits using hand-held cell phones in school zones and construction sites.

Evanston's law exempts "any person using a mobile telephone or on-board communications device for non-personal use in the course of ordinary business in their employment with a City, State or Federal agency or authority" and also permits the use of a cell phone to call 911 while driving.

The ordinance permits cell-phone use in conjunction with a hands-free device.

Penalty for violating the law is a $50 fine; a maximum fine of $200 can be issued to motorists involved in an accident while using a cell phone.

A total of 33,963 people died in traffic accidents nationwide during 2009 -- the fewest traffic deaths since 1954, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

As previously reported on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog, the number of fatal Illinois traffic accidents and Chicago car accidents also declined to the lowest level in almost a century of reporting, from 1,043 deaths in 2008 to 928 deaths in 2009.

Many officials believe the downward trend in fatal car accidents can be explained by the poor economy and expect congestion and accidents to increase as the economy improves, according to a report we wrote about earlier this month here at Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that the total number of fatal traffic accidents in 2009 was the lowest recorded since 1954 -- the number of fatal traffic accidents have now declined for the 15th straight quarter.

Preliminary estimates suggest the fatality rate, which records the number of fatal traffic accidents per vehicle mile traveled, may have reached the lowest level ever recorded.

“This is exciting news, but there are still far too many people dying in traffic accidents,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Drivers need to keep their hands on the steering wheel and their focus on the road in order to stay safe.”

The 33,963 traffic fatalities recorded last year represent an 8.9 percent drop compared to the 37,261 deaths reported in 2008.

“This continuing decline in highway deaths is encouraging, but our work is far from over,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland. “We want to see those numbers drop further. We will not stop as long as there are still lives lost on our nation’s highways."

The federal government also cites as reason for the decrease several nationwide campaigns to encourage responsible driving, including Click It or Ticket and Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.

The federal government will release comprehensive statistics later this summer.

Continue reading " Fewest U.S. car accidents in more than half a century recorded in 2009 " »

AT&T, the nation's second-largest cell-phone provider, has launched an aggressive nationwide campaign against texting while driving.

As we reported in December on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, Chicago is the birthplace of the cell phone; Ameritech debuted the "car phone" at Soldier Field in 1983.

But as the dangerous mix of cell phones and driving became apparent -- and particularly the dangers of driving and text messaging -- the cell phone industry has moved away from a marketing message aimed at drivers. Meanwhile, the federal government is pushing a nationwide ban on driving and text messaging and Illinois became one of the first states to ban text messaging while behind the wheel.

The move this week by AT&T is the largest corporate response yet to the growing safety crisis of distracted driving.

"Stop what you're doing. Take out your wireless device. Read out loud the last text message you received," AT&T's campaign begins. "Would reading or responding to that text message while driving be worth causing a serious accident? When you look at it that way, there's no text that couldn't wait."

The national campaign will feature true stories of the text messages that were sent or received before someone was seriously injured or killed in a traffic accident caused by distracted driving.

One message begins with a text "where u at?" and a mother saying "This is the text my daughter was reading when she drove into oncoming traffic."

The nationwide ad campaign also also includes the message "No text is worth dying over" and the campaign's slogan: "Txtng & Drivng ... It Can Wait."

The campaign will be rolled out in the next month and include print, radio, TV and online advertising, as well as in-store signs and messages inserted into bills.

The company has also launched a website, www.att.com/txtngcanwait, with information aimed at parents, teachers, and young people, who are most likely to be involved in an accident while text messaging, according to state and federal statistics.

"While our campaign is important for all drivers, we're particularly focused on youth," AT&T said in announcing the campaign.

Since announcing an initiative aimed at increasing awareness of the dangers of text messaging in September 2009, AT&T has prohibited its 280,000 employees from texting and driving, incorporated a safety message on the plastic sheets that protect most new handset cellphone screens and is incorporating the message into the company's catalogs and others sales products, marketing and promotional materials.

Continue reading " AT&T aiming to prevent distracted driving accidents caused by text messaging " »

A woman faces drunk driving charges after a Chicago car accident Tuesday night that killed one woman and seriously injured a 9-year-old girl who was ejected from the vehicle, the Sun-Times reported.

The accident happened about 10:15 p.m. on Interstate 57 on the city's Far South Side.

A Ford Escort was northbound near Halsted Street when the female driver loss control, crossed several lanes of traffic, and drove off the right embankment into a light pole, according to Illinois State Police.

A 9-year-old girl, who was sitting in the back seat, was ejected from the vehicle and landed in the grass, where the light pole fell on top of her.

The driver of the vehicle was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with "non-life threatening" injuries, police reported.

The woman riding in the front passenger seat of the Escort was transported to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers in Evergreen Park where she was pronounced dead at 10:24 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

The driver, who is reportedly the mother of the 9-year-old girl, was charged with DUI and those charges could be upgraded, according to state police.

During the crash investigation, an intoxicated motorist attempted to pass the accident scene and was arrested for violating Scott's Law.

Scott’s Law increases the penalties for drivers who don’t yield or move over for stopped emergency vehicles.

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.