Injuries to Children & Minors

Illinois Teen Safe Driving program receives national honor, seeks to reduce Illinois, Chicago car accidents involving teenagers

November 21, 2009 | By Dave Abels

The state has been recognized for its efforts to reduce serious and fatal Illinois car accidents involving teenagers.

The Chicago car accident lawyers and the Illinois child injury attorneys at Abels & Annes encourage parents to visit the Operation Teen Safe Driving program with their young drivers.

Motor Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, accounting for one-third of all deaths. In 2007, 11 teens between the ages of 16 and 19 died every day in motor vehicle crashes.

Male teenagers are more than 1.5 times more likely to die in a traffic accident than young female drivers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC also reports newly licensed teens and teens with passengers are at increased risk of an accident — and the more passengers the greater the risk. Other risk factors include speeding, driving under the influence, low seat-belt usage rates, and inability to recognize and compensate for dangerous road situations.

The award for Illinois’ teen driving program came from the Roadway Safety Foundation and the Federal Highway Administration.

“Keeping teen drivers safe on the road is an obligation that we should all take seriously,” said Greg Cohen, executive director of the Roadway Safety Foundation. “As the most inexperienced drivers on our highways, continuing driver education programs for teens are absolutely essential. By talking to teens where they listen, Illinois has set a great example for every state to follow.”

Illinois’ peer-to-peer driving program, in partnership with Allstate Foundation and Ford Motor Company’s Driving Skills for Life program, challenges teens to develop school-wide programs to positively impact teen drivers. Safety advocates say the program resulted in a 40 percent reduction in teen driving deaths during 2007-08.
Continue reading

Chicago train accident traps stroller in door, throws toddler onto tracks

November 5, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Authorities are investigating what caused a CTA train to take off with a baby stroller lodged in a door; the stroller was dragged along the platform until the little girl was flung onto the ground along the tracks.

The child’s adult caregiver told police the train took off with the stroller caught in its doors, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Some Chicago train accidents have nothing to do with crashing trains. But, like in this instance, involve people who are injury embarking or disembarking, fall in a stairwell or on a platform or are injured in a Chicago car accident at a railroad crossing.

Traffic accidents leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14

October 30, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for children ages 3 to 14 years old, according to 2008 crash statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Some of the most tragic and difficult cases handled by the Chicago car accident attorneys and the personal injury lawyers at Abels & Annes involve the serious injury or death of a child in a car accident.

In 2008, 1,347 young passengers were killed in traffic accidents nationwide and 193,000 were injured. Every day, an average of 4 children under the age of 14 are killed and 529 injured in traffic accidents.

Illinois ranked 6th in the nation for the highest number of children killed in automobile accidents. Texas (154), California (142), Florida (73), Georgia (65) and North Carolina (45) were the five deadliest states.

Nationwide, alcohol was involved in 16 percent of the fatal crashes — about half of those occurred when a child passenger of a drunk driver was killed.

A total of 270 children were killed in pedestrian accidents and another 13,000 were injured. About half of these child pedestrian fatalities occurred between 4 and 8 p.m.

Eighty-one children were killed in bicycle accidents and another 52,000 were injured.

The report concluded that child-safety seats reduced the risk of fatal injury to infants by 71 percent and by 54 percent for toddlers in passenger cars.
Continue reading

Chicago car accident kills pregnant pedestrian — doctors deliver infant

October 23, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Doctors delivered a newborn boy after a pregnant woman was killed in a Chicago car accident on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old woman died when two vehicles collided and one of the vehicle careened into her and three other pedestrians on the city’s West Side, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The West Cortez Street Woman was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The newborn infant is listed in extremely critical condition, according to the hospital.

Burlington High School teen killed in Illinois car accident

September 29, 2009 | By Dave Abels

A Burlington High School student died Friday afternoon in a Chicago area auto accident on Randall Road near the intersection of Red Gate Road in St. Charles Township of west suburban Kane County.

