Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Distracted driving is becoming more and more prevalent as a cause for the number of traffic accidents occurring in the United States each year. It only takes a split second to become distracted and cause serious injury to another driver in a Chicago car accident.

Any distraction that takes your mind off the task of driving is a concern. Although there are many types of distractions, there are three that drivers experience the most. First, a visual distraction is when you change focus from the road to something else like reading a map or looking at the person in the car with you. Second, manual distraction means physically taking your hands off the wheel to touch something else in the vehicle like a cell phone or the radio. Last, a cognitive distraction takes your mind off of driving like thinking about a family argument or work problem.

Texting is one of the worst activities to do while driving because it involves all three types of distractions at the same time. You take your eyes off the road to look at the device. You take your hands off the wheel to type. Your thoughts are concerned with typing rather than driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2009 research notes on distracted driving reported a 6% increase in fatalities from 2005.

Here are some facts about distracted driving for 2009:

-5,474 people were killed, and about 448,000 injured.

-Distracted driving was the cause of 16% of all the fatal crashes and 20% of injury crashes.

- A cell phone was the distraction in 18% of the fatalities and 5% of the injured.

-16% of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers were under 20 years old.

-Ages 30-39 had 11% of fatal crashes involving distracted drivers, 24% of the time it involved a cell phone.

Early this year the Chicago Breaking News Center reported on the case of a 49-year-old woman that was polishing her finger nails while driving. This distractive act caused her to hit and kill a motorcyclist.

The next time you get in your vehicle keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel and your mind on driving. It could mean saving a life.

Continue reading " Distracted driving a leading cause of holiday car accidents in Chicago " »

Aggressive driving is a dangerous behavior that puts motorists at risk across the United States. All too often when you drive on a roadway you become a victim, a witness, or the offender of an aggressive driving incident. Not immune to it, Chicago traffic accidents occur all the time due to aggressive driving behaviors.

Our Chicago injury lawyers urge motorists to use extra caution while traveling this holiday season. Exercise patients, allow plenty of time and take weather conditions and traffic into consideration when planning your trip.

Everyone is required by law to take lessons and pass a driver’s test prior to acquiring a driver’s license. Most of us do this at the time we become of legal age to drive (16 or 17), while other’s wait until it becomes necessary for them to drive. No matter what the age or the circumstance, you aren’t taught to drive aggressively. Yet, it seems over time that bad tendencies evolve and drivers pick up bad habits that put themselves and others in danger.

Though the research is somewhat dated AAA Foundation found back in 1996 that at a minimum, there are an average of 1,500 injuries or deaths that occur each year due to aggressive driving. They also found no exact profile to account for the type of person that might be involved.

Though not residents of Illinois, there were two truckers from Wisconsin involved in a road rage fatality back in January while driving North of Chicago on Edens Expressway. The Chicago News Center reports Seddon was convicted after being found guilty of quarreling and then stabbing another trucker along side of the road. The two had been arguing over their radios, which lead to following too close and cutting each other off on the road. This behavior escalated and resulted in fatality once the drivers confronted each other.

The following are some safety tips to remember if you want to avoid road rage:

-Don’t antagonize other drivers by following too closely or changing lanes too swiftly.

-Don’t lay on your horn in an effort to get the vehicle in front of you to move when sitting an intersection.

-If possible, have someone drive you home after a stressful and emotionally draining day.

-Instead of reacting to other aggressive drivers, take a deep breath or pull off to the side of the road until you are calm.

Continue reading " Aggressive driving can lead to holiday Chicago car accidents " »

Despite the fact that teens can be stubborn and think they know everything, this holiday season is a good time to talk to your teen driver about the dangers of driving this time of year. It's possible that lack of experience and thoughts of being indestructible are reasons teens have a higher crash rate than other age groups.

OurChicago automobile accident attorneys urge parents to spend the time discussing the dangers of driving with teens in order to reduce the risk of serious or fatal injuries this holiday season.

In October, Illinois launched a new website addressing teen driver safety. The website can be used as a tool to help teens and their parents get the right information about driving safety and the laws that apply in the state of Illinois. This site comes at a good time because in January, a study that grades states on safety and highway improvements rated Illinois sub-par when it came to teen driving.

Recently the National Safety Council announced they are joining forces with the Allstate Foundation to push to make roadways safer in an effort to save lives of our young drivers. The Allstate Foundation will fund the new teen safe driving program for 10 states, Illinois being one of them.

Alarmingly in 2009, 3,500 teens were fatally injured in car crashes so the premise behind the program is to educate and advocate for teen safety when driving on roadways. The NSC will form groups in each of the ten states consisting of state and local police, health practitioners, hospital employees, teens, parents, and survivors of teen crash sufferers. Each group will study teen crash data and use numerous resources to then go out and speak to the public on teens driving safer.

Chicago has taken teen driving safety one step further. In an effort to help parents track their teens, Youth Driving Safe has invented a GPS tracking mechanism to install in your teens vehicle. The GPS will report back to the parent if the teen is speeding, altering from the driven route normally taken, and monitor pre-set driving habits. More importantly there is a contract that is designed for the teen and parent to mutually agree on specific driving habits and how alerts will be set-up. The contract provides an open line of communication and expectations between the teen driver and parent.

Keeping your teen safe on the roadways is physically out of your control but what you can do is set a good example by trying to educate them on the dangers involved.

Continue reading " Chicago teen driver awareness key this holiday season " »

Getting older is unavoidable but when does age become a factor in our driving skills? This week is dedicated to Older Driver Safety Awareness Week throughout the country. In an effort to reduce the number of Chicago car accidents involving elderly drivers it is a good time to increase awareness of the dangers.

As family members and loved ones get older we find it difficult to discourage them from driving. In taking their driving privileges away it may seem like you are stripping them of their freedom. As a result it puts more of a burden on us personally because we feel responsible for getting them out to run errands, go to church, etc. Not allowing elders to drive may be difficult because it means admitting someone is getting older and less capable.

The National Safety Council states that the mature drivers age group crash rate is higher than any other age group except teens. The NSC estimates that by year 2028, elderly drivers will increase 70 percent and it's possible that 100,000 older drivers will be killed in traffic accidents on the nation's roads.

According to Caring.com Illinois requires that drivers 75 and older pass a vision and road test in order to renew their driver's license. Renewing through the mail is no longer an option when you turn 75. Once a driver turns 81 they are required to renew their license every two years then at age 87 it becomes an annual renewal process.

According to a 2008 report by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Illinois had a total of 1,434 fatal crashes of which 11.4% were drivers age 65 and over. In addition, there were 157 fatalities in traffic accidents for drivers 65 and over in Illinois.

Nationally, it seemed most likely that accidents involving an elderly driver were during the day (80%), Monday-Friday (72%), and more often than not involved another vehicle 69% of the time.

If you or someone you know is approaching the age where it may be difficult to drive, you may want to ask the following questions:

-How is your reaction time to unexpected events like changing traffic lights or animals crossing over the roadways?

-Is your eyesight failing and causing you inability to see road signs from a distance?

-Are you physically able to look over you shoulder, move your foot from gas pedal to break, or move your head to look both directions?

Continue reading " Older driver safety week spotlights risks of Chicago car accidents among seniors " »