Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A Burlington High School student died Friday afternoon in a Chicago area auto accident on Randall Road near the intersection of Red Gate Road in St. Charles Township of west suburban Kane County.

A 16-year-old teen from unincorporated Elgin, was transported to Delnor Hospital in Geneva, where he was pronounced dead, according to The Chronicle.

He was northbound on Randall Road near Red Gate Road in a 2000 Toyota Camry when he hit a 2004 Lincoln Navigator almost head-on as it turned left onto Red Gate, according to the Kane County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the crash.

The driver of the Lincoln Navigator and a small child who was a passenger in the Lincoln were transported to Delnor with non-life threatening injuries.

The Illinois car crash happened shortly after noon and shut down Randall between Crane and Bolcum roads.

No citations have been issued, however if the SUV was turning left, a ticket and other charges could still be issued. Under Illinois law, it is generally the duty of the driver turning left to yield to oncoming traffic.

The Daily Herald reported the victim was a student at Central High School in Burlington, which was on early dismissal Friday because of a teacher in-service day.

Also see the story as reported by The Courier-News.

A Chicago personal injury attorney has been filed a sex abuse lawsuit involving a child being kidnapped by a bus driver.

The suit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday, alleges the boy was sexually assaulted while restrained on the bus by the driver. The family is seeking damages from the bus driver, the busing company and the Chicago Public School system, according the the Chicago Breaking News Center.

The bus driver was charged with kidnapping the boy from Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side, according to a report last week in the Chicago Tribune.

Police reported that the 67-year-old Jewels Bus Company driver was arrested and charged following the Tuesday Sept. 15 incident. Authorities reported that the boy was supposed to be dropped off Tuesday morning at the Murray Language Academy in Hyde Park, but the driver detained him on the bus for several hours.

The boy was drooped off at his house about 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to a Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman.

Based on a statement the boy provided to investigators, he was taken by police for an examination by doctors at University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the Sun-Times.

Chicago police and Chicago Public School officials had been investigating alleged "inappropriate behavior" by the driver, according to the Sun-Times.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Rahsaan A. Gordon of Chicago.

Authorities are emphasizing the importance of save driving habits among teenagers as the school year begins in an effort to reduce Illinois car accidents involving teenagers, including drunk driving accidents and speeding.

Since its inception in 2007, Illinois' Operation Teen Safe Driving has been credited with reducing fatalities among teen motorists -- from 82 in the first six months of 2007, to 39 during the same period last year.

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for young people age 15 to 24, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Each year in the United States, more than 8,000 teens lose their lives in traffic crashes -- more than 400,000 are injured in traffic crashes.

Illinois' Operation Teen Safe Driving was created to combat the major reasons teens are killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes, including: lack of safety belt use, speed, distraction, impaired driving or lack of experience.

A new law that took effect Jan. 1, 2008, doubled the time young drivers must spend supervised before they can obtain an Illinois' driver's license.

“The improved graduated driver licensing law that resulted from the recommendations of the Teen Driver Safety Task Force makes Illinois' teen driver program one of the strongest in the nation and, more importantly, is saving lives,” said Secretary of State Jesse White. “I am encouraged that teen driving deaths have dropped by over 40 percent in the first full year of the law. This law, in conjunction with the Operation Teen Safe Driving initiative, is having the intended impact on teen driving safety."

Continue reading " Chicago parents urged to talk to teen drivers about how to avoid car accidents -- Operation Teen Safe Driving begins with school year " »

A 35-year-old man faces numerous charges after a fatal weekend Chicago DUI accident.

The accused driver faces charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, driving without insurance and failure to stop at a red light, according to the Chicago Tribune.

ABC7 reported the victim, a 30 year old man from Chicago, died as a result of his injuries after his vehicle was struck by the defendant's truck at about 2:30 a.m. The crash happened at West Cermak Road and South Damen Avenue on the city's Southwest Side.

Authorities say the victim was pronounced dead at Stein Institute. The accused drunk driver and a 20-year-old female passenger in his truck were treated for injuries at a local hospital, according to the Tribune.

