Beginning January 1, 2011, a driver found guilty of driving 40 mph or faster over the speed limit in Illinois will no longer qualify for court supervision, which keeps moving violations off a driver’s driving record. The maximum penalty for driving 40 mph or more over the speed limit is up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The toughest penalty for going at least 30 mph over the speed limit is six months in jail and a $500 fine. As a Chicago personal injury lawyer, I know from experience that speed causes injuries and sometimes kills. The law firm of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. has handled numerous cases for individuals injured by persons driving in excess of the speed limit, especially on residential streets. For too long in the Chicago area speeding has not been taken as seriously as it should be, given the injuries and deaths that speeding has been responsible for. A Chicago Tribune study of state police tickets, license data and court records demonstrated that Chicago area judges gave supervision to about two-thirds of drivers who were driving over 100 mph. Senate President John Cullerton D-Chicago who sponsored the new law specifically cited the Chicago Tribune’s article as inspiration for the tougher law.
Chicago Pedestrian Hit By Driver Cutting Through Gas Station
A hit-and-run driver cut through a gas station on Chicago’s south side on Monday to avoid a traffic light when he hit a pedestrian and fled according to WGN news. The pedestrian accident occurred in the 6200 block of South California at about 10:15 pm. The hit-and-run vehicle was a red SUV with a roof rack and it was headed north bound.
As personal injury attorneys in Chicago, the law firm of Zneimer & Zneimer has noted that this type of accident is common in Chicago, unfortunately. It is all too common for drivers to cut through gas stations, putting pedestrians who are either walking in the gas station lot or on the side walks adjacent to the gas station at risk. Chicago police should do more to end this practice. One idea is to stake out gas stations where this activity is common on certain days so offenders know the police are cracking down on this dangerous and stupid behavior.
Sleepy Drivers Cause Fatal Accidents
As personal injury attorneys in Chicago, concentrating in representing victims of serious car crashes, we are surprised by the results of a AAA study which found that one in eight car accidents where someone went to the hospital was caused by a sleepy driver. The study also found that sixteen percent of car accidents resulting in a wrongful death were caused by sleepy drivers. The AAA study was conducted for a ten year period ending in 2008.
Sleepy drivers, according to medical professionals, have impaired judgment and reflexes. Many experts compare driving while sleepy to the effects of driving while under the influence.
Driving without a license may make you uninsured
In a consolidated case that involved six drivers that drove cars that were insured by Founders Insurance or Safeway Insurance, the issue was whether Founders and Safeway should pay for injuries caused by a driver that drove the car without a license. Founders and Safeway argued that they did not have to pay because their policy excluded drivers who do not have a drivers license. Five of the drivers had no license, while the sixth driver had a suspended license.
The Founders insurance policy had several exclusions to its liability coverage. One of the exclusion stated that coverage does not apply “to bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use by any person of a vehicle without a reasonable belief that the person is entitled to do so.” Founders argued that a person without a drivers license or a person with a suspended drivers license cannot have a reasonable belief that they are entitled to use the vehicle.
The Safeway insurance policy had a similar exclusion. The policy excluded any person “operating an automobile without a reasonable belief that he or she is entitled to do so.”
Common Causes of Bicycle Crashes In Chicago CONTINUED
According to bicyclinginfo.org 716 people in the USA were killed and 52,000 suffered personal injuries in collisions involving a bike against a motor vehicle in 2008. The website bicyclesafe.com identified common situations that cause personal injuries to bicyclists. The most common ones our Chicago personal injury firm has encountered are:
The left cross
This is a common Chicago bicycle accident ,especially at the 6 corner intersections. Bicyclists do not register for some motorists in Chicago, and the motorist will proceed to make their left turn at an intersection directly into the path of a bicyclist. Perhaps this is because they are only looking for other motor vehicles and forget about the fact that bicyclists are also using the roadways. The way to avoid this accident is to enter intersections slowly and to never assume that the left turning motorist sees you on your bike. It is also a good idea to try to make eye contact with any driver ready to make a left turn to determine if the driver sees you or not. The Chicago personal injury lawyers of Zneimer & Zneimer P.C. has handled of number of these cases and from experience it appears that most of these accidents happen at high congestion intersections like Western & Diversey in Chicago or at Western and Logan Blvd. in Chicago.
