Illinois Injury Law Blog

For the fourth year, Illinois State Police in partnership with a host of corporate sponsors, including the Allstate Foundation, Ford Motor Company and the Illinois State Board of Education, join together to kick off the Operation Teen Safe Driving campaign.

With nearly 640,000 licensed drivers aged 15-19 on Illinois roadways, the Illinois Department of Transportation reported that Operation Teen Safe Driving aims to continue to reduce the number of teen-involved car accidents in Chicago and throughout the state with educational outreach efforts that include peer-to-peer based programs and awareness campaigns targeting seat-belt use and distracted and impaired driving.

“In 2008, teens formed the largest proportion of distracted drivers in fatal crashes,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray 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.”

A 2008 IDOT report shows that about 67,200 Illinois drivers aged 15-19 were involved accidents on state roads, leaving 12,806 injured and 106 dead. Among 16-19 year old drivers, there were 93 fatalities, 60 of which involved alcohol.

In fact, teenagers nationwide are involved in three times as many fatal crashes than all other drivers. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers. For teens involved in a serious or fatal car accident, speaking with an Illinois injury attorney can help them and their families better understand their rights.

Inexperience and an immature prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain responsible for controlling impulses, recognizing consequences and setting priorities – paired with a penchant for distracted driving, are major contributors to crashes involving teens. Distractions can be visual, manual or cognitive and can cause a crash in two seconds, the time it takes to dig for or answer a ringing cell phone.

Texting while driving, although banned in Illinois, is a particularly dangerous and potentially deadly habit. A 2008 DOT survey shows that nationwide 1-in-10 drivers are in the habit of using some a hand-held or hands-free electronic device while driving and women were more likely to use a cell phone while driving than men.

The survey also found that the under-20 age group represented the highest number (16 percent) of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes.

For more information about Operation Teen Safe Driving and to access online applications to participate in the effort, go to www.teensafedrivingillinois.org

Continue reading " Safe driving campaign lauded for reducing Chicago car accidents involving young drivers " »

Despite a more aggressive defensive-driving campaign and a heavier reliance upon bus simulator technology to train and re-train newly hired and veteran bus drivers, the Chicago Transit Authority continues to lead the national average in large system public bus accidents.

Just last week, ABC-7 reported that nine passengers were injured and taken to area hospitals after the No. 12 CTA bus was rear-ended by a car. Now, the Chicago Tribune has reported that current records compiled by the Federal Transit Authority indicate that CTA buses are involved, on average, in one crash per day.

While neither CTA administrators or drivers nor passengers are thrilled with this number, CTA official noted that bus drivers are driving further between accidents, logging 34,566 trips between crashes that occurred over more than 9.3 million runs. According to CTA records, 521 people were transported to hospitals after accidents involving CTA buses last year, and there was one fatality involving a pedestrian.

Information posted on the CTA website notes that the bus system is the second largest public transit system in the nation and provides, on average, 1.7 million rides daily. CTA public buses service 140 routes, 12,000 bus stops and make more than 25,000 trips daily.

The Illinois Department of Transportation reports that in 2008, there were 950 fatal crashes resulting in 1043 fatalities on Illinois roadways. In Cook County alone, there were 197,144 motor vehicle crashes, resulting in 272 fatalities and 40,184 injuries.

Continue reading " Chicago among the nation's most dangerous cities for bus accidents. " »

Rockford's Alden Park Strathmoor Nursing Home is the latest elder-care facility that has been raided by the Illinois Attorney General's Office. The surprise inspection resulted in the arrest of two residents, Stateline reported.

Our Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers continue to field calls from people who are concerned about the conditions of a nursing home or elder care facility. Recently, state officials have targeted homes for inspections in search of felons or wanted criminals who are living amongst the elderly population.

“About seven months ago we started doing unannounced checks of across the state of Illinois to determine whether or not nursing homes were identifying offenders and whether or not those offenders living there had a safety plan in place,” says Attorney General Lisa Madigan. As hard as it is to believe, Illinois law permits dangerous felons to live in many of the state's nursing homes, so long as staff has a "safety plan" in place to limit the potential for problems.

The check in Rockford found four residents of the home with outstanding criminal warrants: A 51-year-old resident wanted for DUI in Cook County; a 44-year-old wanted for failure to appear in court and for stolen property in Will County; and two others who were wanted on warrants but were not taken into custody because of medical reasons.

A representative of the home said background checks are conducted but that they do not show the outstanding warrants. The home has about 200 residents.

Continue reading " Illinois nursing homes continue to be raided in search of wanted felons " »

An Illinois school bus accident last December occurred after the driver fell out of the moving bus while leaning out the door to vomit, WLS-TV reported.

The allegation is made in a lawsuit filed this week in Cook County Circuit Court against Illinois Central School Bus. The bus continued on without the driver and crashed into a nearby ditch. The crash happened Dec. 18 at the intersection of 15500 E. Road and 4500 S. Road in Kankakee County.

The driver fell onto the road while the bus carrying children continued on without him. The suit does not specify whether the driver or other children were injured in the crash. A spokesperson for Illinois Central School Bus said safety is a "top priority" but declined to comment on the lawsuit. The company, based in suburban Montgomery, is the seventh-largest school bus company in the United States.

The suit seeks damages excess of $50,000.

Illinois school bus accidents occur with alarming regularity. The Illinois Department of Transportation reports more than 2,400 accidents involving school buses occurred in 2008. Six people were killed and 341 were injured. The vast majority of accidents occurred in urban areas, primarily school bus accidents in Chicago.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that an average of 19 children die each year in school bus accidents. About two-thirds of those incidents involve pedestrian accidents outside the bus.

Continue reading " Chicago school bus accidents a common danger " »