SUV Rollover Accidents and Statistics

Despite many drivers’ beliefs that SUVs provide them with extra safety on the road, SUV rollover accidents are alarmingly common. If you have been in an SUV rollover in Illinois and sustained SUV rollover injuries, a Chicago SUV rollover attorney at the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle, P.C. can help you document and investigate your Illinois personal injury claim. Contact us today for a free case evaluation – 312-263-1080

Cell and Texting Regulations & Illinois Cell Phone Laws

You have been in a car accident in Illinois involving violations of Illinois cell phone laws, a Chicago personal injury lawyer at the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle, P.C. can help you document and investigate your Illinois car accident claim. Contact us today for a free case evaluation – 312-263-1080

Seat Belt Myths

Some Illinois residents subscribe to two major myths associated with seat belt use. If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident, a Chicago personal injury attorney from the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle, P.C. can help you file your personal injury claim. Contact us today for a free case evaluation – 312-263-1080.

Car rear-ends CTA bus

Earlier this week, a car rear-ended a CTA bus near the intersection of Western and Harrison in Chicago.  Thirteen people were on board at the time of the CTA bus accident, a four reported injury at the time.  Three of the injured bus passengers and one passenger from the car had to be transported by ambulance to area hospitals.

The news story makes clear that there were at least 5 injured people, four of whom were hurt seriously enough to require hospital treatment.  In accidents like this, it is almost common for people to start feeling the symptoms of neck and back injuries later that day or when they wake up the following day.  In short, you can expect that there will be a number of claims made against the driver of the car that hit the bus.

Every insurance policy has limits of liability.  The Illinois state minimum liability insurance for autos is $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident.  That means that the most any one injured person can receive is $20,000, and the most that the insurance company for the at-fault driver will have to pay is a total of $40,000, regardless of the total number of people hurt.

Accidents like this are a good reason why is is important for you to carry underinsured motorist coverage on your vehicle.  Underinsured motorist coverage steps in and pays your damages from an Illinois car accident when the amount of your damages exceeds the amount of liability insurance available, up to your policy limits.

In a case like this where there a multiple victims of a car accident, underinsured motorist coverage has special value.  Let's assume that each of the accident victims receives $8,000 from the at-fault driver's insurance company, but has $15,000 in damages.  In that case, their underinsured motorist coverage would step in and pay the additional $7,000 in damages.

When there is not enough insurance coverage to go around after a car accident, underinsured motorist coverage provides special value to accident victims.

Going to traffic court can be important in outcome in your car accident suit

Victims of traffic accidents should go to traffic court for the hearing on the ticket that the other driver received. This can help make sure that the charges stick and help you receive a successful result in your car accident personal injury suit.

Bicyclist injured by hit-and-run driver

In California on Friday, a bicyclist was hospitalized with head injuries after he was struck by a hit-and-run motorist.

Most people recognize that when they are involved in a car accident with an uninsured motorist, they can make an Illinois uninsured motorist claim under their own car insurance policies through their uninsured motorist coverage.  One quirk in the law in Illinois regarding uninsured motorist claims is that you are also covered by your uninsured motorist coverage when you are injured by a hit and run driver.

You also are covered by uninsured motorist coverage even when you are not in your car, such as when you injured while a pedestrian or as in this case while riding a bike.  This is because most uninsured motorist policies in Illinois define who is an "insured" under the policy as being the named insured and any relative residing with him or her.  This is why children who are injured by uninsured motorists are covered by the policy.

Understanding the scope and reach of uninsured motorist policies is one of the advantages you get when you hire an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer to represent you in cases involving injuries caused by hit and run drivers.

Another lawyer calls out Allstate's claims practices

Allstate has an undeserved reputation as a "good" insurance company to deal with, when its claims practices for automobile accident cases are in reality, far from fair to injured car accident victims.

One-third of fatal traffic accidents in Cook County linked to drinking and driving

The Scripps Howard News Services did an analysis of the fatal car accidents in Illinois for the years 1994-2008 and determined that for that time frame, one-third of the fatal traffic accidents in Cook County were the results of drunk driving car accidents.  The numbers were actually higher in more rural counties where there is less public transportation, greater distances between places, and rural roadways.

The study underlines what we already know: that drinking and driving puts not only your own life at risk, but others in your vehicle and on the public highway.

Teen gets 5 years in jail fatal drunk driving accident

Injuries and deaths from car accidents caused by intoxicated drivers may result in a civil suit under the Drug and Alcohol Impaired Minor Responsibility Act.

