Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog

Safety advocates are challenging teenagers to create a public service announcement aimed at reminding young drivers of the dangers of using cell phones or text messaging while driving.

As we reported on our Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog, a new study by Seventeen Magazine suggests that teenagers understand the dangers but ignore the risks. Officials hope speaking to them in their own language will help reduce the risk of Chicago car accidents and traffic crashes caused by teen drivers throughout the country.

The “National Two-Second Turnoff Day Video Challenge” will encourage young drivers to take two seconds to turn off their cell phone before climbing behind the wheel — about the same amount of time it takes to get into an accident by taking their eyes off the road.

The challenge runs from Aug. 2 to Sept. 10 and the winning video will be aired during National Two Second Turnoff Day on Sept. 17. The video will also be part of the national Distracted Driving Summit scheduled for Sept. 21.

A teen driver entry form is available here.

“One in four teen drivers say they’ve texted behind the wheel, and that’s a trend we’ve got to confront head on,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This contest is an innovative and fun way to get teens involved in spreading the word about the importance of keeping their eyes on the road – and off their phones.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 6,000 motorists are killed and more than 500,000 are injured each year in accidents caused by distracted drivers.

“Eighty-Six percent of teens know that distracted driving is dangerous-and they do it anyway,” says Ann Shoket, editor in chief of Seventeen Magazine. “This contest helps teens hammer the real danger of driving while distracted to prevent accidents and save lives.”

A total of 164 motorists were killed in Illinois car accidents involving young drivers in 2008, according to government statistics.
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Driving with a pet in your vehicle is fun, but not a good idea. As a distracted driving habit, it ranks right up there with using a hand-held cell phone and can increase your risk of being involved in a serious or fatal Chicago car accident.

The Breaking News Center reports a new survey by AAA has found that two out of three dog owners routinely drive with their pets in the car.An 80-pound dog exerts more than one ton (2,400 pounds) of force during a 30 mph accidents. “As about 40 percent of Americans own dogs. We see this as an increasingly big problem,” said Beth Mosher, spokeswoman for AAA in Illinois.

The Humane Society of the United States estimates there are more than 77 million dogs in the United States — or about one dog for every four people.

While the site of a dog hanging its head out a car window is nothing new, the behavior of drivers with pets has grown increasingly dangerous, including drivers who keep a dog in their lap or who feed or water their pet while driving through traffic. Additionally, emergency crews report that dogs can become aggressive in protection of an owner in the wake of an accident. The Illinois State Police reports dogs have had to be shot in order to get medical aid to a vehicle’s occupants.

A survey sponsored by AAA and Kurgo, a company that makes pet restraint systems, found that 55 percent of owners who travel with their dogs admit to petting them while driving. One in five drivers held a dog in their lap.

Other dangerous habits included feeding or watering a dog or playing with a dog while the vehicle was in motion. Fewer than 1 in 5 travelers used a restraint system to limit distractions and ensure pet safety.
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A Chicago car accident on the Northwest Side resulted in the death of a 4-year-old boy on Sunday morning, ABC7 reported.

The car in which the boy and a 2-year-old were riding was eastbound on Fullerton Avenue at Kilbourne Avenue when it rear-ended another car. Both cars then went careening into other vehicles. The driver of the car the boy was riding in was taken into police custody. The 4-year-old North Saint Louis Avenue boy was taken to Children’s Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The 2-year-old passenger and the driver of one of the other vehicles were also transported to the hospital. The Major Accident Investigation Unit is investigating.

Our Chicago car accident lawyers frequently talk about the dangers faced by teen drivers on the road. But it is our ever-growing population of older drivers who are the fastest-growing at-risk category.

The Washington Post reports that drivers over the age of 75 were more likely than any other age group to be involved in a fatal crash. They were also twice as likely to say they planned to drive into their 90s than those ages 65 to 74.Meanwhile, the percentage of those over 75 who remain licensed to drive has increased in the last decade, from 73 percent to 78 percent. And the 30 million senior drivers on the road could double in the next two decades as the Baby Boomers hit the road to retirement. The resulting conversation about when it’s time to hang up the keys “is happening all across the United States in families up and down the streets every day,” said Elinor Ginzler, a senior vice president of AARP. “It’s a huge issue.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 4,268 motorists over the age of 70 were killed in car accidents in 2008 — significantly more than the 3,775 who died in 1975. The elderly population has also doubled during that time, from 14.5 million to 27.5 million.

Drivers are living longer and they are dealing with debilitating illnesses — including heart disease, Parkinson’s, dementia, Alzheimer’s and diabetes — which can make driving an increasingly dangerous proposition.

“In the old days, or even 20 years ago, people just did not live long enough for this to be a problem,” said Elin Schold-Davis, head of the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Older Driver Initiative, who notes that some older drivers are taking potent medications that fog concentration. “People are living with a level of impairment that is unprecedented.”

A total of 163 drivers over the age of 65 were killed in Illinois car accidents in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The federal government offers driving resources for older adults and families. Topics include:

-Safe driving for older adults
-Driver transition education
-Talking with older drivers
-Screening and evaluation
-Medication and older drivers
-Adapting the vehicle for older adults
-Understanding and influencing older drivers
-Driving safely and aging gracefully
-Family and friends concerned about an older driver
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Family members who lose loved ones in Chicago car accidents or traffic accidents elsewhere in Illinois will be allowed to buy official memorial markers under a new state law, the Herald-Review reported. The program would permit the markers to then be installed by the Illinois Department of Transportation near the scene of the accident. Technically, such memorials were not permitted under previous law, although road crews often left them alone if they were small and not distracting to passing motorists. The new program, which was signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn, is similar to a program already in place for the victims of drunk driving accidents.

In addition to a traditional burial plot, families frequently wish to commemorate the spot where a motorist was last alive. In Australia, a study suggested that as many as 1 in 5 highway fatalities have been honored with a roadside memorial.

The origin of roadside markers in the United States can be traced to the early Hispanic settlers of the Southwest; they were used to mark the place where a coffin was set while pallbearers rested during a funeral procession from the church to the graveyard.