Articles Posted in Car Accident

The Chicago personal injury lawyers at Abels & Annes wish each of you a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. Whether on the road, on a boat or elsewhere with friends and family, please stay safe and celebrate responsibly.

Local law officials recently unveiled their plans to help reduce the risk of car accidents in Chicago and elsewhere over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will be operating hundreds of additional seat belt enforcement zones. They’ll be enforcing seat belt regulations as the “Click It or Ticket” campaign celebrates its 10th anniversary. They will also cracking down on intoxicated drivers — one of the primary causes of motor vehicle accidents during this summer kickoff weekend.”Memorial Day is a special time dedicated to the remembrance and reconciliation of those in armed forces who gave their lives to protect our values, freedom and democracy,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig. “The holiday weekend serves as an historical, symbolic and solemn time, often spent with family and friends, and shouldn’t be tainted by impaired drivers or other law violators. If Illinois motorists plan to travel over Memorial Day weekend, we strongly encourage them to continue to drive sober and buckle up, every trip, every time.”

Our Chicago car accident attorneys understand that drinking and driving is a primary threat over any holiday weekend. If you’re busted you can face jail time, a number of fines, license revocation, criminal charges, insurance rate hikes and much more. Drunk driving accidents frequently change lives — or end them.

“The Illinois State Police is committed to making this summer as safe as possible through directed enforcement initiatives,” said Illinois State Police Director Hiram Grau, “We are encouraged by the increase in the number of motorists who are wearing seat belts, and are optimistic the combination of awareness, seat belt compliance and enforcement will help reduce fatalities on Illinois roadways.”

Estimates, from 2010 data show that the 12:00 a.m. to 2:59 a.m. time period resulted in nearly 100 motorist deaths on Illinois roadways. The 3:00 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. time period was the second most deadly time for traffic accidents.

Nearly $2 million in federal funds has been made available to the Illinois State Police, the IDOT and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Police for the increased patrol. In addition to these funds, more than 500 local law enforcement agencies will be stepping up their efforts to keep motorists safe this weekend to enforce impaired driving patrols for the next two-weeks.

More than 50 percent of these patrol units will operate late-evening hours (11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). The state should expect to see more than 60 roadside impaired driving enforcement safety checks.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were nearly 11,000 fatalities from traffic accidents involving a drunk driver in 2009 in the United States. These accidents made up more than 30 percent of all traffic accident fatalities for the year. The state of Illinois saw nearly 400 fatalities from traffic accidents that involved an impaired driver in 2009.
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An Illinois injury attorney at Abels & Annes has entered into an agreement to represent a Chicago woman that was injured in a May, 2011 car crash. The incident took place in the area of Milwaukee Avenue & Austin. The plaintiff’s vehicle was rear-ended by another car in traffic.

The collision was actually witnessed by a Chicago police officer who happened to be in the area. That officer handled the investigation.

Our client had an immediate onset of neck and low back pain after the accident. She was seen a short time later at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. There she was diagnosed with neck and back sprain/strain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report this month that found half the cost of car accidents in the U.S. are in 10 states.

Car crashes in Illinois contributed $1.32 billion to the $41 billion annual cost of traffic accidents –enough to rank the state 8th costliest in the nation. Our Chicago personal injury lawyers know most people think of medical bills and the cost of repairing or replacing a vehicle. However, other common costs are lost wages and future medical complications.

“Deaths from motor vehicle crashes are preventable,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden. “Seat belts, graduated driver’s license programs, child safety seats, and helmet use save lives and reduce health care costs.”

Release of the new data coincides with the United Nation’s launch of Decade of Action for Road Safety, a worldwide program aimed at reducing the nearly 2 million deaths per year on the world’s roads.

The report found nearly half of the nation’s costs are in 10 states, which account for $20.4 billion in medical and work-loss costs.

CDC’s data analysis found that the 10 states with the highest medical and work loss costs were:

-California ($4.16 billion)
-Texas ($3.50 billion)
-Florida ($3.16 billion)
-Georgia ($1.55 billion)
-Pennsylvania ($1.52 billion)
-North Carolina ($1.50 billion)
-New York ($1.33 billion)
-Illinois ($1.32 billion)
-Ohio ($1.23 billion)
Tennessee ($1.15 billion)

The CDC reports the cost of crashes involving teens is nearly $1 billion.