A 16-year-old teen from unincorporated Elgin, was transported to Delnor Hospital in Geneva, where he was pronounced dead, according to The Chronicle.

He was northbound on Randall Road near Red Gate Road in a 2000 Toyota Camry when he hit a 2004 Lincoln Navigator almost head-on as it turned left onto Red Gate, according to the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the crash.

Chicago injury lawyer files sex abuse lawsuit against bus driver and bus company

September 26, 2009 | By Dave Abels

A Chicago personal injury attorney has been filed a sex abuse lawsuit involving a child being kidnapped by a bus driver.

The suit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday, alleges the boy was sexually assaulted while restrained on the bus by the driver. The family is seeking damages from the bus driver, the busing company and the Chicago Public School system, according the the Chicago Breaking News Center.

The bus driver was charged with kidnapping the boy from Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side, according to a report last week in the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago parents urged to talk to teen drivers about how to avoid car accidents — Operation Teen Safe Driving begins with school year

September 24, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Authorities are emphasizing the importance of save driving habits among teenagers as the school year begins in an effort to reduce Illinois car accidents involving teenagers, including drunk driving accidents and speeding.

Since its inception in 2007, Illinois’ Operation Teen Safe Driving has been credited with reducing fatalities among teen motorists — from 82 in the first six months of 2007, to 39 during the same period last year.

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for young people age 15 to 24, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Each year in the United States, more than 8,000 teens lose their lives in traffic crashes — more than 400,000 are injured in traffic crashes.

Illinois’ Operation Teen Safe Driving was created to combat the major reasons teens are killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes, including: lack of safety belt use, speed, distraction, impaired driving or lack of experience.

A new law that took effect Jan. 1, 2008, doubled the time young drivers must spend supervised before they can obtain an Illinois’ driver’s license.

“The improved graduated driver licensing law that resulted from the recommendations of the Teen Driver Safety Task Force makes Illinois’ teen driver program one of the strongest in the nation and, more importantly, is saving lives,” said Secretary of State Jesse White. “I am encouraged that teen driving deaths have dropped by over 40 percent in the first full year of the law. This law, in conjunction with the Operation Teen Safe Driving initiative, is having the intended impact on teen driving safety.”
Continue reading

Chicago motorists need to watch for buses, children as school begins

August 11, 2009 | By Dave Abels

The Chicago personal injury lawyers at Abels & Annes remind motorists that over 400,000 children head back to the city’s 666 schools over the next month.

The Chicago Public School’s first day of classes for most students is September 8th, and Track E students already started this week. Most of the suburban schools start in the coming weeks of August.

The start of the school year puts school buses back on the road, kids at bus stops and crosswalks, school zones where children are likely to be in the roadway and kids walking or bicycling to school.

Bridge collapse at fireworks show sends at least 16 to the hospital

July 7, 2009 | By Dave Abels

Bridge collapse at fireworks show sends at least 16 to the hospital
At least 16 people were hospitalized after a wooden footbridge collapsed at the conclusion of a fireworks celebration at Hidden Lake Park in Merrillville, about 45 minutes south of Chicago.

Media reports were unclear about whether it was a public park. But injured participants could have a premise liability claim against the park owner or the company that provided the fireworks display.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene, estimating that the roughly 90-foot-long bridge was full of people before it fell, according to the Associated Press as reported by Fox News.

While authorities have released few other details, it is possible that event organizers allowed far too many people onto the 90-foot wooden bridge, which collapsed about 10 p.m., just as the grand finale concluded, sending people plummeting into the water below.

A dive team was called in to pull people and items from the water and the investigation continued through the weekend. There were estimates that thousands had attended the annual fireworks display at the park in years past.

“They had to rescue quite a few people,” Ross Township firefighter Perry Herzog said in a newspaper account.

Herzog said 16 people were transported to local hospitals for treatment. He said others might have been taken to hospitals by family members.

