The Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle, P.C.

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.

Labels: car accidents drunk driving accidents wrongful death lawsuits

2/27/2010
Barry Doyle
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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.

Labels: car accidents drunk driving accidents wrongful death lawsuits

1/23/2010
Barry Doyle
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Liability limits for Dram Shop Act cases raised

Bars and other licensed liquor estabishments face liability for injuries caused by intoxicated persons, including drunk drivers, but the amount of liability is limited by the Dram Shop Act. Effective Janauary 20, 2010, this amount was increased.

Labels: dram shop act drunk driving accidents

12/9/2009
Barry Doyle
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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.

Labels: car accidents drunk driving accidents injuries to children

11/6/2009
Barry Doyle
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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.

Labels: car accidents dram shop act drunk driving accidents underinsured motorist claims uninsured motorist claims

8/12/2009
Barry Doyle
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Motorcyclist injured in drunk driving accident

A motorcyclist in Pennsylvania was injured when a driver of a pick up truck traveling north entered the southbound lanes of traffic to pass a slower moving vehicle. When he did so, he did not notice a motorcycle traveling southbound and clipped the motorcycle, causing the rider to lose control of his bike and be ejected from the bike. The pick up truck driver was charged with drunk driving.

This drunk driving accident sounds a similar them to many of the motorcycle crashes I have blogged about lately: that the driver of a car fails to see a motorcycle and yield the right of way to him, causing an accident where the motorcyclist was seriously injured (in this accident -- many other are wrongful death motorcycle accidents) and the driver of the car walks away.

When passing a vehicle traveling in the same direction, it is a basic rule of the road that you do not enter the lane for oncoming traffic unless it is clear to do so for the distance it takes to complete the passing maneuver. In this case, he either never checked at all, risking a head-on car crash that could have killed all involved, or he failed to see the motorcyclist, as has happened too many times in recent months. The likelihood is that he simply failed to see the oncoming motorcycle rider.

Labels: car accidents drunk driving accidents motorcycle accidents

7/29/2009
Barry Doyle
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Intoxicated teen driver causes car accident

An 18 year old driver has been charged with DUI after a car accident at the intersection of Division and Jackson in Morris last week. The intoxicated teenager ran a stop sign and hit another vehicle which was passing through the intersection. The two occupants of the vehicle hit by the intoxicated teen had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.

One of the key issues in this case will be where and how did this teen become intoxicated? The answer to that question will determine whether anyone besides the teen will bear civil liability for the car accident. For example:

If the teen became intoxicated at a licensed liquor establishment such as a bar or restaurant, then that business would have civil liability under the Illinois Dram Shop Act. This statute imposes civil liability on licensed liquor establishments for injuries caused by drunken patrons, subject to an annually adjusted cap on damages recoverable under the Dram Shop Act.
If the teen were provided liquor by adults in a social setting, the parents would bear some civil liability for the drunk driving accident injuries under a new statute called the Drug and Alcohol Impaired Minor Responsibility Act. This statute places civil liability on the adults who provide alcoholic beverages to minors who cause injuries to others through their intoxication.

The investigation of these issues will be an important part of obtaining full compensation to the victims of this car accident. Because of the ongoing criminal investigation, answers to these questions may not be readily forthcoming. Given the short, 1-year statute of limitations for claims under the Illinois Dram Shop Act, I strongly recommend that the victims of this teen drunk driving accident promptly seek the services of an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer to assist them in this matter.

Labels: car accidents dram shop act drunk driving accidents

6/16/2009
Barry Doyle
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St. Charles dunk driving accident claims life of West Chicago teen

A tragic drunk driving accident in St. Charles has claimed the life of a West Chicago teen. The 18 year old victim was a passenger in a Ford Explorer which was being driven by another 18 year old. The driver lost control of the vehicle and it went off the road, slamming into two trees. Two back seat passengers were also injured. Investigation by the St. Charles police and Kane County Sheriff's Department indicates that the 18 year old driver was drunk at the time of the accident.

There is really nothing that can compensate this family for the loss of their child. Whenever I hear about accidents like this, I remember back to the days when I was that age and thought I was made of stainless steel and thank my lucky stars that I made it out of my late teens and early twenties in one piece.

