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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Taking a moment to review safe driving habits can mean the difference between arriving at your destination safely or being involved in a serious or fatal Chicago car accident.

Periodically, we publish safe driving tips both here at Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer blog and on our sister site, Chicago Car Accident Lawyers blog, including advice for safe winter driving.

This latest found of tips "Being a Heads Up Driver," is adapted from information provided by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety:

1) Plan ahead; Check traffic conditions and maps and have your route planned before setting out.

2)Stow electrical devices: Chicago car accidents are frequently caused by distracted drivers. Turn off your phone before you drive. Pull over to a safe location if you need to talk on the phone or make or receive text messages.

3)Prepare kids and pets: Get kids safely situated and seat belted before you start driving. Pull over to safety before attempting to retrieve items or interact with passengers. Also prepare and secure pets, which can become a serious distraction.

4)No eating: Eat before getting behind the wheel or stop and take a break to eat if driving long distances.

5)Store possessions: Stash any loose items that might roll around and distract you from driving.

6)Maintain vehicle: Keep your vehicle well maintained. Make sure you have clean and functioning headlights and directional lighting as well as proper windshield wipers and good tires. Adjust seat positions, climate controls, stereos and other devices while you vehicle is stopped.

7)Dress before you get into the car: It's not a dressing room. Brush your hair, apply make-up, shave and tie your tie before leaving for your destination.

8)Pay attention: Focus and drive safely. Scan the road, avoid distraction and use your mirrors.

9)Evaluate your behavior: Honestly evaluate whether you engage in poor driving habits that would worry you as another driver or pedestrian.

10)Practice: Make safe driving a daily habit.