Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog

Brother & sister sustain personal injuries in Chicago rollover car accident, speeding driver flees the scene

August 22, 2009 | By Dave Abels

A brother and sister have been injured in a Chicago rollover car crash on August 16, 2009 in the early morning hours. Chicago personal injury lawyers at Abels & Annes have agreed to represent them in an accident claim against the at fault driver’s insurance carrier.

Our clients were traveling in an SUV on Interstate 55 in the middle lane near Harlem Avenue. The brother, a 36 year old Chicago resident, was driving, and at that time saw headlights coming from behind him. The car looked to be approaching at a speed of 80-100 mph. The speeding car hit an Oldsmobile immediately to their left and the Olds then ran into their SUV. Our clients went into a ditch and their car rolled over twice.

The driver that caused the accident fled the scene. The driver of the Oldsmobile was able to take down the license plate of the hit-and-run vehicle, and the plate was reported to the Illinois State Police who handled the crash investigation. The state police, working with the Stickney Police Department, were able to track down the owner of the vehicle, who admitted involvement in the accident. The hit & run driver was ticketed and has an early October court date in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Chicago Injury Lawyers reach $60,000 truck vs. car accident settlement

August 20, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Chicago personal injury attorneys at Abels & Annes reached a $60,000 settlement today for a client who sustained personal injuries in a February 4, 2009 truck accident.

On the afternoon of the occurrence the plaintiff was driving her vehicle southbound on I-94 just south of I-290 in lane number 3. The defendant was driving his semi-truck southbound on I-94 just south of I-290 in lane number 2. The car crash occurred when the truck driver switched lanes into the plaintiff’s lane and struck her vehicle. The rear passenger’s side of the defendant’s trailer struck the driver’s side of our client’s vehicle. Her car was totaled as a result of the damage caused by the auto accident.

We alleged in the claim that the trucker failed to keep a proper lookout, improperly changed lanes, failed to yield the right of way, was driving at an excessive rate of speed, and failed to exercise due care for the safety of those in the area, including the Plaintiff.

Illinois state police move to address Chicago area motorcycle accidents as Labor Day weekend approaches

August 18, 2009 | By Dave Abels

With Illinois bikers hitting the street in big numbers through the Labor Day weekend and the media focusing on the increase in motorcycle fatalities, the Illinois State Police have announced a new initiative aimed at motorcycle awareness.

The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported Illinois motorcycle accidents are up 22 percent, from 2,180 in 2007 to 2,663 last year.

The Chicago motorcycle accident lawyers at Abels & Annes urge riders and motorists to do your part in reducing motorcycle accidents. Many accidents are caused by other vehicles who either don’t take the time to look for motorcycles or misjudge how fast the much-smaller motorcycles are approaching.

As we reported in a blog last month, fatality statistics are sobering for motorcycle riders across the country. Nationwide, motorcycle fatalities increased for the 11th straight year and accounted for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A total of 5,290 riders were killed in 2008, compared to 5,174 in 2007. The increase came in a year when federal statistics revealed a steep drop in virtually every other category, including a 13 percent decline in motor vehicle fatalities.

On Friday, Illinois State Police Director Jonathon E. Monken was joined by the Illinois Department of Transportation and State Farm Insurance Company to announce efforts to increase motorcycle safety awareness.

“The Illinois State Police continues its commitment towards reducing traffic fatalities to record setting levels through enforcement and education efforts,” said ISP Director Jonathon Monken. “Tragically, however, one area that is quickly on the rise nationally is motorcycle fatalities. We hope by partnering with State Farm and the Illinois Department of Transportation in order to call attention to the nationwide increase in motorcycle fatalities, we will also emphasize motorcycle safety awareness.”The ISP encourages motorcyclists to take a rider safety course to hone their riding skills, and offers the following safety tips for new riders all the way up to seasoned veterans:

– Although Illinois does not mandate wearing a motorcycle helmet, use of approved helmets, protective body wear, boots and gloves is strongly recommended.

– Improve your visibility by wearing brightly colored clothing during the day and reflective clothing at night.

– Be alert for animals alongside and on the roadway, not only in rural areas, but in urban areas as well.

– Don’t ride beyond 80% of your riding capabilities. To do so leaves no margin for the unexpected.

– When riding with another motorcycle, stagger your position. This allows both riders to take evasive action safely should the need occur.