The one thing that this family can get from hiring an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer is some answers and perhaps some accountability. Because there has been a wrongful death and there are serious criminal charges pending, there will probably be few answers given voluntarily by those involved. To get those answers, a suit will probably have to be filed to get subpoena powers to access the police investigation and to force those involved to answer questions about what happened that night.

With regard to the issue of acocuntability, a great deal of the blame for this accident of course rests on the shoulders of the drunk driver. Moving past him, there are important questions to be answered about how these teens got the alcohol. Answering those questions may result in liability and acknowledgement of fault on the licensed liquor establishments that provided the alcohol to these teens or to the parents who served them or allowed them to drink in their homes.

There are many questions which need to be answered.

Labels: car accidents dram shop act drunk driving accidents wrongful death lawsuits

5/11/2009
Barry Doyle
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Drunk driver kills one injures seven in Chicago

On Sunday, a northbound drunk driver ran a red light at the intersection of 43rd Street and Western in Chicago and hit a westbound Lexus. The impact killed the driver of the Lexus and caused the Lexus to smash into another car that was stopped at the red light for traffic traveling southbound on Western. Including the drunk driver, one was killed and seven injured as a result of this Illinois drunk driving accident.

Cases like this underline the need for obtaining underinsured motorist coverage for yourself when buying car insurance. The underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage would apply any time that the total damages caused in an Illinois car accident exceeds the amount of liability insurance coverage available.

My experience has always seemed to be that the worst drivers only carry the minimum amount of liability insurance, when they bother to have any insurance at all. The state minimum auto insurance is $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident. If that is the case in this accident, that means that the six survivors of the accident and the family of the person killed in the wreck have a total of $40,000 in liability coverage to compensate them for their losses, including medical expenses, lost wages, funeral expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of economic support of society. That kind of money does not go far in this kind of car crash.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that the family of the person killed in the accident gets $20,000 from the minimum policy held by the drunk driver as compensation for their Illinois wrongful death claim. That leaves $20,000 to be split between the other six survivors of the accident, or $3,333 each. That will not cover the emergency room bills for any of them.

Where underinsured motorist coverage would help the victims of this accident is by providing them compensation for their injuries for the amount due in excess of the amount paid by the at-fault driver. For example, if the driver of the southbound car had $100,000 in underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage and sustained $20,000 in damages, her insurance would pay her the $16,667 difference between her damages and the amount of liability insurance available to her. The article on our web site about use of Illinois UIM coverage in multi victim car accidents explains this further.

Cases like this show how important underinsured motorist coverage is for protecting you and your family. It is cheap coverage, and as experienced Chicago personal injury lawyers, we recommend that you purchase full coverage on your vehicle for as much coverage as possible when buying or renewing your automobile insurance coverage, because if the at-fault driver in this accident had no insurance at all, there would still be an avenue of recovery through an Illinois uninsured motorist claim.

Labels: car accidents drunk driving accidents underinsured motorist claims wrongful death lawsuits

5/8/2009
Barry Doyle
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Mason County drunk driving accident leaves two dead

Two men were killed and another seriously injured in a drunk driving accident in Mason County on Wednesday night. The drunk driver was driving a truck owned by a farm supply company and was not injured in the car wreck.

One of the issues that will arise from this accident is who bears legal responsibility and who will have to pay the wrongful death compensation that the families of these men are entitled to.

There is a doctrine in the law called respondeat superior, which holds an employer liable for the negligence of its employees in the course and scope of their employment. Most of the time, when an employee is given a company vehicle and gets into an Illinois motor vehicle accident, his employer will be held liable. In cases where the employee is driving drunk, the insurance company for the employer will deny liability, saying that the drunk driving employee was not hired to drive while intoxicated, violated company policies, etc., and was therefore outside the scope of his employment. That is a defense that the farm supply company is sure to rely upon.

However, if the employee was permitted to drive the vehicle, a lesser evidentiary standard than acting in the scope of employment, then the insurance which covers the vehicle should also cover the drunk driving employee. However, these families can be sure that the insurance company will try to dodge responsibility by claiming that the coverage on the vehicle was voided when he drove the company vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, something which he was doubtless forbidden from doing.