The accident was investigated by the Chicago Police Department.

Earlier this month we blogged about the high numbers of nighttime DUI accidents reported by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Seven in ten Illinois drunk driving accidents are reported between midnight and 3 a.m.

In August, a federal study found 1 in 7 nighttime weekend drivers were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

A driver accused of causing a fatal Chicago area motorcycle accident while polishing her nails has been charged with reckless homicide.

The 48-year-old Morris woman faces up to five years in prison on a six-count indictment stemming from the May 2 death of Lake Zurich resident Anita Zaffke, according to a report in the Daily Herald.

Chicago authorities continue to combat an increasing number of motorcycle accidents, many of which are caused by distracted driving. Nationwide, deadly motorcycle accidents increased for the 11th straight year -- claiming 5,290 lives in 2008-- now accounting for 14 percent of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Last month, our Chicago motorcycle accident lawyers wrote on this blog about the 22 percent increase in Chicago motorcycle accidents during the past two years. There were 2,663 motorcycle accidents in the Chicago area last year, or more than a dozen a day during the five-month riding season.

This crash was part of a series of fatal Chicago motorcycle accidents we wrote about earlier this summer.

In this case, the woman is accused of painting her nails while driving 50 mph when she struck Zaffke's motorcycle at the intersection of Rand and Old McHenry roads near Lake Zurich, according to police.

While Zaffke's death prompted a debate about the dangers of distracted driving and its link to fatal Chicago traffic accidents, prosecutors in this case content the defendant's actions went beyond distracted driving, calling her "oblivious" to the safety of other motorists on the road, according to the Herald Tribune report.

The accused driver was initially charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, but the charge was dropped in favor of the more serious reckless homicide charge; the charges could not have been upgraded had she quickly pleaded to the lesser charges.

Bond for the defendant was set at $100,000 and her attorney said he was making arrangements for her to surrender to authorities.

Zaffke was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash but died shortly after being taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, according to the Lake County News-Sun.

The Lake County coroner ruled the cause of death was chest and abdominal injuries stemming from the accident.

An alarming new federal report shows the battle against drunk driving is far from over: 1 in 10 binge drinkers got behind the wheel of an automobile the last time they drank heavily, driving away from a bar, restaurant or nightclub after downing five or more drinks and putting everyone in their path in danger.

The Chicago car accident lawyers and drunk driving accident attorneys at Abels & Annes have blogged this year --both here and on our sister site www.chicagocaraccidentlawyersblog.com --about the increase in drunk driving cases against women, the high rate of night and weekend car accidents caused by drunk drivers, and the overall dangers of drunk driving.

One out of every three fatal crashes in 2008 was alcohol related, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In this latest study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 percent of 14,000 binge drinkers surveyed admitted to driving after their last bout of heavy drinking.

All had five or more drinks; half admitted to having seven or more drinks; 1 in 4 admitted to consuming at least 10 drinks before driving. The report highlighted the need to do a better job of preventing bars and restaurants from serving intoxicated patrons.

Illinois' Dram Shop laws permit injured parties to attempt to recover damages from restaurants or bars who serve intoxicated patrons who cause serious injury or death to an innocent party. in other words, Chicago car accident victims who are injured by a drunk driver can sometimes make a claim, not only against the at-fault driver, but against the establishment that severed the alcohol.

Dr. Timothy Naimi, of the CDC's alcohol program, attributes binge drinking to more than 11,000 deaths a year. He called Dram Shop laws "among the most disregarded laws in the country."

"The drinking location is really important," Naimi said. "We're trusting these licensed establishments to serve responsibly, and more than half of the intoxicated people who drive have been drinking in these places."

Continue reading " Binge drinking research - DUI drivers too often endanger Illinois residents " »

In the third deadly car crash this week in Kane County, Illinois an elderly woman has been killed, according to chicagobreakingnews.com. Four others were injured in the car crash that occurred in Lily Lake, Illinois on September 13, 2009.