Palos Park woman loses leg in I-80 accident

A woman from Palos Park lost her leg in a car accident on I-80 near Joliet last week.  She was a passenger in a car which hit a patch of ice and went off the road into a guardrail.  As she was getting out of the disabled vehicle, another car hit the same patch of ice and lost control.  The second car hit her, pinning her against the car and causing her to lose her right leg and left foot.

The driver of the second vehicle had a bottle of open alcohol in the car with him, but blood alcohol testing showed that he was not intoxicated.

As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, a few thoughts came to mind when reading this story:

1.  The insurance company for the second driver is likely to deny liability on the case.  If he was not intoxicated, there is a reasonable chance of keeping the open alcohol out of evidence if the case were to go to trial.  After that, they may be able to defend the case based on the fact that it was the ice that caused the accident, and was in fact what caused the original accident.  They may also be helped in this by the fact that there had apparently been a number of accidents at that location this winter season.

2.  This woman has obviously suffered significant, life-changing injuries and will have enormous medical expenses.  Because of this, it is crucial to identify all possible sources of compensation for this car accident.  One avenue I would examine is the possibility of making an Illinois underinsured motorist claim on both both her own vehicle and the one she was exiting at the time of the accident.  One of my pet theories is that bad drivers tend have the worst insurance, and I would not be optimistic about a driver with an open bottle of alcohol in his car having good insurance.

Pedestrian killed by hit-and-run driver

Victims of hit-and-run accidents are covered by the uninsured motorist coverage on their own car even when they are pedestrians.

Fatal crossover accident in Iowa

Last week near Wilton, Iowa, there was a fatal crossover car accident on Interstate 80.  A driver from Iowa lost control of his vehicle and crossed over the median and hit two vehicles traveling in the opposite direction.  The driver who lost control, an Oregon resident, was killed in the accident while the other two drivers involved in  the car crash required hospitalization.

As an experienced Chicago car accident lawyer, one thing that I wonder about after reading this story is, "What was this man from Oregon doing driving around in Iowa?"  Obviously people have a right to drive wherever their fancy takes them, but when I see car accidents involving people who are far from home, it makes me wonder whether the person was traveling on business.

If the man from Oregon was in fact traveling on business, there is a reasonable chance that his employer would be liable for the injuries caused in this accident.  There is a doctrine in the law known as respondeat superior which makes the employer liable for injuries caused by their employees who are acting in the scope of their employment.  If he was in fact traveling for business, his employer may be liable for the injuries he caused in the accident.

The injuries that the other two men involved in this cross-over accident suffered are likely to be significant, and the issue of whether the at-fault driver was doing anything employment-related at the time of the accident is one which should be investigated before the case is settled.

Text messaging and driving now illegal in Illinois

Effective January 1, 2010, text messaging and driving is now illegal in Illinois.   Drivers who are caught doing so can now receive a traffic ticket.  Reading a text message or e-mail is also illegal, as is talking on a hand held device in a school zone or road construction zone.

The purpose of the new laws is to cut down on the incidence of distracted driving. Even though these acts have now officially been declared illegal, distracted driving was a basis for civil liability for a car accident before the new statutes.  To recover in an Illinois car accident suit, the injured party needed to show that the other driver failed to exercise reasonable care in the operation of his vehicle.  Driving while distracted did not comport to that standard prior to the passage of the new statute.

 

Hamilton girl, family members injured by runaway trailer

A 6-year old girl was killed and 3 of her family members were injured an Illinois car accident when their car was struck by a runaway trailer on Illinois Route 96 near Hamilton.  The trailer was being hauled by an Iowa man when it broke away and crossed over the center line, striking the car that the girl was riding in.  The Iowa man left the scene of accident.  He was arrested and now faces several traffic charges.

From a legal perspective, this Illinois wrongful death car accident raises several legal issues:

• This may be a case where there is more than meets the eye in that the actual cause of the accident may a defect in the design in the manufacture, design, and/or maintenance of the trailer or the hitch.  In either event, as an experienced Illinois personal injury lawyer, I would strongly recommend that this family take steps to immediately preserve the remains of the trailer and the hitch so that the issue whether there is a basis for a defective product suit can be properly investigated.
• Because he was pulling a trailer at the time of the accident, it is worth investigating whether the Iowa man was doing anything employment related at the time of the occurrence.  That would make his employer liable for any negligence on his part.  This is part of a proper investigation of serious car accidents.
• This is an auto accident with multiple victims.  Unless there is a significant commercial insurance policy involved, the odds that the man from Iowa had insurance coverage is pretty slim.  Where there is insufficient coverage to compensate the victims of multi-victim car accidents, the victims may be able to make an Illinois underinsured motorist claim on their own policies.

