Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog

Chicago auto accident lawyers are set to represent a Wisconsin resident that was injured in an Illinois car crash. The accident took place back in July of this year.

The plaintiff was driving her 1999 Honda Accord eastbound on Montrose Avenue. In the 4900 block of Montrose she put her turn signal on and slowed to make a left turn. At that time a woman driving a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix rear-ended her.

Over the next several days the plaintiff developed neck pain and headaches due to the accident. She then sought treatment with a medical doctor in the north suburbs of Chicago. The physician also referred her for a course of physical therapy.

Our Chicago car accident lawyers urge parents to speak to their teens about the dangers of distracted driving during National Teen Driver Safety Week this week, Oct. 17 to 24.

As we reported recently on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog, parents can have a dramatic impact on a teenager’s safety behind the wheel. Car accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers ages 15 to 20, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Teenagers are at high risk of virtually every poor driving decision imaginable, including drunk driving, speeding, not wearing seat belts, distracted driving, poor night driving and riding with too many young passengers in the car.The Chicago Breaking News Center reports that AAA and the Illinois Department of Transportation is launching a new website aimed at teenage drivers, www.illinoisteendriving.com/

The Chicago Tribune reports that Allstate Insurance, Verizon Wireless, BMW and Liberty Mutual Insurance are among the organizations designing and implementing safety programs aimed at teaching teenagers about the dangers of distracted driving.

Authorities cite tougher laws and better driver training for a 50 percent reduction in teen driving fatalities, form 146 in 2007 to 71 last year. But there is still much work to be done. A separate study we reported on recently found that teens largely understand the risks of distracted driving, they just ignore them. As a parent, we urge you to speak to your teen driver early and often about the need to stay safe behind the wheel.

The dangers are real; the statistics don’t lie:

-In 2008, about 20 percent of all crashes involved some form of driver distraction.

-More than 5,000 people a year are killed in distracted driving car accidents; about 450,000 are injured.

-Drivers under the age of 20 are most at-risk for being involved in a serious or fatal accident caused by distracted driving. Drivers ages 20 to 29 are the group with the next-highest risk.

-Those using hand-held devices while driving are four times more likely to get into a serious accident.

-Drivers using a cell phone — whether hand-held or hands-free — impair their reactions as much as someone driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08, the legal limit for drunk driving in the United States.

A report by Allstate Insurance found that texting is a teen’s greatest distraction behind the wheel. More than 4 in 5 teens admitted to using a cell phone while driving — fewer than 1 in 4 admitted to drinking and driving.
Continue reading

Daniel Green, a 36-year-old emergency crew dispatcher for the Department of Water Management became a hero on Sunday night after rescuing someone from a burning car after witnessing a single vehicle Chicago car accident, according to WGN news. Just before 11 PM Green was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Pershing Road and Western Avenue when a northbound pickup truck crashed into a support beam for railroad tracks overhead. After impact, the truck became engulfed in flames.

The City of Chicago worker and another bystander immediately rushed to rescue the driver of the pickup truck . They had to force the driver side door open and carry the unconscious driver away from the vehicle and wait for paramedics to arrive. by the time the car door was opened, several other good Samaritans arrived to help.

Green thought the driver would have died if they didn’t get them out of the vehicle. Police officers that responded to the accident stated the driver was semi conscious when he was taken away by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital. He is reportedly in stable condition.

State Farm has released new information that shows October is still a very dangerous month for teens being involved in Illinois car crashes, and accidents nationwide. They made this determination by looking at data collected over the past seven years, and the greatest amount of claims filed by 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds occurs in October. Claims go up around 15% compared to other months.

Approximately one out of four states have October as the most dangerous months for teen crashes, and about 70% of all states show October as being in its top three months. A State Farm spokesperson says that auto accidents are the number one killer of teens.

Research from State Farm shows that while 70% of teenage drivers say they are nervous about being involved in an auto accident or injuring someone, 57% of those teen drivers admit to texting or reading while at the wheel.