Wrongful death cases are serious cases under the simplest of circumstances because the losses sustained by the families are so great. However, in a case like this, where there may be grounds for a financially viable defendant or insurer to avoid laibility, these families would do well to hire an experienced Illinois wrongful death lawyer to protect their interests.

Labels: car accidents drunk driving accidents wrongful death lawsuits

Motorcycle Crashes

11/5/2009
Barry Doyle
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Motorcyclist killed by driver pulling out of parking lot

A rider in Phoenix, AZ was killed on Monday when the driver of a pick up truck pulled out of parking lot in front of him. Authorities suspect that the 22 year old driver of the pick up was drinking, although results will not be available for several days.

This is of course yet another wrongful death motorcycle accident caused by the failure to yield the right of way to a motorcycle. However, there are some reasons that a case like this calls for the assistance of an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer:

The family of the man killed in this accident suffered some major losses, and one consideration in a motorcycle accident such as this is identifying all of the insurance coverage available. One issue to consider is whether the driver was operating a company owned vehicle or doing something work related at the time of the accident. If so, the commercial insurance policy covering the employer would cover the damages caused by this motorcycle accident.
The report indicates that the pick up driver was drinking. Under Illinois law, any licensed liquor establishment that serves someone who causes injury to another can be held liable to the injured person under the Dram Shop Act. There is a short, 1 year statute of limitations under the Illinois Dram Shop Act, which requires diligent investigation to determine where the drunk driver obtained alcohol. This can be a difficult process where there are criminal charges pending against as a result of the drunk driving accident.

Labels: car accidents dram shop act drunk driving accidents motorcycle accidents wrongful death lawsuits

9/18/2009
Barry Doyle
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$7 million settlement for motorcycle accident

A Seattle area sheriff's deputy received a settlement in excess of $7 million for injuries he sustained in a motorcycle crash with a drunk driver. He suffered injuries to his right leg which resulted in amputation, head injuries, internal injuries, and other fractures.

The accident happened when he was riding motorcycle and was hit by a drink driver who was pulling out of the parking lot of a tavern. The drunk driver was a roofer from Arizona who was driving a company vehicle despite having a blood alcohol content of .31, well in excess of the legal limit in Washington.

Besides the amount of the settlement, this case is notable for how the settlement was funded. Several insurance companies were involved in paying the settlement. There was $6 million paid by the insurance company for the roofing company that owned the truck, $1 million by their liability insurance and an additional $5 million from an excess insurer, $1 million from the insurer of the dram shop, $100,000 from underinsured motorist coverage from the deputy's own policy, and $25,000 from the automobile liability insurer of the drunk driver.

This case underlines the importance of hiring experienced personal injury lawyers when you are involved in an accident with catastrophic injuries or wrongful death. One thing that we do for clients who are involved in serious accidents such as this is identify all of the insurance coverage and all of the potentially liable parties so as to ensure that our clients come as close as possible to being fairly compensated for their injuries, even those who suffer injuries as terrible as the ones suffered by the sheriff's deputy in this case.

Labels: car accidents dram shop act drunk driving accidents motorcycle accidents underinsured motorist claims

Trucking Accidents

11/28/2009
Barry Doyle
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Truck driver charged with DUI in wrongful death accident

A trucking accident in West Virginia that claimed the life of a teenager has resulted in DUI charges against the truck driver involved in the wrongful death accident.

After the death of the teenager, charges against the truck driver were upgraded to include DUI causing death and fleeing the scene of an accident. Three other passengers in the teen's vehicle were also injured.

In keeping with the dangers brought on by the great size and power of tractor trailers, federal regulations limit the amount of alcohol that a driver can have when reporting to duty to .02, which is a quarter of what is allowed in most states for the operation of private motor vehicles. Once the driver is involved in critical safety functions such as the pre-trip inspection and the actual operation of the vehicle, then he is prohibited from consuming any alcohol at all.

The limits that truck drivers must adhere to are much stricter than those applicable to people driving passenger vehicles, but this is a limitation which makes a great deal of sense given the size and power of tractor trailers and the amount of time that truck drivers spend behind the wheel.

Labels: drunk driving accidents trucking accidents wrongful death lawsuits