The victim was a resident of Woodstock, Illinois and she was pronounced dead when she arrived by ambulance at Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva. She was riding as a rear driver's side passenger in a Ford Escape.

The fatal car accident occurred at about 1:45 in the morning near Illinois Highway and Empire Road, involving an SUV and a 1990 Buick Regal. The Kane County Sheriff's Department is handling the crash investigation. This is the 3rd fatal accident they have investigated in the past week.

The driver of the Buick was ejected from her vehicle and was taken to Delnor-Community Hospital. The driver of the SUV and 2 other passengers were all taken to area hospitals.

The Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team is also working crash investigation. It has not been reported which vehicle was at fault or if drugs or alcohol were involved. Route 47 was closed for several hours due to the accident.

Also see 1 dead, 1 hurt in Kane County traffic crash.

Abogados personales de herida de Abels & Annes, en Chicago han alcanzado un arreglo de $195,000 para un residente que fue herido en el trabajo.

Nuestro cliente fue herido el 27 de Mayo de 2008 tratando de parar una refrigeradora de caerse en el trabajo. El fue empleado como un medio-camionero en una compañía en el área de Chicago.

Después de el accidente él tuvo dolor lumbar y sentía hormigueo en su pierna derecha. Nuestro cliente empezo a tratar con un médico ortopédico en Chicago. Debido a sus reclamos, el médico ordenó un MRI que reveló que el sostuvo un disco herniado en su espina dorsal lumbar con radiculopathy. El tuvo que experimentar 2 inyecciones epidurales para tratar de aliviar el dolor.

El arreglo llama para que el portador del seguro de Compensación de Trabajadores del empleador pague por todas las cuentas médicas del cliente que fueron contraídas debido a la herida. Aún más, además del $195,000, nosotros también reunimos $25,800 en el pago de incapacidad mientras él estuvo fuera del trabajo debido al accidente.

El Seguro Accident Fund esta pagando en el reclamo. El contrato es esperado ser aprobado pronto en la Comisión de Compensación de los Trabajadores de Illinois.

Para aprender más acerca de reclamos de herida de trabajo, por favor visite nuesta página Compensación de Trabajadores de Illinois, o contacte nuestra oficina para una consulta gratis. Llame (866) 99- ABELS.

Chicago personal injury lawyers from Abels & Annes, working with Illinois workers' compensation lawyer Chris Johnson, have reached a $195,000 settlement for a local resident who was injured on the job.

Our client was injured on May 27, 2008 while trying to stop a refrigerator from falling at work. He was employed as a semi-truck driver at a Chicago area company.

After the accident he have severe back pain with tingling in his right leg. Our client starting treating with an orthopaedic physician in Chicago. Due to his complaints, the doctor ordered an MRI which revealed the petitioner sustained a herniated disc in his lumbar spine with radiculopathy. He had to undergo 2 epidural injections to try to relieve the pain.

The settlement agreement calls for the employer's work comp insurance carrier to pay for all of our client's medical bills that were incurred due to the injury. Further, in addition to the $195,000, we also collected $25,800 in disability pay for him while he was off of work due to the accident.

Accident Fund Insurance is paying on the claim. The contract is expected to be approved shortly at the Illinois workers' Compensation Commission.

To learn more about work injury claims, please visit our Illinois Workers' Compensation webpage, or contact our office for a free consultation. Call (866) 99-ABELS.

A Schaumburg couple was killed on Labor Day when their motorcycle was hit by a car in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The deadly motorcycle accident took place in unincorporated Cook County near Palatine, Illinois. The Chicago Sun-Times reported the husband was driving the motorcycle when it was struck by a vehicle exiting a gas station parking lot at Quentin and Dundee roads shortly before noon.

The 65-year-old husband was pronounced dead about 2:30 p.m. on Monday at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to the Chicago Tribune. His 54-year-old wife was pronounced dead about an hour later.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Department is handling the crash investigation. The driver of the car that collided with the motorcycle, a 61-year-old Palatine woman, was ticketed for failure to yield from a private driveway, according to the Daily Herald. Whether the charges will be increased due to the fatalities has not been reported.

