Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog

Illinois recorded the fewest traffic fatalities since 1923, according to an exhaustive report on 2008 traffic fatalities released by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The Chicago car accident attorneys and the Chicago injury lawyers at Abels & Annes are taking a look at the report in a series of blog here at our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog and our sister site, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog.

"We believe these reductions are evident that Illinois' traffic safety efforts are working," Gov. Pat Quinn said.

While the statistics are encouraging, the simple fact remains that traffic fatalities are a leading killer both in Illinois and nationwide. For most of us, riding in a motor vehicle is the most dangerous activity in our lives.

In 2008, 1,043 people were killed and more than 94,000 injured in Illinois traffic accidents, the vast majority occurred in an around Chicago. But, perhaps because of the poor economy, fewer motorists were on the road: the state reported a 1.6 percent decrease in traffic.

Highlights of "2008 Illinois Crash Facts and Statistics"

Cost
-Total estimated cost of Illinois traffic accidents in 2008 was $6.2 billion
-Each fatality was estimated to cost $1.2 million
-An incapacitating injury was estimated to cost $67,500
-A nonincapacitating injury was estimated to cost $21,800
-A property damage crash was estimated to cost $7,800

Fatal
-1,043 people were killed in 950 fatal Illinois crashes in 2008
-There was an average of 1.1 deaths per fatal crash
-25.2 percent of fatal crashes occurred at intersections
-74.2 percent of fatal crashes occurred on dry roads
-48.2 percent of fatal crashes occurred during daylight hours
-55.7 percent of fatal crashes occurred on urban roads
-29.8 percent of fatal crashes occurred with a fixed object

Alcohol
-44 percent of fatally injured drivers who were tested, tested positive for alcohol
-49.3 percent of fatally injured drivers ages 16 to 24 who were tested, tested positive for alcohol

Pedestrian Accidents
-135 pedestrians were killed in 2008 and 5,423 were injured
-About 9 percent were under 15 years old
-About 15 percent were over the age of 65
-About 40 percent had a positive blood-alcohol content

Motorcycle Accidents
-There were 4,901 motorcycle crashes in 2008, though the number of fatalities decreased by 14 percent

School Bus Accidents
-No school bus passengers were killed; 123 were injured
-No school bus drivers were killed;99 were injured

Tractor Trailer Accidents
-115 people were killed in semi accidents
-5 of the persons killed were truck drivers while 99 were occupants of another vehicle

Train Accidents
-38.5 percent of fatal train crashes happened at crossings with gates
-53.8 percent happened at crossings with control devices other than gates, including flashers and warning signs

Work Zone Accidents
-There were 31 fatal crashes in work zones in 2008 in which 31 people were killed
-Two of the persons killed were road construction workers

Deer
-There were 24,209 crashes involving deer
-Two deer crashes involved fatalities

If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in an accident, call the Chicago injury lawyers and Illinois wrongful death attorneys at Abels & Annes for a free appointment to discuss your rights. Call (866) 99-ABELS. There is no fee unless you win.

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" »

Illinois Car Accident Attorneys from Abels & Annes have resolved an injury claim for a Bartlett woman who was injured in a 2007 accident. The crash occurred at Aurora Avenue and Indian Trail in Aurora, Illinois when the defendant was Southbound on Aurora Avenue and his foot slipped off of the brake and struck a vehicle, knocking said vehicle into our client's car. My client was hit from the rear. After the first impact, the defendant lost control again and the plaintiff for a second time.

Shortly after the collision the plaintiff had pain and discomfort in her neck and left hand, with complaints of dizziness. That evening her pain increased and she had difficulty sleeping.

The pain did not resolve on it’s own and she sought medical care at Saint Alexius Medical Center on 3/24/07 with the abovementioned complaints. A history was taken and our client was examined. X-rays were ordered and pain medicine was prescribed. The x-rays indicated cervical muscle spasms. The ER doctor diagnosed her with cervical strain.