Garden Prairie man paralyzed by uninsured driver

In November, a Garden Prairie man was holding a yard sale in the from yard of his home on U.S. Route 20 when a car driven by a young man careened off the road in into the yard sale, where he hit the man and a female customer.  The driver of the car had no insurance and explained to authorities that he looked down to change a song on his MP3 player and then "blacked out". 

The car accident severed the man's spinal cord and left him paralyzed below the waist.  He was hospitalized for 19 days at St. Anthony's Hospital and has not returned home yet and he goes through in-patient rehabilitation to help him adapt to his injuries and help him care for himself.

Uninsured motorist coverage is one of the coverages you get when you buy full coverage on your automobile.  It covers you anytime you are injured by a driver who has no liability insurance, even where as here, you are a pedestrian and not in a car at all.  Uninsured motorist coverage is one of the most important types of insurance you can buy to protect you and your family in the event of an accident, and we strongly recommend to everyone that they buy as much of this type of insurance as they can comfortably afford.

One of the interesting things about this case is that the young man claimed to have "blacked out."  This would be the basis of claiming an "Act of God" defense on his behalf.  In essence this defense is that some unpredictable, outside event actually caused the accident, such as a seizure of some kind.  The Act of God defense is an affirmative defense, which means the burden of proof on it rests on the defense. 

However, in this case, since the claim would be made against the victim's own insurance through the uninsured motorist coverage, the insurance company in the Illinois uninsured motorist claim would not have access to any medical records that would help them prove the defense.  This is because of the privacy rights of the uninsured driver.  Therefore, in most uninsured motorist cases, this would not be a viable defense.

Winter weather produces LaSalle County accidents

The recent winter weather with rain and snow producing slick and icy roads caused several car accidents in LaSalle County last week.  One occurred near Seneca on Route 6, where a westbound motorist spun out of control and into the eastbound lanes of traffic.

One basic "rule of the road" is that when weather conditions makes driving dangerous due to icy and slippery roads, you should slow down to help maintain better control of your vehicle.  This principle is actually contained in the Illinois Motor Vehicle Code, which requires that speed shall be reduced when conditions require doing so.

Even though everyone knows that you should slow down in dangerous driving conditions, a surprising number of car insurance companies deny liability when their insured is involved in a car accident due to losing control on slick or icy roads.  Their position normally is that their insured was driving within the speed limit and was being careful but the loss of control just could not be prevented.  This is a position that is simply not compatible with Illinois law, but that will not prevent insurers from unfairly denying liability for car accidents.  When an insurer unfairly denies a claim, the only recourse is to seek the assistance of an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer who will either be able to get the insurance company to reconsider its position or file suit on your behalf.

Three injured when drunk driving teenager crashes car into tree

Three teens, including the driver, were injured in Sandoval in Marion County in a drunk driving car accident two weeks ago when the driver crashed his car into a tree after losing control of the vehicle.  The driver, age 17, was ticketed for violating Illinois' zero tolerance law for drinking and driving for people under the age of 21.

One law that many people are unaware of is the Drug or Alcohol Impaired Minor Responsibility Act.  This statute was passed in 2004 and provides that any person 18 years or older who willfully provides alcohol or illegal drugs to a person under the age of 18 is civilly liable for damages, including punitive damages and attorney's fees, to anyone injured as a result of the actions of the impaired minor.

One strange feature of the law is that it allows the minor to recover damages for his own actions, and bars the use of contributory negligence as a defense to any claim brought under the Act.  This means that the person injured cannot be blamed for the accident.  This includes the impaired minor, and would also include someone who was grossly at fault for the injuries he caused. 

Under the facts of this case, all of the kids who were in the car accident may have cases under the statute.

The whole point of the statute is to discourage people from giving alcohol to minors, and if people pay attention to to the enormous liability they subject themselves to, the statute may achieve its purpose.

Boy riding scooter killed by hit-and-run driver

A 4-year old boy from Sacramento was killed by a hit and run driver last week as he rode his scooter near an elementary school.  The car hit the boy and dragged him several feet before he was thrown clear.  He was taken to a local hospital before he was pronounced.

The law in Illinois considers hit-and-run drivers uninsured motorists.  In an uninsured motorist claim, your insurance company steps into the shoes of the uninsured driver and pays you (or your family) the damages that you are owed due to injuries from a car accident or from a wrongful death car accident.

