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A Morrison, Illinois man faces driving while intoxicated charges after he hit a house with his car, according to the Quad City Times. The Whiteside County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that the accident happened at Henry Road and Deer Trace Road just outside Morrison. Karl R. Schmidt, 20, was westbound on Deer Trace Lane when he lost control of car, went through the intersection of Henry Road, and struck the home of Jean Reed at 15459 Heny Road.

Both the home and the car were damaged. The driver fled the scene and was later stopped by sheriff’s deputies. He was arrested and has since posted bond and been released.

While this seems like a bizarre accident, it has not been such a rarity in Illinois lately.

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Two Chicago area Metra trains hit a minivan on Monday evening in the western suburb of Hinsdale, Illinois after the driver got stuck on the tracks and left his vehicle. Franciszek Chudzik, 72, of Aurora, Illinois allegedly crossed two sets of tracks and tried to make a left turn onto a third set of tracks when his vehicle got stuck, according to TheDoings-Hinsdale.com.

Witnesses actually tried to move the van before an eastbound train hit it. People had to yell at the driver to get out of the van before it was struck. The driver then exited the vehicle, put his keys in his pocket and walked away. The minivan was also hit by a second train heading westbound. One witness stated that the van tuned into a fireball after it was hit. The minivan was practically obliterated by the impacts. Click here for Hinsdale, Illinois van vs. train crash photo.

Chudzik was arrested at the scene of the train / car crash and charged with DUI. He allegedly had a blood alcohol content of greater than .08. The police officers conducted sobriety tests at the scene.

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A Chicago, Illinois resident who rear-ended a semi-truck, killing her passenger, has been sentenced to prison by a judge in Van Buren County, Michigan, according to mlive.com. The car / truck crash happened by the Interstate 94 westbound entrance ramp in Mattawan, MI. on February 23, 2007.

The car accident occurred when the driver, a Chicago, Illinois resident, drove around a police roadblock and then struck the back of a truck that was stopped in traffic. Her passenger, Karl L. Shaw, 27, also from Chicago, was killed in the auto collision. Traffic was backed up because of a truck fire.

Beyond the fact that the defendant was driving while intoxicated, a speed-sensing device in her 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt showed she was moving at 103 mph just before the impact.

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A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the family of a Chicago Area woman who died from injuries sustained in a November 25, 2007 Arkansas bus crash, according to the Times-Herald of Forrest City, Arkansas. The bus was traveling from Chicago, Illinois to Dallas, Texas. The lawsuit was filed earlier this month in Brownsville, Texas by the victim’s husband from Plano, Illinois. She past away in a Memphis , Tennessee hospital on December 16, 2007 from injuries sustained in the bus crash. The lawsuit lists Dallas based Tornado Bus Co. and the driver of the bus as defendants.

Earlier this month the bus driver was arrested by the Arkansas State Police and charged with 4 counts of Reckless Homicide after toxicology reports from Tapia showed evidence of amphetamine use at the time of the bus crash.

A West Chicago, Illinois resident was also on the bus and died at the accident site. They were on a Tornado Bus Co. bus with 45 other people. The fatal motor vehicle collision happened on a rainy night on Interstate 40 in northern Arkansas when the bus crossed a median, hit a pickup truck, and then hit a larger commercial truck. Lopez, another passenger, and the driver of the pickup truck died on the scene.

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A friend of CBS morning news anchor Randy Salerno has been charged with a crime in connection with the Eagle River, Wisconsin snowmobile accident that ended Salerno’s life. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Scott D. Hirschey, 44, was charged with one count of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, a felony in Wisconsin. Hirschey’s blood alcohol content has not yet been reported. The legal limit is .08 in Wisconsin.

The accident happened around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night just outside Eagle River, Wisconsin and Salerno was pronounced dead at the scene. Salerno was a passenger on a snowmobile driven by Hirschey. Hirschey reportedly hit an embankment which launched the vehicle in the air, striking several trees.

Once the sheriff’s department finishes their investigation, the case will most likely be handed off to Vilas County District Attorney Albert Moustakis for prosecution. Moustakis is a former Chicago area lawyer who has a reputation of being tough but fair. Moustakis was also well known in Evanston, Illinois as the head coach of the high school’s varsity hockey team for several years. He relocated to Eagle River in the 1990s.