– Don’t become fixed on what’s just beyond your front tire. Be aware of what’s ahead. Safe riders remain aware of developing situations 12-16 seconds ahead. This includes other vehicles, potholes, roadway obstructions, and other potential hazards. This allows time to plan and react in a controlled manner.

– Oil, grease and other fluids from cars and trucks generally collects in the middle of the lane. Avoid these potentially slick areas by riding in the normal wheel tracks of these vehicles.

– In the event emergency braking is required, remember motorcycles have far better stopping capabilities than cars and trucks. As you’re avoiding the hazard, scan for a safe escape route while watching for vehicles approaching from behind.

– Before proceeding through an intersection, check left, check front, check right, and check left again. Checking left first is important because this is the first lane you cross. Continue to scan in the intersection in a clockwise pattern, checking traffic approaching in front, in case that vehicle turns left in front of you. 77% of motorcycle crashes involving another vehicle happen in this manner.

– Don’t lend your motorcycle to someone without knowing his or her skill level and making sure they have the proper license.

– Don’t drink and ride. Alcohol slows reactions and impairs function.

The Chicago personal injury attorneys at Abels & Annes have been advocating motorcycle safety on our blog throughout the summer.

Our summer blog on motorcycle safety can be found by clicking here

Click here to read our post on 10 things all drivers should know about motorcycles.

Chicago car accident – 5 firefighters & 2 civilians injured

August 16, 2009 | By Dave Abels

On the South Side of Chicago, five firefighters and two others were injured when a vehicle and a fire truck collided on Saturday around 5 p.m., according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. The car crash occurred at 67th Street and Jeffery Avenue as the Chicago Fire Department engine was responding to an alarm on South Brandon Avenue.

The fire truck was eastbound on 67th when it was reportedly hit by a car. The engine then hit a pole.

5 firefighters were injured and taken by ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Trinity Hospital, and Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. One was in serious-to-critical condition.

Fatal Chicago area teen DUI crash results in personal injury lawsuit

August 14, 2009 | By Dave Abels

A fatal Chicago suburban car accident involving teens leaving a graduation party earlier this summer has led to a personal injury lawsuit in Kane County Circuit Court.

A 17-year-old from St. Charles St. Charles, has filed suit seeking more than $50,000. Her attorney claims she suffered a broken jaw and a brain injury as a result of the accident June 17. The plaintiff was one of four teenagers in an SUV that went off the road and slammed into trees on the 3100 block of Royal Fox Drive in St. Charles. The accident killed a front-seat passenger from West Chicago.

The lawsuit accuses the teen driver of driving more than 40 mph over the speed limit down the wrong side of the road, high on marijuana and alcohol while driving a group of St. Charles East High School classmates home from a graduation party at 3:30 a.m.

Illinois tougher uninsured motorist law passes

August 12, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Drivers who cause a car accident without automobile insurance face up to a year in jail under a tougher new Illinois uninsured motorist law signed by Gov. Pat Quinn on Friday.

Chicago personal injury attorney Dave Abels was interviewed about the new law earlier this summer and has published several blogs about the need to crack down on uninsured motorists and to raise the state’s mandatory minimum insurance coverage.

“The way the law stands right now it just doesn’t provide real protection for people who are seriously injured in auto accidents,” said Abels, of Abels & Annes, a Chicago law firm that handles car accidents, motorcycle accident and other personal injury claims. “It covers you for small accidents but not the big accidents that you really care about where your life is changed forever.”

The new law makes driving without insurance a misdemeanor criminal offense and carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The old law carried a fine of up to $1,000 and a license suspension of 3 to 6 months.

The new law, which The Southern newspaper noted was heavily supported by lawmakers this spring before heading to Gov. Quinn for his signature, is named after Johnston City native and Southern Illinois University graduate Michael Dean.

Dean was hit and killed by an uninsured driver while driving on Illinois 13 in July 2006.

Abels said the new law is a step in the right direction but noted that Illinois still needs to address its low mandatory insurance limits of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per occurrence.

“No amount of money is going to bring a loved one back or make a family whole again, but $20,000 is a slap in the face,” Abels said. “I have handled car accident death cases where the victim incurred over $500,000 in medical bills.”
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Child severly hurt in Chicago area car accident on I-290

August 10, 2009 | By Dave Abels

In the Chicago western suburb of Westchester, Illinois a 6 year old boy has been critically injured in an auto accident, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The car the boy was riding in hit a truck on the Eisenhower Expressway on Sunday just after 3:30 p.m.