Because your insurer is stepping into the place of the at-fault driver, you do not need to be in your vehicle at the time of the accident for your coverage to apply.  It can apply when you are the victim of a hit-and-run accident when you are a pedestrian or when you are riding your bike.

Uninsured motorist coverage also applies to relatives who reside with you.  This means that it covers your children if they are the victims of a hit and run accident while they are pedestrians.  Uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage are types of auto insurance which protect you and your family, and as an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, I always recommend to my clients that they purchase as much as they can comfortably afford, as it provides protection to them in the event of a serious accident such as this.

$1 million settlement in drunk driving accident

The family of a New Hampshire police officer will receive a settlement in excess of $1 million following a drunk driving accident in which the police officer was hit by a car while riding a motorcycle.  The drunk driver is serving a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted of drunk driving charges and negligent homicide.

The settlement is being funded by an $800,000 dram shop settlement from the restaurant where the drunk driver became intoxicated and the balance from the drunk driver himself.

One key difference between this case and what would happen under the same circumstances in Illinois is that the recovery against the restaurant would be subject to the damage caps under the Illinois Dram Shop Act which currently limits recovery against the dram shop to $58,652.33 for non-fatal injuries and to $71,686.18 for wrongful death accidents.

In my opinion, the dram shop caps are far too low, and certainly not in keeping with the damage that drunk drivers do week in and week out.  These should either be abolished or raised significantly.

DeKalb auto accident results in serious injuries

Last Tuesday a cross-over car accident on Plank Road in DeKalb caused serious injuries to a Huntley man.  The man was traveling west when a minivan traveling east crossed over the center line and hit him head on.  He had to be extricated from his vehicle by rescue squads and was taken to Kishwaukee Hospital and then airlifted to Rockford.  Authorities suspect that the driver of the minivan was distracted by her four year old daughter who was riding in the backseat of the minivan.

The most common form of distracted driving is cell phone usage.  However, other distractions inside the car such as children or other passengers can lead to a serious car accident.  Accidents such as this serve as a graphic reminder to keep your attention focused on the road.

Perry County deputy victim of car crash

A Perry County Sheriff's deputy is receiving medical attention after a southern Illinois car accident with a pick-up truck on U.S. Route 51 in DuQuoin.  The deputy had activated his emergency lights to pursue a traffic violator when the driver of a pick up truck made a left hand turn in front of him.  Illinois State Police have been called in to complete the investigation.

Drivers who are planning to make a left hand turn have an obligation to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic.  This means that they have to wait for traffic to clear before completing their turn.  Emergency vehicles such as police vehicles are entitled to theright of way when they have their emergency signals activated also.  There was absolutely no excuse for the driver of the pick up truck to turn left in front of a police squad car with its emergency lights activated.

The deputy injured in this accident is entitled to pursue an Illinois worker's compensation case, and because the pick up truck driver was primarily at fault for this accident, he can also pursue a third party automobile liability suit against the pick up truck driver.  To win his automobile liability suit, he will have to show that the pick up truck driver was at fault.  As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, I would recommend to him that he take steps to preserve the tapes of the communications he had with dispatch to help show that his emergency lights were activated at the time of the crash.

Evanston woman dies two weeks after car accident

A 71-year old woman from Evanston was pronounced dead last Wednesday after being hit a car while a pedestrian on October 27.  She was crossing the street on the 1900 block of Sheridan Road.  The car was traveling within the posted speed limit, but rainy weather and darkness are believed to be factors in causing the car accident.  The driver of the car not ticketed.

There are a few points that come to mind after hearing about this story:

1.  The fact that the driver was not ticketed does not mean that there was no liability for the accident.  Drivers of cars still have a legal obligation to yield the right of way to pedestrians.  A jury would never hear that she was not ticketed, so that is hardly determinative of the outcome of a later civil case.  In fact, the law in Illinois is that a jury only gets to hear about a traffic ticket after a car accident when the driver who receives the ticket pleads guilty to the charges in traffic court.

2.  The fact that the driver was within the speed limit does not mean that she was not at fault for the accident.  Not only was she required to yield the right of way to a pedestrian, but the Illinois Motor Vehicle Code also requires drivers to reduce their speed when conditions require it.  Dark, rainy nights require a slower speed, and simply obeying the posted limit does not meet the requirements of the motor vehicle code.

