Articles Posted in Car accidents

Car accidents | February 4, 2016

Have you ever had anyone tell you that it’s against state law to drive without your shoes on? If so, you should know that this is actually just a common myth. It is not against the law in any state to be barefoot while you drive a car or truck. It’s also not against the law to drive barefoot at the federal level.

It is worth noting that some other vehicles could have laws regulating barefoot driving—like motorcycles. For your daily car driving, though, you can wear shoes or keep them off, as you’d like.

Car accidents | January 7, 2016

A Cadillac Escalade flipped over after running into the median in Bartlett, Illinois. It was just a single-car accident, but it still put many people in the hospital, as five passengers and the driver were all hurt. On top of that, an 81-year old woman passed away.

As of the last reports, one of the passengers—a 16-year-old boy—was suffering from injuries that were life-threatening.

Car accidents | December 10, 2015

There’s a learning curve with driving, which is why teens are often a high-risk group. They simply don’t have time behind the wheel and they don’t have experience. Classes and sessions with instructors are meant to help them before they’re allowed to drive on their own, but teens should drive with parents or other adults as much as possible, even after getting a license. This builds experience and helps them get comfortable behind the wheel.

Teens are also encouraged to avoid distractions. This means not texting or talking on a cell phone while driving. It also means not driving with too many other people in the car, not eating behind the wheel and not playing the music too loudly. Attention needs to be paid fully to the road at all times, especially for those who haven’t been driving for long.

Car accidents | December 4, 2015

2015 has not been a safe year on the roads in Illinois. Studies have shown that deadly car accidents are on the rise across the state. This is also true in nearby Missouri.

In Illinois, there have been a total of 911 fatal wrecks as of Dec. 4, 2015. On this same date in 2014, the total was just 862. That’s 49 more deadly crashes over that time, and December is just beginning. December can often be a dangerous month due to fresh snow and the holiday season, both which can contribute to accidents.

Car accidents | November 5, 2015

Car accidents happen for a lot of reasons, but one study claims that most of them come from the same thing: Drivers who eat while they’re behind the wheel. In fact, the study says that eating leads to as many as 80 percent of all wrecks.

The study also says that eating on the road causes 65 percent of near-crashes.

Car accidents | September 17, 2015

A 58-year-old woman was behind the wheel of a car in Chicago when she abruptly drove through two lanes of traffic and left the road; police still don’t know what caused her to do it. Her car bounced up over the curb and then slammed into a bus shelter.

There were numerous people in the shelter, and seven of them were injured. At least five of them were in critical condition, and one person even commented that it was shocking they had survived at all. One of the injured was a pregnant woman of 19.

Car accidents | July 31, 2015

Recent statistics compiled by the National Safety Council and Chicago-area news reporters indicate that car accidents in Illinois appear to be on an upward trend. In fact, those numbers show that the number of motor vehicle crashes in 2013 increased by 4 percent statewide than the previous year. Even more troubling, those statistics indicate that an average of 782 car accidents occurred each day throughout the state, resulting in almost 1,000 fatalities. As of late December 2014, at least 898 people had lost their lives due to car accidents on Illinois roadways. Here are some more facts about Illinois car accidents:

— Some safety experts suspect that lower gas prices may be fueling the uptick in fatal car accidents. The logic being that cheaper gas results in drivers logging more miles. Increasing their overall chances of experiencing car accidents.

Car accidents | June 25, 2015

The attorney for a family injured by a drunk driver says that an insurance company has failed to compensate victims of that crash. At the heart of the dispute is a November 2011 accident between a drunk driver and a minivan. The two-car accident took place in Oak Brook, Illinois, after authorities say a drunk driver slammed his vehicle head-on into a minivan occupied by a mother and two 6-year-old girls. The victims in the minivan were reportedly returning home after getting ice cream.

Police later determined that the drunk driver was more than two times beyond the legal blood alcohol limit around the time of the accident. That driver is now serving a seven-year prison sentence following his conviction for aggravated DUI. The victim’s car accident attorney says that although the defendant had no license to drive and was in the country illegally, he did have valid car insurance.

Car accidents | November 22, 2013

Dangerous behavior once associated with young people has begun to spread to older drivers. Smart phone ownership has risen sharply among people over 30. Along with it has come an unfortunate increase in the percentage of older drivers who admit to distracted driving. The increase in distracted driving is likely to result in an increase in car accidents caused by drivers who are paying attention to their phones instead of the safe operation of a motor vehicle. The increase was tracked in a survey conducted by State Farm.

Since 2011, smart phone ownership levels are up 26 percent among drivers in the 30-39 age bracket. Those levels now equal ownership among 18-29 year-old drivers. In the 40-49 year-old age bracket, ownership rose 35 percent, with 82 percent of drivers in this age group now owning the devices. For many, a smart phone represents an overwhelming temptation to access the Internet, text or talk while behind the wheel. Smart phones with hands-free capability may offer the illusion of safe use, as studies have shown little difference between the distraction caused by hand-held and hands-free calls.

Car accidents | October 15, 2013

Several studies have confirmed a phenomenon known as illusory superiority. That is the phenomenon that causes relatively high percentages of people to identify themselves as above average. In terms of driving, roughly 80 percent of people consider themselves to be above-average drivers. Some studies have gone so far as to suggest that the less competent the person, the more likely they are to overrate their abilities. Those who cause car accidents may be among the most confident in their driving abilities. If you have

A recent study found that 80 percent of college students texted while driving. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the people who admitted to texting and driving believed that they were better at the dangerous behavior than other drivers. This belief was particularly prevalent among men. While there was little to no difference in the percentage of females and males who texted while driving, men were far more likely to fail to appreciate the danger inherent in the behavior.