Over the past two years there has been a 22 percent increase in Chicago-area motorcycle accidents. Last year, there were 2,663 motorcycle accidents in the Chicago area. That's a dozen motorcycle accidents a day during the 5-month riding season.

Too often Chicago motorcycle riders are hit and seriously injured or killed by a motorist that fails to yield. Earlier this summer, www.chicagopersonalinjurylawyerblog.com posted "10 Things Every Driver Should Know About Motorcycles."

In the Chicago western suburb of Naperville, Illinois 5 people were injured in a car crash on Saturday night, according to the Naperville Sun. The 2 vehicle crash involved a Naperville police car, and a police officer was one of the injured.

The car crash took place at the intersection of Route 59 and 95th Street just before 6:30 p.m. The Naperville Police vehicle was eastbound on 95th when it collided with a motor vehicle that was northbound on 59. Both cars were seriously damaged.

The police officer and the 4 occupants of the other car were all hurt and taken to Edwards Hospital in Naperville, Illinois. The intersection was closed for hours due to the car accident.

The Naperville Police Department is handling the crash investigation and no tickets have been issued. The cause of the accident has not been reported. The Chicago Breaking News Center is reporting that a female officer was responding to an emergency call and had her emergency lights activated.

Also see the story as reported by the Daily Herald.

In Chicago, Illinois 2 people were killed and 2 were badly injured in a car vs. garbage truck accident in Logan Square, according to the Chicago Breaking News Center. The privately owned garbage truck was knocked on its side in the crash.

The auto accident happened on Wednesday around 3 a.m. in the 3600 block of West Fullerton Avenue. Two people traveling in the car were killed. One man, a 30-year-old Chicago resident was pronounced dead at the scene. The other, a 27-year-old Chicago resident, was taken by ambulance and pronounced dead a short time later at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Of the two seriously injured, one was taken to Illinois Masonic, and the other to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. A total of 6 ambulances responded to the crash, and several people had to be extracted from the vehicles.

The Chicago Police Department's Major Accident Investigation Unit handling the car crash investigation. The cause of the truck accident has not been reported, nor has it been said if any Chicago injury lawyers are involved in the case yet or if any lawsuits have been filed.

Also see the story as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, NBC News, and ABC News.

The federal government reported this week that the smallest number of employees ever recorded died as a result of work injuries in 2008.

But that was not the case in Illinois -- where the number of employees killed on the job actually increased. The government acknowledged the numbers could be lower because of a poor economy, record unemployment, a change in record keeping (that records injuries per hours worked rather than per employee) and even delayed or under-recorded fatalities because of lower staffing levels at the various reporting agencies.

Employees are being asked to do more to keep their jobs in the present economy, to make up for laid off workers or eliminated positions. But companies and employers still have an obligation to provide a safe work environment. Chicago workers' compensation attorneys and work injury lawyers at Abels & Annes offer free appointments to discuss your rights if your or a loved one has been injured on the job.

Illinois joined just 14 states where the the number of workers who died on the job increased, from 185 in 2007 to 193 in 2008:
- Transportation accidents killed 62 employees
- 38 died as a result of assault or acts of violence
-34 died from contact with objects or equipment
-29 died in falls
-23 died from exposure to harmful substances or environments
-7 died as a result of fires or explosions on the job.

Last year's skyrocketing nationwide unemployment rate may have played a part in the reduced rate of fatal work accidents--the government reported significant drops in dangerous jobs like construction, which were also hit hard by the economic downturn.

A total of 5,071 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2008, down from a total
of 5,657 fatal work injuries reported for 2007. It is the smallest number recorded since current recording began in 1992.

The numbers indicate 3.6 fatal work injuries per 100,000 workers, down from 4.0 in 2007.

Continue reading " Illinois fatal work injury accidents increase in 2008 -- nationwide, fatalities decrease " »