Articles Posted in Auto Accidents

While the median-barrier problems in Oregon serve as a perfect example of the complexities involved in defining the parameters of government responsibility in providing safe roadways, this particular issue applies to a number of highways located throughout the U.S., Illinois included. The law pertaining to the maintenance of roadways is fairly uniform in most states, in that a duty exists to provide reasonably safe roadways, which includes protecting the public from inherently dangerous conditions that pose safety risks or hazards to persons that the entity intended, permitted, and reasonably expected to make use of, in the manner for which it used (i.e. motorists and passengers of motor vehicles).

And although the government can shield themselves from liability-at least in some ways-however, the duty to exercise ‘due’ and ‘ordinary’ care remains, as it would for any property owner, whether the government or a private individual. So then, at what point can the government be held responsible for their failure to remedy a known hazardous roadway condition?

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The Chicago Accident & Injury Attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. take note of an alert, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), regarding the recall of nearly 5 million vehicles due to defective airbags. Recalled vehicles include several early 2000 models of certain Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, BMW, and GM vehicles. According to reports, the airbag inflators, made by Takata Corp., can fail to deploy in the event of collision, thereby posing a serious risk of injury or fatality.

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Despite the abundance of media attention following the recent recalls of GM vehicles, many of the more than 6 million consumers affected by the recall, are still left with unanswered questions. Even more concerning-many motorists are entirely unaware that they may be the owner or operator of a recalled GM vehicle. As attorneys that practice both personal injury law, as well as product liability, Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. observe that the aggregate effect of consumer confusion and/or unawareness, has placed an immeasurable number of motorists at risk for loss of life or limb.

Although the media has been, and continues to be, an important means of providing notification to consumers, our team of injury lawyers are left wondering if the necessary information has been properly received by all person affected. While initial media reports focused on the ignition related recall for older model GM vehicles, the recall was subsequently expanded to include several newer model vehicles as well. Further, the initial ignition-related recalls were not the only major recall recently announced by GM. Late in March, GM reported its intent to recall several additional vehicles, due to issue with faulty power steering. As Accident & Injury attorneys, we find this sequence of recalls highly problematic, and for several reasons.

First, the original ignition recall may have led many consumers to conclude that their vehicle was not included within the class of vehicles affected. Therefore, when the ignition recall was later expanded to include newer models, many may have failed to reconsider, or simply overlooked, that their vehicle may indeed be subject to the recall. Second, the subsequent recall of the power steering issue, which affected many of the same vehicles that were listed in the ignition recall, may have also led to further confusion amongst consumers. Many may have failed to heed to recall warnings, because they were unaware that this was a separate and distinct recall, or that it affected multiple other GM vehicles, and, in some cases, both.

The Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. have noticed a string of auto accidents recently occurring along Dan Ryan Expressway, including multiple-vehicle crashes, as well as roll-over collisions.

Amongst the most recent incidents was a four-vehicle collision involving a daycare van, a bus, a SUV, and another automobile, that occurred on March 5, 2014, and sent 8 children and an adult to the hospital, as stated in one of our previous posts, South Side Crash Sends Nine Victims to Hospital.

The day care van collisions came just four days following a three-vehicle crash on Dan Ryan that left several injured. Officials say this accident occurred on March 1, 2014 near 69th street. Seven people were transported to the hospital, with varying degrees of injuries. According to a spokesperson for Fire Media Affairs, two victims were listed in fair-to-serious condition, and the remaining five victims were listed in good condition.

The Chicago Auto Accident Attorneys of Zneimer & Zneimer, P.C. take note of a multiple-vehicle crash along Dan Ryan Expressway, in which eight children and one adult were transported to hospital. Illinois State Police say the accident occurred March 5, 2014, near 51st Street at approximately 7 a.m.

According to officials, the driver of a 2007 M35 Infinity M35 lost control of his vehicle, struck a median, veered back into oncoming traffic, and then collided with a daycare van that was carrying eight children. Thereafter, a Megabus, collided with the Infinity and daycare van, as well as a 2008 Honda Accord.

All eight children were taken to local hospitals as a precaution, in accordance with Chicago Fire Department protocol. The driver of the daycare van was transported via ambulance for a minor injury, and was later released. None of the 27 passengers aboard the Megabus were injured, according to a representative from the bus company.

The Chicago personal injury law firm of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. takes note of a crash test study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety which found that many of the subcompact cars sold in the United States failed the crash test.

The IIHS tested 11 subcompact cars and mini cars in crash tests and only one car rated even reasonably well, the Chevrolet Spark. None of the 12 subcompacts got the highest rating of “good” from the IIHS. The Chevrolet Spark got an “acceptable” rating. The cars earning the lowest “poor” rating were the Nissan Versa, Toyota Prius, Hundai Accent, The Misubishi Mirage, Fiat 500 The Honda Fit, the Mazda 2, the Kia Rio the Toyota Yaris and the Ford, Fiesta.

The overlap crash involves a car hitting a barrier at 40 mph on just the side of the bumper. Many cars that do well on crash tests directly to the front of the bumper do poorly when the impact is to the side of a bumper or to the front corner of the car. Statistics show that a quarter of the crashes causing serious injuries or death are these type of front crashes.

The Chicago injury law firm of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. notes a study appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine which notes that novice drivers are more likely to engage in risky driving behaviors over time as they become more accustomed to driving. The study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute compared the driving habits of experienced drivers vs. novice drivers. The drivers were videoed and drove cars equipped with data collecting computers.

The data from the study showed that during the first six months driving novice drivers engaged in tasks like texting, dialing, reaching for a phone, reaching for other things, eating and adjusting controls less than the experienced drivers. During the period between 7 months and 15 months, the novice drivers matched the experienced drivers in the amount of distracted behaviors. Then, during the period of 16 months and 18 months after starting to drive the distracted driving behaviors shot up two-fold.

The study had significant findings that have important implications as far as Illinois driving laws. The study found that tasks involving hand -held cell phones increases the risk of crashing by three times. Equally important, use of hands-free cellphones is not that much safer than hand held phones. It is interesting to note that Illinois banned the use of hand-held cell phones while driving beginning in January of 2014 but still allows the us of hands free cell phones while driving.

The Chicago auto injury lawyers of Zneimer and Zneimer note that new laws changing the way people drive on Illinois roads went into affect at the beginning of 2014. Starting January 1, 2014, a new Illinois law makes it illegal to use a handheld cellphone while operating a motor vehicle. Residents of Chicago already had an ordinance which forbid handheld cellphones while driving but now the practice is forbidden statewide. However, a driver may still legally use a hands free headset, speaker phone or other hands free device when using a cell phone while driving.

Another new law passed by the Illinois General Assembly would raise the speed limit on interstate expressways to 70 mph outside of metropolitan areas. In metropolitan areas around Chicago, St. Louis and Springfield the speed limit will remain 55 mph.