North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates

Elderly Drivers in Illinois May Increase the Dangers for Others

Published on: August 19, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Legal Articles | August 19, 2015

As people age, they may begin to experience a decline in their driving abilities. Drivers over 75 may have more of a chance of causing a fatal accident.

Older drivers have many more years of driving experience than the younger generations. As a result, many senior citizens have been able to maintain safe driving records. Unfortunately, a person’s driving ability does not necessarily stay steady while one ages. Chicago drivers who are over a certain age may become more likely to cause a serious car crash than younger drivers, states Consumer Reports. Senior citizens over 80 may be six times more likely to be in a fatal collision than others.

What Constitutes a Defective Product Under Illinois Law?

Published on: August 19, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Defective Products | August 19, 2015

Products liability law is a field of legal theory that attempts to protect consumers from products they purchase. It is generally accepted that manufacturers have a duty to prevent products that they introduce into the marketplace from containing defects in their design or manufacture that pose unreasonably dangerous risks to the public.

Without getting too complicated, there are generally three ways in which a manufacturer could incur liability for defective and unreasonably dangerous products. The first way is probably the most well-known. This is usually a particular manufacturing flaw in a product that has left a factory or other manufacturing facility. A good example of this type of defect might be automobile brakes that contain fasteners that disintegrate soon after installation.

Helping Yourself by Reporting Potential Workplace Accidents

Published on: August 13, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Work Accidents | August 13, 2015

The current labor market throughout the country is still rather tight due to the 2008 economic downturn. For many workers who are fortunate to still be employed, simply having a job right now is a blessing. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of these conditions is that the tight job market compels many of these workers to perform dangerous tasks that they might not otherwise undertake under better labor market conditions.

You need to know that putting your employer on notice of an imminent danger in your workplace is a good first step to preserving any future claims if you should get hurt later at work. Generally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration protects workers from retaliation in cases where they have asked an employer to remove a specific danger that a reasonable person would agree could cause an imminent danger to employee health if not corrected.

The Link Between Hospital Staffing and Medical Malpractice

Published on: August 6, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Medical malpractice | August 6, 2015

When most people think of the concept of medical malpractice, they imagine a situation where a doctor’s error has clearly injured a patient. Things like conducting surgery on the wrong site of a patient’s body or prescribing the wrong types of medications to treat a patient’s illnesses are clear-cut examples of medical malpractice.

However, it’s important for you to know that medical malpractice also occurs whenever any medical practitioner fails to treat patients in his or her care with the same standard of care that is generally accepted throughout the entire medical community.

Just How Common Are Car Accidents in Illinois?

Published on: July 31, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

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.

Semi-Truck Crash Claims Life of Former Illinois Representative

Published on: July 23, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Truck Accidents | July 23, 2015

On the afternoon of July 10, a former Illinois State Representative died after a semi tractor-trailer collided with his vehicle along a Michigan highway. According to the Michigan State Police, the former representative of the Evanston, Illinois area, H. Woods “Woody” Bowman was traveling in a Cadillac along with his wife between Paw Paw and Kalamazoo, Michigan, when the tractor-trailer slammed into the rear of his vehicle.

The accident occurred in Van Buren County, Michigan, along I-94 near the Mattawan exit. Authorities say the 51-year-old driver of the semi-truck may have been distracted by firefighters who are attempting to put out the blaze in the highways median at the time of the accident. Authorities say the force of the impact between the tractor-trailer and the victim’s Cadillac caused a secondary collision between the Cadillac and another car. The tractor-trailer responsible for the original collision then struck another semi.

Federal Road Safety Agency Recommends Universal Anti-Crash Systems

Published on: July 16, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Legal Articles | July 16, 2015

Vehicle safety technology has come a long way since cars first entered the mainstream more than a century ago, but there is still more that can be done to prevent car accidents from happening and keep motorists safer when they do. The National Transportation Safety Board recently renewed its call for widespread implementation of new crash prevention technology that they say could help prevent thousands of traffic deaths and injuries each year.

In the early days of automotive transportation, cars lacked even such basic safety features as doors and windshields. Later on, headlights, windshield wipers and turn signals were introduced, and gradually the array of standard-issue safety systems grew to include relatively modern technologies such as seat belts, roll bars and airbags. The most recent round of car safety innovation has been even more advanced, often using specialized computer systems to help keep drivers and passengers safe.

Trench Safety and Your Illinois Workers’ Compensation Claim

Published on: July 9, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Work Accidents | July 9, 2015

Many people don’t realize it, but trenching and excavation is a key component of almost every type of construction. This is true whether pouring concrete foundations using a trench or excavating earth to allow maintenance on buried pipes. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, at least two workers perish each month in trench collapses.

Generally, a trench is defined as any man-made cut or cavity in the Earth’s surface, not wider than 15 feet at its deepest point. However, trenches can also be deeper than that depending on their requirements. Trenches that are 20 feet in depth or greater require a registered professional engineer to design protective shoring intended to protect workers.

Is Keeping a Patient Drugged a Form of Medical Malpractice?

Published on: June 30, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

Medical malpractice | June 30, 2015

Recent advances in medical sciences mean that many of us will live longer lives than our predecessors. One of the unfortunate consequences of that enhanced longevity is that a significant portion of us will experience having our parents or other loved ones suffer from diseases associated with advanced age. Diseases that primarily affect a patient’s cognitive abilities like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s can make it impossible for those victims to live without full-time supervision and care.

Many people are simply not capable of providing that level of care. Instead, many people rely on nursing homes and other long term care facilities to provide those services for their loved ones. Unfortunately, a handful of these facilities attempt to keep these patients drugged using antipsychotic medications in an effort to control them. Alzheimer’s patients are particularly prone to episodic violent outbursts. Sometimes, medical care providers can abuse antipsychotic medications in an effort to limit such behavior.

Family Still Waiting on Insurance Payout After DUI Accident

Published on: June 25, 2015 | by Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP

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.

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