Auto Accident

Illinois pedestrian accident seriously injures Berwyn resident – driver on cell phone blamed

September 25, 2010 | By Dave Abels

A 52-year-old man has been hurt in a Chicago area pedestrian accident after being hit by a driver who was on her cell phone, according to the Chicago Tribune. The pedestrian, David Paradiso of Berwyn, sustained a fractured leg, scalp injuries and a broken collarbone.

The accident happened on Monday around 7 PM at the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Longcommon Road, which is on the border of Berwyn and Riverside. The driver, also of Berwyn, was southbound on Harlem when she ran a red light at the intersection. Witnesses reportedly saw her on her cell phone.

As she went through the red light and struck an eastbound vehicle, and then hit the pedestrian. The investigating police officers charged the defendant with aggravated reckless driving, and she was released on $5000 bond on Wednesday.

Illinois bike accident claims life of 55-year-old woman

September 22, 2010 | By Dave Abels

A female bicyclist was killed Monday morning in an Illinois car vs. bike accident that occurred in Gibson City, according to the News Gazette. The victim, Jeanne C. DeWall, was using her bicycle to deliver newspapers for the News-Gazette at the time of the crash.

The bike rider was moving eastbound on Illinois 9 when she was hit by an eastbound car that was being driven by a 73-year-old man from Paxton. The collision occurred around 6 AM in the area of Ford Country Road 905 East. She was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

The Illinois State Police responded to the accident. Their investigation reportedly showed that the driver did not see the bicyclist, and that he may have been affected by headlights from oncoming traffic.

Chicago bike accident attorneys to represent nine-year-old who was injured in collision

September 17, 2010 | By Dave Abels

Chicago personal injury lawyers at Abels & Annes have signed on to represent a nine-year-old boy who was injured in an Illinois bicycle accident on July 19, 2010. The collision took place in the parking lot of M & M Quick Foods, which is located at the intersection of Austin Boulevard and Division Street in Chicago.

The boy was riding his bicycle eastbound in the parking lot when the defendant quickly pulled into the lot off the street, failed to observe the bicyclist, and struck him. The plaintiff was knocked off of his bike.

The child had immediate onset of back pain and bilateral leg pain. He was taken by Chicago Fire Department Ambulance to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. There he was examined by doctors and x-rays were negative for fractures.

Technology could someday eliminate drunk driving car accidents in Chicago and nationwide

September 15, 2010 | By Dave Abels

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety is funding a $10 million study that could make new-age ignition interlock devices as standard in new vehicles as seat belts and airbags.

The Boston Globe broke the story in the wake of criticism of the federal government for not doing enough to focus on driving safety issues aside from the aggressive campaign against distracted driving. As our Chicago injury lawyers reported recently on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Blog, alcohol continues to be involved in one-third of all fatal car accidents nationwide.Earlier this month the federal government reported the number of fatal Illinois car accidents declined to 911 last year, from the 1,043 reported in 2008. However, the percentage of fatal crashes involving alcohol actually increased from 34 percent to 35 percent.

Many states require ignition interlock devices for drunk driving offenders. The systems require a driver to blow into a tube and tests for the presence of alcohol before permitting a vehicle to start. However, the system being tested by a Massachusetts defense contractor would be completely passive. A number of hurdles remain — not the least of which are the privacy concerns such a system is sure to raise. But safety advocates believe it could ultimately save 9,000 lives a year. Not since the 15,000 lives a year saved by the seat belt has such a safety improvement hit the market.

Congress is considering providing another $10 million in funding to the project, which is in testing through 2013. Cost is another hurdle, as is the size of the units. Prototypes are the size of a large shoebox, while industry experts say they would need to be the size of a cell phone to make them practical.

“We just don’t think it’s appropriate that people who have no problem with drunken driving and impairment should have to be subjected to having to have this kind of a device,” Jim Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association, told the Globe. “It will create more problems than it was ever intended to solve.”

However, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other organizations intend to throw their support behind making the devices standard.

“MADD is very excited about this,” said national spokesman J.T. Griffin. “This could really eliminate drunk driving in America.”
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Chicago pedestrian accident lawyer settles case for $162,000

September 13, 2010 | By Dave Abels

An Illinois pedestrian accident attorney at Abels & Annes has settled a lawsuit pertaining to an accident that occurred in Chicago Illinois on January 24, 2008. The Chicago pedestrian vs. auto accident took place at the intersection of Broadway and Cornelia just after 1 PM in the afternoon.

Our client was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk with a green crosswalk light when the defendant ran a red light and struck the pedestrian with the front of her vehicle. The defendant contended that she had a green light, however, luckily for our client, there was an independent witness to the accident. The witness verified our client’s version of events.

The lawsuit filed on our clients behalf alleged that the defendant failed to keep proper lookout for pedestrians, failed to stop for red light, was driving too fast for conditions, and failed to yield for a pedestrian in the crosswalk.

Teen Safe Driving Program credited with reducing Chicago car accidents

September 12, 2010 | By Dave Abels

With the school year beginning, state officials are launching the 4th Annual Teen Safe Driving Program in an effort to reduce Chicago car accidents and traffic accidents involving teenagers elsewhere in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced that U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined state officials on Friday in launching the program, which has become a model for other states seeking to reduce the risks associated with poor teen driving decisions.”In 2008, teens formed the largest proportion of distracted drivers in fatal crashes,” said Secretary LaHood. “Texting and talking on cell phones may feel like second nature to a tech-savvy generation, but the truth is, no one can talk or text while driving safely. I commend these young leaders and Operation Teen Safe Driving for helping to keep teens drivers safe.”