3.  Because the accident victim lived for two weeks, there are both survival and wrongful death claims as part of the wrongful death car accident suit arising from this accident.  A survival claim is one for the conscious pain and suffering the victim experienced prior to death, while a wrongful death claim compensates the surviving next of kin for their losses.

There are a number of good reasons why the family of the accident victim in this case should hire an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer to assist them with this matter.  First, given that no ticket was issued to the driver, there is a reasonable chance that the driver's insurer will dispute liability in this case.  Second, because there are both wrongful death and survival claims in this case, medical proof to support the survival claim must be offered in connection with this wrongful death suit.  Finally, you want to be sure to identify all of the possible sources of insurance coverage and compensation.

Several victims in Pekin drunk driving accident

Last week, the suspect in a Pekin drunk driving accident made an appearance in criminal court in Tazewell County for a September drunk driving accident which resulted in injuries to 12.  The suspect had been sentenced to community service for a prior drunk driving accident, and as part of his sentence, he was working at a festival.  While at the festival, he allegedly was drinking at a beer tent run by the VFW after which he allegedly took a car owned by a local car dealership and then got into a multiple vehicle car accident.

This Illinois car accident raises several issues:

• Did he really take the car without the permission of the dealership?  In Illinois, you are covered by the insurance policy issued by the owner of the vehicle if you were operating it with the permission of the owner.  This is a key question, because the dealership would likely carry significant coverage which would properly compensate the victims of this accident.  The at-fault driver had to get the keys to the car somehow, and if there is reason to think that he was permitted to drive the car, this could create coverage under the car dealer's policy.
• If the at-fault driver was not covered because he did not have permission to drive the car, each of the victims would be able to make an Illinois uninsured motorist claim under either their own auto insurance policies or those of the vehicles they were in at the time of the auto accident.
• The victims of this accident would also be able to make claims under the Illinois Dram Shop Act against the people who were operating the beer tent run by the VFW.
• If the amount of liability insurance coverage was insufficient, then the victims would be able to make claims for Illinois underinsured motorist benefits on their own auto insurance policies or those of the car that they were in at the time of their injuries.  Underinsured motorist claims are an important means of securing compensation in multiple victim car accidents.

Teasing apart these issues is something that experienced Illinois personal injury lawyers do as part of their regular practice and is a good reason why anyone involved in this kind of accident would do well for themselves to hire qualified legal counsel.

Reminder to check uninsured motorist coverage

While you are taking a few minutes to set your clocks back, please also take a few minutes to check your automobile insurance coverage.  One thing that you want to be sure to have is uninsured motorist coverage.  This is a coverage which applies when you are involved in a car accident with an uninsured driver.  It applies even when you are a pedestrian hit by an uninsured motor vehicle or when you are bicyclist hit by an uninsured driver.  Illinois law treats hit and run drivers as uninsured motorists, so if you are ever involved in a hit and run  accident, you are entitled to make an uninsured motorist claim under your own policy.

As an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer, I see the toll that uninsured motorists take on their victims and recognize that the sometimes the only avenue of recovery for the victim is an Illinois uninsured motorist claim.  With the slow economy resulting in more drivers choosing to go without the mandatory auto insurance, uninsured motorist coverage is an ever more important coverage to have.  It is cheap coverage which provides real benefits for you and your family.

Reminder to check for underinsured motorist coverage

We would like to remind you to set back your clocks for daylight savings time.  We also would like to remind you to check your car insurance policies to make sure that you are carrying underinsured motorist coverage. 

Underinsured motorist coverage comes into play when you are involved in an Illinois car accident with a driver who carries insufficient liability insurance to cover the damages that he causes.  When that occurs, if you carried underinsured motorist coverage in an amount in excess of the liability limits for the at-fault driver, your insurer would pay you the damages you suffered in excess of the other driver's policy limits, up to the limits of your underinsured motorist policy limits.

For example, assume that you are in an accident with a driver who carries auto liability limits of $20,000 (the state minimum) and you carried underinsured limits of $100,000 and that you suffered damages in the amount of $80,000.  In that case you would collect the $20,000 from the at-fault driver, and your insurer would pay the other $60,000 in damages that you suffered as part of your Illinois underinsured motorist claim.

We should caution you that pursuing an underinsured motorist claim can be technically challenging, so you should retain the services of an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer to assist you.

We strongly recommend to everyone that they buy as much undersinured motorist coverage as they can comfortably afford.  It is cheap coverage and pay significant benefits when there is a serious car accident with someone who does not have the ability to pay the damages they cause.  It is good protection for you and your family.