A truck driver had pulled over to the eastbound highway shoulder, according to the Illinois State Police. The truck had pulled over to seek some type of assistance from an IDOT worker.

A short time later a woman driving a Ford Taurus drove onto the shoulder for reasons unknown and rear-ended the truck. The child was a passenger in the Taurus. The child was in a booster seat in the back.

Chicago bike rider severly injured by opening car door

August 8, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Chicago bicycle accident lawyers and Illinois car crash attorneys at Abels & Annes have entered into an agreement to represent a Chicago resident who was critically injured in a bike accident on July 20th. The accident happened when our client was riding his bicycle on W. North Avenue when a driver in a parked car opened her car door as the plaintiff was riding by.

The bicyclist fell to the ground and sustained life threatening injuries. He was taken by ambulance to Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago and diagnosed with internal head injuries and a collapsed lung. He has undergone multiple surgeries since the date of the accident.

The plaintiff has remained in the hospital since the crash, and he is about to be transferred to a long care facility.

Chicago car accident lawyers join in urging motorists to move over, use caution around emergency vehicles

August 6, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Lake County Police are aggressively enforcing laws requiring motorists to move over and slow down for emergency vehicles, according to the Daily Herald

It is a good reminder for all motorists to move over and slow down when approaching emergency vehicles and to yield to emergency vehicles running with lights and sirens.

The Chicago car accident lawyers at Abels & Annes also remind motorists to pay special attention to the vehicles around you in such situations. Driving defensively is the best offense to avoiding an accident that seriously injures you or someone else.

City of Chicago, State of Illinois lead fight against car accidents caused by cell phones

August 4, 2009 | By Dave Abels

With hand-held cell-phone use by drivers banned in Chicago since 2005 and a law awaiting the signature of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, our area is among the nation’s leaders in combating distracted drivers, according to a New York Times article that examines the difficulty states are having in passing such legislation.

The Chicago car accident lawyers at Abels & Annes continue to monitor the impact of cell-phone use and distracted driving on Chicago car accidents and personal injury and wrongful death cases.

This year, state legislators introduced about 170 bills to address distracted driving, but passed fewer than 10.

Chicago passed a ban on hand-held cell phones in 2005 and currently issues about 700 tickets a month. The cost of the fine increase from $75 to $100 earlier this year.

And last month we blogged about two laws awaiting the governor’s signature that will make it illegal to read, compose or send electronic messages while driving or to use a cell phone while driving in a school or construction zone.

“With the increased use of technological devices, distracted driving has become a serious problem in our state and in the nation,” said Secretary of State Jesse White, who pushed for the restrictions. “No driver has any business text messaging while they are driving.”

Studies show drivers continue to identify cell-phone use as a serious problem behind the wheel — just not with them.

A survey of 1,506 people last year by Nationwide Mutual Insurance found, 81 percent of cellphone owners acknowledged that they talk on phones while driving. Yet 98 percent considered themselves safe drivers even though nearly half claimed they had been hit or nearly hit by a driver talking on a phone.

“When we ask people to identify the most dangerous distraction on the highway today, about half – correctly – identify cellphones,” said Bill Windsor, associate vice president for safety at Nationwide. “But they think others are dangerous, not themselves.”

A 2003 Harvard study estimated that cellphone distractions caused 2,600 traffic deaths every year, and 330,000 accidents that result in moderate or severe injuries. Yet the use of cell phones has skyrocketed since then and the advent of text messaging is even more dangerous behind the wheel. From 1995 to 2008, the number of wireless subscribers in the United States increased eightfold, to 270 million, and minutes talked rose 58-fold, according to The Times article.

Five states and the District of Columbia require drivers who talk on cellphones to use hands-free devices. A number of cities, like Chicago, have done the same. However, research shows that using headsets can be as dangerous as holding a phone because the conversation distracts drivers from focusing on the road, according to The Times.

Fourteen states have passed measures to ban texting while driving.

While almost all of us are guilty of driving and talking on the phone, the dangers are very real and Chicago personal injury and wrongful death lawyers continue to see cases where serious and fatal accidents were caused by distracted drivers talking on the phone.
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