Over the next several days her pain remained and she sought treatment with a medical doctor. When she saw the doctor she had complaints of neck pain and she was examined and the X-rays from the ER were reviewed. The doctor recommended to her that she seek chiropractic treatment if her pain remained.

Over the next week her pain increased. On 4/19/07 she sought treatment with a chiropractor. At that time she had complaints of neck pain, back pain, headaches, dizziness, ear ringing, and numbness in her right big toe. She said her pain was 8 on a scale of 10. The doctor examined her, reviewed the x-rays, and prescribed a course of physical therapy. She was diagnosed at that time with cervical strain/sprain, cervicocranial syndrome, dorsal sprain/strain, dizziness, and sprain/strain of the great toe.

Over the next 2 months the plaintiff went to physical therapy on twenty-three occasions. The therapy consisted of chiropractic adjustments and manipulation, electric stimulation, heat treatment, electrodes, myofacial release, massage, and manual traction.

On 6/25/07 my client was discharged from therapy, however, at that time the doctor noted that the client was still having neck and back pain, headaches, and numbness of the great toe of the right foot. He advised her to return if her condition should exacerbate.

The case settled for $14,000. Nationwide Insurance paid on the claim.

In a relatively rare bit of good news for Detroit, a traffic safety group announced recently that it rated 72 model-year 2009 vehicles as “Top Safety Picks.” The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurance-industry research group, rates brand-new cars each year according to how well they protect passengers in front, side and rear impacts. The press release announcing this year’s picks noted that the 72 models that made the cut this year are more than twice as many as the 2008 crop, and nearly three times the number with the top rating in 2007.

To qualify as a top safety pick, cars, trucks and SUVs must have electronic stability control as a standard or optional feature. Electronic stability control uses computers to automatically detect skids and correct steering by applying brakes in a way that sends the vehicle where the driver is trying to go. Vehicles also must get top scores in IIHS crash tests for front, side and rear impacts, taking into account the availability of safety features like side curtain airbags and correctly designed head restraints. Frontal-impact crash tests are conducted at 40 mph; side crash tests at 31 mph; and rear crash tests measure force on the neck during a 20-mph rear-end accident.

As an Illinois car accident lawyer, I’m interested in vehicle safety ratings in part because not every vehicle deserves an A. Substantial safety defects in new cars (and older ones) are more common than you might think. You may remember the Bridgestone/Firestone tire recall about a decade ago, which affected hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks; those tires are actually blamed for multiple deaths from tire blowouts that caused drivers to lose control at high speeds. Other dangerous flaws in vehicles include improperly attached seatbelts; SUVs and vans prone to rollover accidents; and improperly placed fuel tanks that can burst into flames.

Most accidents are caused by human error -- but even the safest driver in the world isn’t safe when vehicles or their parts have flaws. When a safety flaw in a car causes (or contributes to) a serious auto accident, manufacturers can and should be held legally responsible for the results. A Chicago car accident lawsuit can help victims cover medical bills and other costs of the accident, and compensate them for a serious injury or disability and their pain and suffering. If you’d like to learn more about holding automakers responsible for the safety flaws they leave in their vehicles, please contact Abels & Annes today for a free consultation.

A new study weighs in on an ongoing debate: Is talking on a cell phone truly more distracting than talking to someone in the car with you? According to researchers at the University of Utah, the answer seems to be yes. The study, published Dec. 1 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, asked drivers ages 18 to 26 to chat while they used a sophisticated highway driving simulator. They were asked to tell a friend -- either over the phone or in the “car” -- about a life-threatening situation they’d been in. A control group of drivers not talking at all was also included.

The study found that drivers talking on the phone were four times more likely to miss their exit than drivers talking to a live human in the next seat. About half of the subjects talking on a hands-free phone missed their “highway” exit, while just one-eighth of the drivers talking to a traveling companion missed it. Drivers on the phone were also more likely to drift from their lanes and leave too much following distance between them and the vehicles in front of them. Interestingly, the study found no substantial difference in the driving of people talking to passengers and people not talking at all.