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Two siblings from Elgin, Illinois were killed in an auto accident on Thursday when their car was hit by a semi-truck in Huntley, Illinois, according to the Chicago Tribune. Sergio Espinosa, 52, was driving with his sister, Rosalinda Rodriguez, 57, westbound on Oak Creek Parkway at Illinois 47 just after 2:30 p.m. when a truck heading north on Illinois 47 struck the driver’s side of their car. The vehicles came to rest around 200 feet from the intersection which is controlled by a traffic light. The police are trying to determine who had the green light and if speed played a role in the accident.

If there are no independent witnesses to the accident, and determining who had the green light could be difficult to do.

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A Chicago, Illinois news anchorman has died from injuries sustained in a snowmobile accident, according to several news outlets, including CBS News in Chicago. Randy Salerno, a morning anchor for CBS News, was killed Thursday night in a snowmobiling accident in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Salerno was a passenger on a snowmobile when the driver lost control and struck several trees. Investigators are stating that alcohol and speed may have contributed to the accident.

The accident happened around 11:30 p.m. in the Township of Blum Lake, Wisconsin and Salerno was pronounced dead at the scene. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Vilas County Sheriff’s Department and the Vilas County Coroner’s office are investigating the accident. The driver of the snowmobile was taken to an area hospital, but no other information has been released on the driver’s condition.

Salerno, 45, had been with CBS News since 2004. He was previously a reporter and anchor with WGN for 12 years. He also worked at stations in Albany, New York and Peoria. He won a local Emmy Award for his work on the 2004 broadcast of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

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In Winnebago County, Illinois a woman stepping on a toothpick has resulted in a $250,000 medical malpractice settlement, according to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. The woman reportedly stepped on a used toothpick at home and then sought out medical treatment from a doctor. The defendant doctor failed to identify and treat a developing infection which subsequently resulted in nerve damage. The case was settled without having to file a lawsuit.

The settled case was captioned Pam Shult v. Jerome Randall. The plaintiff was represented by Devon C. Bruce of Chicago.

David Abels & Associates, P.C. is currently working on a similar medical malpractice issue that happened in Chicago, Illinois where a seemingly minor injury led to serious medical complications. Our client’s big toenail on his left foot was rubbing up against his 2nd toe and an infection developed. The infection was not properly diagnosed by a Chicago area emergency room, the infection spread, and our client’s leg was partially amputated below the knee.

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A Chicago resident was killed in a pedestrian knock down auto accident on the North Side this past Tuesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. The auto accident happened at the corner of Foster and Lincoln Avenue. The driver was reportedly turning right from Lincoln to go Eastbound on Foster when the pedestrian allegedly stepped off the curb and was hit by the turning car. Angelina Romero, of the 2400 block of West Winona Avenue was the pedestrian that was struck in the collision. She was rushed to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago in critical condition, where she died Tuesday night

The driver of the car was not issued any tickets and the Chicago Police Department has been quoted by the Tribune as saying “The driver had the right of way. … She stepped in the path of the vehicle.”

Here is the problem: According to family members of the victim, there are no independent witnesses to the accident. The police seem to have initially taken the word of the driver as the truth, but the Chicago Police Department Major Accident Unit is investigating the crash, and it will be interesting to find out what is contained in the report.

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A Cook County Resident, Lester Cooperwood, 48, died on Sunday night when the car he was riding in as a passenger lost control and struck a steel CTA viaduct near 4600 West Lake Street in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune. Cooperwood was riding in the front seat of a Dodge Stratus that was being driven by a 41 year old man who lives at the same address as the victim in the 1700 Block of North Lorel Avenue.

The driver suffered lacerations and bruising and was taken to a Chicago area hospital. The driver was also charged by the Chicago Police Department with with DUI, improper lane usage, driving without a license and no insurance.

Cooperwood was pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Chicago, Illinois a short time later due to injuries sustained in the accident.

From a Chicago personal injury lawyer’s perspective, the family of the Cook County passenger has a right to bring a wrongful death claim against the driver of the car, but here it appears the at fault party had no liability insurance. If the victim, or a household family member had a valid auto insurance policy, then the family should be able to make an uninsured motorist claim. Continue reading

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