“It’s tragic to hear that anyone dies on our nation’s roads. But it’s especially so when the person who loses his or her life is a child or teenager,” said Linda Degutis, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Child passenger safety laws and comprehensive graduated driver licensing laws are proven to protect young lives. We encourage states to strengthen and enforce these laws to help keep more of our young people safe.”

The following strategies are recommended for reducing costs:

-Primary seat belt laws. Seat belt use reduces the risk of death by about half for those seated in the front seat.

-Strong passenger safety policies, including age-appropriate safety seats. As we reported earlier this year on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog, the federal government has released revised recommendations for keeping your child safe in the vehicle.

-Comprehensive graduated driver’s licensing programs. As we have previously reported, Illinois is a leader in this area. GDL programs have been shown to reduce accidents involving 16 year olds by up to 40 percent.

-Motorcycle helmet laws. Helmets reduce the risk of death by one-third and reduce the risk of brain injury by 69 percents.

“These preventable costs are a reflection of the terrible suffering of American families whose loved ones are killed or injured on the roads,” said Norman Mineta, chairman of Make Roads Safe North America and the longest serving Secretary of Transportation in U.S. history. “It is time for all of us to take action to save lives at home and around the globe.”

Illinois’ $1.32 billion costs break down as follows:

-$15 million medical costs
-$1.31 billion work loss costs.

-$615 million (47 percent) motor-vehicle occupants.

-$135 million (10 percent) motorcycle costs.

-$24 million (2 percent) bicycle accident costs.

-$168 million (13 percent) pedestrian accident costs.

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A Chicago area auto accident in 2010 has led to a man from Aurora, Illinois been sentenced to 4 years in prison for aggravated DUI with bodily harm, a class 4 felony, according to the Kane County Chronicle. The defendant was sentenced earlier this month by an Associate Judge.

The DUI accident took place on July 30, 2010 around 4 PM. The 40-year-old defendant was driving a 2002 GMC Sierra pickup southbound in the right lane on Route 31 in North Aurora. As the driver approached Airport Road, he swerved into oncoming traffic in an attempt to avoid a vehicle that slowed to make a right turn in front of him.

When the defendant crossed the center line, he hit a 2000 Mazda MVP minivan that was stopped in the northbound lanes waiting to make a left turn. The DUI driver then fled the scene on foot, but was later located and taken into police custody.

While some are calling for less government, a recent report found many citizens are in support of additional laws to improve highway safety, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. A recently released survey, put out just as the United Nations kicks off its ‘Decade of Action on Road Safety’ campaign, illustrates Americans’ desire for more enforcement to help decrease the risks of car accidents in Chicago and elsewhere across the United States.Our Chicago car accident lawyers support the global campaign to help reduce the number of highway injuries and deaths.

“Despite shrinking federal and state transportation budgets and a public debate over the most appropriate role of government, it’s clear that a majority of Americans want government officials to do more – not less – about highway safety,” said AAA President and CEO Bob Darbelnet. “From passing and enforcing laws about teen drivers and distracted driving to programs that improve the safety of our roadways and add safety equipment to vehicles, there are many steps government can take reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths in the U.S.”

Car accidents continue to rank as one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

Numerous countries and public institutions have all jumped on board with the campaign and are actively endorsing the Decade of Action.

“At a time when more and more U.S. highway safety agencies are adopting “Toward Zero Death” goals, it is very heartening to see motorist support for more, not less action by government to make our roads safer,” added J. Peter Kissinger, President of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, that commissioned this survey.

There were more than 10,111,000 vehicles that were involved in police-reported accidents in the United States in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. More than 90 percent of these reported accidents involved passenger vehicles. Nearly 50,500 of the crashes resulted in fatalities, and nearly 80 percent of the fatalities occurred to the occupants of passenger vehicles. In total, more than 25,000 of those involved in passenger vehicle accidents lost their lives in that year. Additionally, another 2.35 million occupants suffered injuries.

The Global Action Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety can be found on the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration website.

-62 percent of Americans say the U.S. needs more laws to prevent dangerous behavior on the road — only 17 percent disagree.

-57 percent of Americans say their state needs to do more to make the roads safer — only 11 percent disagree.

-86 percent believe all new drivers should be required to complete a driver’s education course.

-A majority of Americans believe the responsibility for making cars safer rests with both manufacturers and the government.

Worldwide car accident statistics:

-1.3 million motorists die on the world’s roads each year.

-3.5 million are injured.

-Road deaths are projected to rise to 1.9 million by 2020.

-By 2015 road deaths will be the leading health burden for children.
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