Summer is here. Chicago is alive and booming with people, festivals, and events that spread from one end of the town to another. Kids are out of school and tourists are flocking to the Windy City and to the downtown area, adding to the congestion and to the overall atmosphere of a bustling metropolis.
If you talk to people who live in Chicago, you may hear that many of them live for the summers. Wintertime can be rough but the summers in the city are so great that they make winter bearable. While so much surrounding summertime is positive in Chicago and in Illinois, though, there are some negatives that everyone should be aware of as public safety may be at risk.
One of the biggest threats that is present during summer season is that posed by teenage drivers. Out of school for a few months, these drivers are more likely to be on the road at any given time than they are during the other three seasons.
Now, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is dubbing the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day as the 100 Deadly Days of Summer to raise awareness of traffic issues and the dangers that are present. This is the time of year when collisions involving teenage drivers are most common and when fatalities are most likely to result from those crashes.
New data reveals that accidents involving teenage drivers are decreasing across the country, a welcomed statistic that has many excited. But a deeper look reveals a much more troubling picture of these incidents which remain very common in Chicago.
When a teenage driver is involved in a fatal car accident, is it more likely that the fatality will happen to someone besides that teenager. In fact, 66 percent of all people killed are someone other than the teen driver and 67 percent of those injured are another person as well. This means that though teenagers are involved in and often causing collisions, the resulting harm befalls on others, leaving those victims to suffer due to a teen’s actions.
When a fatality does occur, 30 percent of those people who are killed are in a vehicle separate from the teenage driver. Another 27 percent are passengers inside the teen’s car and 10 percent are either bicyclists or pedestrians.
Teen drivers are less experienced behind the wheel and less able to make informed and skilled decisions. They also report a high incidence of distracted driving including the use of a cell phone while operating a car, additional issues that can increase the odds of a collision taking place.
But a teen’s inexperience or tendencies to act young and uninformed are no excuse when it comes to driving safely and protecting the interests of all those on the roads. If a teen is negligent and causes an accident, that teen can be held financially responsible for the totality of all damages that result, including the injuries that may be inflicted on unwilling victims. An insurance company and potentially the parents of the teen may also be liable to victims, depending on the facts surrounding the crash.
If you have been hurt in a car accident with a teenage driver in Chicago or if your loved one was killed, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries and for the pain and suffering you have endured. The personal injury attorneys at Abels & Annes, P.C. want to help you understand what options you face and we will do so by offering you a free case consultation without obligation when you call us toll free at (855) 529-2442 or locally at (312) 924-7575.
We understand that you may need help outside of normal business hours so we keep a licensed attorney standing by 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
If you have questions about your accident or if you are looking for help with your claim, please call Abels & Annes, P.C. today and let our experience help you get the best result possible in your case.
Prior Blog Entry:
Massive I-55 Crash Probably Caused by Sleeping Truck Driver, Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog, published June 19, 2015.