He did not know the nature of their injuries, and said there were no fatalities in the accident. About 50 emergency vehicles responded to the scene, along with helicopter and dive teams.

Robert Walker, of Merrillville, blamed the collapse on the number of people crossing the bridge.

“It was a mass of confusion,” he said. “People were walking across the bridge when it collapsed. People were grasping and hanging onto the bridge itself.”
Continue reading

Chicago injury lawyers issue caution regarding fireworks

July 1, 2009 | By Dave Abels

The Chicago personal injury lawyers at the Abels & Annes wish you a safe and happy holiday weekend and we urge you to stay safe around fireworks displays this Fourth of July.

While some types of small fireworks are permitted in Illinois, it depends on the regulations in your village or municipality.

Fireworks are divided into two categories:

• consumer fireworks, which include such items as fountains, repeaters and parachutes.

• pyrotechnic displays, which use professional grade fireworks such as mortars, cake bundles, and ground displays that depict a picture.

It’s important to note that several well-known types of fireworks, such as firecrackers, bottle rockets and Roman candles, are not allowed in Illinois under the new regulations, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Novelty fireworks, such as snakes, sparklers, and party-poppers, are not regulated by the state, although municipalities have the authority to enact an ordinance prohibiting the sale and use of sparklers on public property.

While legal, sparklers present a serious danger because of the high temperature of the wire during and after its use. Sparklers burn at temperatures of up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit and remain extremely hot long after the sparks have stopped.

Many children are injured each year by sparklers. Children playing with novelty fireworks must be closely supervised by adults to prevent injury.

Visit the OSFM website for information about Illinois fireworks’ regulations.

In 2006, 11 people died and more than 9,000 were injured by fireworks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which offers more information about fireworks and fireworks safety. Fireworks can cause blindness, third-degree burns and permanent scarring and are a source of life-threatening residential and motor vehicle fires.More than 100 people were injured by fireworks in Illinois last year, according to the Associated Press. The Chicago Fire Department reported 18 fireworks-related fires and four injuries.

Your best bet and safest route to seeing great fireworks this weekend is to go to a fireworks show put on by professionals. Even at a professional show, organizers have an obligation to keep burning debris are other material from falling into the crowd and causing injuries.

In Mount Vernon, the fire department is offering fireworks safety courses leading up to the Fourth of July.

“On fireworks safety, one of the biggest things we try to teach is that there is no safe firework out there,” MVFD Assistant Chief Kevin Sargent told the Register-News.

“Fireworks in the U.S. are regulated and the state of Illinois has decided to allow some fireworks. … We try to teach people what fireworks are legal and illegal and the safety in handling and distance.”

Sargent, who also teaches the classes, said one of the biggest surprises he has noticed many people express during the training is the safety distances.”Some fireworks project over 400 feet, and we need to keep spectators away that far so they aren’t injured or hit by debris from falling fireworks,” Sargent said. “… They need to be aware of the weather. Is it windy? The wind will change the direction of fireworks after it has left the shell or tube. Also, everybody thinks since it has rained and rained that a fire can’t start. But it is dry underneath the grass on top, and that can get hit and cause it to burn.”

The National Council on Fireworks Safety offers the following safety tips:

Use fireworks outdoors only.

Obey local laws. If fireworks are not legal where you live, do not use them.

Always have water handy. (A hose or bucket).Only use fireworks as intended. Don’t try to alter them or combine them.

Never relight a “dud” firework. Wait 20 minutes and then soak it in a bucket of water.

Use common sense. Spectators should keep a safe distance from the shooter and the shooter should wear safety glasses.

Alcohol and fireworks do not mix. Have a “designated shooter.”

Only persons over the age of 12 should be allowed to handle sparklers of any type.

Do not ever use homemade fireworks of illegal explosives: They can kill you! Report illegal explosives to the fire or police department in your community.
Continue reading