As we reported recently on our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog, officials are urging teens to submit a public service announcement aimed at the dangers of texting and driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 6,000 drivers are killed and more than 500,000 are injured each year in accidents caused by distracted driving.

Operation Teen Safe Driving is a statewide initiative sponsored by Ford Motor Company. It encourages teens to share safe-driving skills with their friends. The program has reached more than a quarter million students in the last three years.

Together with the state’s Graduated Driver Licensing Program, the state has reduced teen fatalities by about 50 percent, according to the Illinois State Police.

“We are proud to launch the fourth year of the Operation Teen Safe Driving Program with the nation’s most prominent traffic safety advocate, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig. “The Operation Teen Safe Driving (OTSD) Program has produced exemplary results across the state as it has helped cut teen fatalities by nearly half since 2006. IDOT is committed to teen safe driving and looks forward to a continued positive impact by this program.”

Any Illinois high school, public or private, is invited to apply. Students are asked to identify major traffic safety issues involving teenagers in their communities and to make creative proposals to help solve those problems.

Here is the online application for Operation Teen Safe Driving.
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Chicago injury lawyers to represent bike accident victim

September 10, 2010 | By Dave Abels

Chicago bicycle accident attorneys at Abels & Annes have agreed to represent a North Side resident that was injured in a September 5, 2010 collision. The crash took place just after 6:30 PM at Diversey and Sheridan Road.

Our client was riding his bicycle westbound on Diversey Pkwy. approaching Sheridan. As he came to the intersection there was a taxicab that had just come to a stop for a red light. As our client was passing the taxi on its right side, a passenger opened the rear passenger side door into his bicycle. The taxicab driver failed to pull over to the curb and let the passengers out in the middle of the street. The bicyclist fell hard to the ground.

Our client was seen at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center shortly after the accident. He had sustained a ligament tear in his right knee, back and neck injuries, a fractured finger, and multiple abrasions. He has since followed up with a medical doctor due to ongoing pain.

Chicago hit-and-run accident injures four – police are looking for help

September 7, 2010 | By Dave Abels

A Chicago pedestrian accident that occurred on Saturday in the 6200 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue has injured three children and one woman, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. An 11-year-old girl is in critical condition.

The Chicago car vs. pedestrian accident happened when a stolen 1999 Chrysler hit the pedestrians, then struck a parked car and a brick wall. After that, several people jumped out of the car and fled the scene of the accident. They left behind the car that has Indiana plates.

All four injured pedestrians were hospitalized. The children, including the 11-year-old that is in critical condition, were all taken to the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. The injured woman, age 35, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center and is reportedly in stable condition.

Texting ban may not be reducing car accidents in Chicago and throughout Illinois

September 1, 2010 | By Dave Abels

A respected highway safety organization backed by the insurance industry has published a study that found states that have passed laws preventing drivers from text messaging have actually seen an increase in car accidents compared to states without texting bans.

Our Chicago car accident lawyers frequently report on the dangers of text messaging; Illinois’s text messaging ban went into effect for all drivers on Jan 1; drivers in Chicago have been banned from using all hand-held cell phone devices for several years.The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post have both reported on the study released by the Highway Loss Data Institute, which is a division of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

As The Post reports, the first speeding law went into effect almost 150 years ago, but even strict enforcement has a limited impact on those drivers who insist upon speeding. The federal government blames drunk driving, speeding and distracted driving for the majority of car accidents.

The Highway Loss Data compared crash data in four states with text messaging bans with accident data in four states that have no rules prohibiting drivers from text messaging while behind the wheel. Not only did the study find no decrease in accidents, it found that accident rates actually increased in three of four states with texting bans.

“It’s an indication that texting bans might even increase the risk of texting for drivers who continue to do so despite the laws,” says Adrian Lund, president of both HLDI and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The study authors believe the increase could be the result of motorists attempting to hide their activities in states where texting and driving is illegal.

“If drivers were disregarding the bans, then the crash patterns should have remained steady,” Lund said. “So clearly drivers did respond to the bans somehow, and what they might have been doing was moving their phones down and out of sight when they texted, in recognition that what they were doing was illegal. This could exacerbate the risk of texting by taking drivers’ eyes further from the road and for a longer time.”

The Governor’s Highway Safety Association reports that 30 states have now passed laws that forbid text messaging behind the wheel, even as text messaging has become an increasingly popular means of communications. The most recent one-year period saw a 60 percent increase in text messaging, from 1 trillion texts in 2008 to 1.6 trillion in 2009.
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Authorities aim to reduce Chicago car accidents with heavy enforcement through Labor Day

August 29, 2010 | By Dave Abels

Illinois State Police and law enforcement agencies throughout the state will participate in the “You Drink & Drive. You Lose” campaign through the Labor Day weekend. The effort comes as the federal government releases statistics showing as many as 8 percent of all drivers — or 17 million motorists — have driven drunk in the last year.

The Illinois Department of Transportation reported this week that drunk driving accidents in Chicago and throughout Illinois have declined steadily since 2002.But the federal report shows much work remains. All 50 states will join in the crackdown, which will be augmented by a $13 million “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest” media campaign.

“Drunk driving is deadly, it’s against the law, and unfortunately, it’s still a problem,” said Secretary Ray LaHood. “With the help of law enforcement around the country, we are going to continue doing all that we can to stop drunk driving and the needless tragedies that result from this reckless behavior.”