Texting While Driving Causes Death
A study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated sending text messages while driving led to accidents that killed approximately 16,000 people from 2001 to 2007. The same study concluded that deaths because of “distracted driving” surged from 4,572 in 2005 to 5,870 in 2008. With more people texting all the time, distracted driving is becoming a bigger safety hazard.
Homeowner is not Responsible for Injury on Adjacent Sidewalk
When a person suffers injuries as a result of a slip and fall on negligently maintained property, it is important to establish who is responsible to maintain the property that caused the slip and fall.
In the recent decision Gilmore v. Powers, the Illinois Appellate Court determined that homeowners are not responsible for injuries on public property abutting their house, even if the homeowners maintained the property by cutting grass, watering, spreading salt on the property. The plaintiff in this case was a mover that was helping the property owners move their belongings from California to their home in Evanston, Illinois. As the moving company was finishing its work, one of the movers fell on a stone walkway which straddled the city-owned parkway in front of defendants’ house.
The mover sued the homeowners for negligence claiming that the homeowners should have maintained “their property” in a condition that was safe for people such as herself. The mover specifically asserted that the homeowners violated this duty by failing to inspect “their property” for hazardous conditions, permitting the walkway to remain in a dangerous condition, failing to fix the walkway after becoming aware of its dangerous condition, and failing to properly maintain the walkway on the property.
Pedestrian Struck & Killed By Motorist In Logan Square In Chicago
A man in his late teens or early 20’s was struck by a motorist early Sunday morning in the the Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago.
The man had been struck by a black SUV around 4:40 a.m. while he was walking near the 2400 block of North Ridgeway Avenue in Chicago. The SUV did not stop.
As a personal injury attorney in Chicago, I have had more than one case of pedestrians being hit by motorists in vans or SUVs late at night with the van or SUV then speeding away. Walking in alleys is especially dangerous at night. Some of the hits almost seemed to be intentional in that there was no horn sounded and no attempts to stop. So it is prudent not to trust the drivers of any vehicle driving around late at night or in early morning hours in Chicago.
Common Situations That Cause Bicycle Injuries
According to bicyclinginfo.org 716 people in the USA were killed and 52,000 suffered personal injuries in collisions involving a bike against a motor vehicle in 2008. The website bicyclesafe.com identified common situations that cause personal injuries to bicyclists. The most common ones our Chicago personal injury firm has encountered are:
The right cross
This is the situation where a motor vehicle is pulling out from a side street, private driveway or alleyway from the bicyclists right side. The driver is looking for cars and often pulls up into the path of the bicyclist. This situation is especially common in Chicago since many alleyway exits have cars parked right up to the the exit to the alleyway so that cars exiting the alleyway have very poor visibility of bikes on the roadway. Ways to avoid this type of collision include using a head light, slowing down before exits and trying to make eye contact with the motorist to determine if the motorist has seen you or not.
Bicycle Related Injuries on the Rise
Chicago is trying to be a bicycle friendly city, and yet sharing the city streets with automobiles is full of hazards, even for experienced bikers. Danger to bikers lurks everywhere: from moving traffic, from careless drivers who open the doors of their parked cars without looking out for bikers, from dangerous pavements and obstacles on the road. It is time to review some safety tips that will help in avoiding bicycle accidents:
First, wear a helmet to protect your brain and save your life. Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of death in bicycle accidents.
Make sure that your bicycle is a proper fit. If you need to adjust the seat height and handlebar height, make sure you do so before hitting the road.