Articles Posted in Car accidents

Car accidents | January 5, 2017

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a new rule this month regarding communication between motor vehicles. Vehicle-to-vehicle technology allows for the sharing of important information such as speed, direction and location of nearby cars and trucks. When combined with things like driver warnings and auto-braking, this technology can help prevent accidents that even attentive drivers could suffer. The NHTSA is proposing the rule in the hopes that setting up a standard format allows competing vehicle makers to create compatible vehicle-to-vehicle technology.

Critical mass

Car accidents | December 12, 2016

The weather outside is frightful—and so are the nation’s highways. The first snows of the winter season often create havoc on the highways because drivers who haven’t dealt with ice and snow for many months seem to have forgotten how to drive in the stuff, and multi-vehicle pileups are often the result.

Chicago has already seen some morning pileups on the roads involving multiple vehicles due to a combination of slick roads, fog, and driver error. The first measurable snowfall in the Chicago area for the season resulted in an pileup on the Jane Addams Expressway with at least eight vehicles involved.

Car accidents | December 2, 2016

If you’re thinking of calling Uber, Lyft, or even a taxi for your next ride, you may want to reconsider and get a rental instead. While national attention has been focused on the standoff between traditional taxi services and the innovate ridesharing services, another important factor got overlooked: the safety of the vehicles themselves.

More than 1 in 3 vehicles-for-hire in the U.S. has a recall out on it that hasn’t been completed. In major cities like Seattle and Chicago, there are no regulations requiring that taxis stay current with recalls. Uber and Lyft don’t require drivers to keep current either. Chicago does require taxi medallion holders to keep their vehicles “undamaged and safe,” but it puts all of the responsibility for doing so on the license holder. It’s unclear what follow-up steps, if any, are done to make sure that drivers are complying. No specific law makes attending to a recall mandatory.

Car accidents | October 12, 2016

As attorneys serving Chicago residents, we handle a lot of personal injury cases involving car accidents. In fact, we handle too many of these cases. Even though it is widely-believed that car accidents keep lawyers in business, we want you to know that we do not need or want this much business. We would rather see our neighbors remain whole and healthy instead.

Periodically, we like to remind motorists in this busy part of Illinois that they do have a certain degree of control on our roadways. By staying alert to what is happening on the road, the current weather conditions and the behavior of other drivers, it is possible to avoid some car accidents. Abiding by traffic laws at all times is also a good preventive measure. While it is impossible to predict the driving habits of other motorists, practicing safety at all times can equip you to avoid at least some collisions.

Car accidents | August 17, 2016

There is little disagreement when it comes to the idea that drunk driving is dangerous. Likewise, few people believe that distracted driving is a safe activity. The general agreement on these topics does not stop people from drinking and driving, or from checking their phones while behind the wheel, but it does, at least, register with people that these behaviors should be avoided. Drowsy driving does not share the same level of agreement and understanding when it comes to the driving public.

The Department of Transportation reported that 3,179 deaths were the result of distracted drivers in 2014. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed drunk driving as the cause of death for just under 10,000 people that same year. Drowsy driving is a problem that fits somewhere in between. According to a recent study, fatigued drivers claim the lives of roughly 5,000 per year. 

Car accidents | July 8, 2016

The Illinois State Police are reporting that one person died in a car accident on the Fourth of July, while two others were injured. The injured parties were both drivers in their respective cars, while the person who died was the passenger in one of the vehicles.

The crash happened at around 4:03 p.m., while it was raining heavily. A 19-year-old man was driving down Eden Road, right by Pearce Lane. He was behind the wheel of a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, and he was heading north. The passenger who was killed was in his car — his or her name has not yet been given out by the authorities.

Car accidents | June 7, 2016

Technology on cars is always getting better, but that doesn’t just mean it’s easier to stream your favorite music or put a movie on in the back seat for the kids. A lot of tech advancements can actually help to prevent accidents, including the following:

Front crash detection systems: These systems simply keep an eye on what’s in front of the vehicle, how fast it’s moving, and how quickly the vehicle is closing in on that object. The system can then alert the driver if a crash is coming. Some of the more advanced systems can even apply the brakes.

Car accidents | June 3, 2016

June has arrived. For many teens, school is letting out. Many new drivers will be hitting the roads, some for the first time. The increased freedom for young drivers brings with it a rise in deadly car accidents. The AAA has labeled the time between Memorial Day and the start of the next school year the “100 deadliest days.” During this time, roughly 1,000 people will die in fatal car accidents involving teen drivers.

New drivers are at a greater risk of being involved in a serious traffic accident than others. Part of the problem is inexperience, but other issues also plague younger drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the use of hand-held cell phones by teen drivers has increased substantially in recent years. The Pew Research Center reports that teens send an average of 80 text messages per day. The rise of cell phones and the heavy use of text messaging as a means of communication is not something the parents of teen drivers had to deal with when they learned to drive.

Car accidents | March 29, 2016

People often think of lung injuries as injuries that happen due to sickness or inhalation of hazardous materials, but, while they definitely can occur that way, they can also happen in car accidents.

A car accident can cause massive trauma to the chest, especially in older vehicles without airbags. The driver could be in the most danger, as he or she could directly strike the steering wheel. When these types of injuries occur, internal injuries to the lungs can be more dangerous than any external injuries.

Car accidents | March 11, 2016

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury in an auto accident, you may be wondering if the injury is going to bring about any increased risks that go along with aging. Though experts do admit that this specific link hasn’t been studied too much, they do believe that the risk could go up in a few different ways.

For one thing, a study that was done by the Institute of Medicine back in 2008 suggested that a person who had a traumatic brain injury would then be more likely to suffer a seizure. Additionally, the study found that people who had poorly controlled seizures saw a larger risk of passing away earlier, when compared to those who did not suffer from this same ailment. In this sense, a brain injury could increase the risk of death as someone gets older.