The researchers had several possible explanations for their results. One is “inattention blindness,” a phenomenon in which the brain’s ability to process visual information is actually reduced while the person is talking on the phone or distracted by another abstract task. Another explanation is that passengers in the vehicle can help drivers concentrate by steering or changing the conversation in response to events on the road. In fact, the study found that passengers did talk about traffic with the drivers. It also found that drivers on the phone tended to change the complexity of their sentences and talk more when driving tasks became difficult. Researchers speculated that this might be an attempt to control the conversation, so they didn’t have to pay close attention to it.

I found this study especially interesting in light of the city of Chicago’s 2005 law restricting drivers to hands-free talking only while driving. This is not the first study connecting cell phone use to poor driving, but these rules remain controversial. I sympathize with concerns about freedom, but I believe safety should be the most important consideration. As a Chicago car accident lawyer, I frequently see how physically, financially and emotionally devastating a serious car crash can be. Many of our clients come to us after a death in the family or a serious injury and hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, all caused by someone else’s careless driving (with or without a phone involved).

If you’ve been hurt or lost someone in a serious Chicago auto accident, please contact us today to learn more about filing an Illinois auto accident lawsuit.

According to new federal statistics, your risk of being involved in a fatal traffic accident just got lower. In November, the federal Department of Transportation reported that traffic fatalities actually went down for most groups between 2006 and 2007. The new numbers come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal agency responsible for tracking and preventing auto accidents, through its latest collection of Traffic Safety Facts. These factsheets use data compiled from more than 40,000 crashes around the United States in one calendar year to present crash and fatality rates for specific groups. Groups covered include occupants of cars, large trucks and motorcycles, pedestrians, cyclists, older people and children.

The NHTSA’s research has good news for almost all of those groups. Nearly every group has seen a drop in fatal accidents. Between 2006 and 2007, fatal accidents affecting pedestrians dropped by 2.9%; bicyclists and other cyclists, 9.5%; and large commercial trucks, 3.8%. Among children 14 and younger, there was a 6.9% decrease in fatalities in all types of traffic accident; among drivers 65 and older, the decrease was 1.6%. While the factsheet for auto accidents is still on its way, a preliminary report published in August says accidents among passenger cars, trucks and SUVs dropped by 5.7%, which includes a 7.8% drop in fatal accidents involving just cars. Unfortunately, Illinois alone saw a negligible 0.4% drop in fatal accidents.

The major exception was motorcycle riders and their passengers. (The NHTSA includes riders of scooters and mopeds in its motorcycle statistics.) Motorcyclists actually saw a 7% increase in fatalities between 2006 and 2007. In fact, this reflects a steady climb in motorcycle fatalities over the last decade. The factsheet doesn’t say why this might be, but a separate report (PDF) by the NHTSA shows that more motorcycles are being registered, new motorcycles are likely to be larger, and that the rate of brand-new riders over 40 jumped by more than 200% during the past decade. The report doesn’t speculate on how these facts might influence accident rates, but they’re certainly something for older motorcyclists to consider.

Here in Illinois, 2006 statistics show that we’re fairly good drivers, with our overall fatality rates below the national average and below neighboring states’ rates. But even one traffic fatality is a death that could have been avoided if someone involved had taken a little more care. If you’ve been hurt or lost a loved one in a traffic accident that was someone else’s fault, you have the right to hold that person responsible for the results. In an Illinois car accident lawsuit, you can win money to pay medical bills, repair costs and other financial costs of the accident, as well as financial compensation for intangible but very real injuries like a disability that will forever change your life. If you’d like to learn more, Abels & Annes can help at a free consultation. To speak with one of our experienced Chicago car accident lawyers today, please contact us through our Web site or call (312) 399-8988.