Illinois Personal Injury Law Blog

Wintery weather has already left its mark, although very little snow, on the roads of Chicago. A West Chicago driver lost control on a patch of ice on Roosevelt Road, struck an oncoming car and stalled out on the railroad tracks. The other car was sent off the road and collided with a pole. The driver of the van was able to escape before an eastbound Metra commuter train collided with it.

The two-car and train accident did not result in serious injury, but Chicago car accident attorneys remind all drivers that the changing Illinois winter weather can quickly lead to serious motor vehicle accidents if they are unaware of icy or rain-slicked road conditions. A rash of ice-related accidents just this week had salt trucks out on Chicago-area highways trying to improve the conditions and prevent further weather-related car accidents.

Most parents understand that too much television can be unhealthy for their children. However, many don't realize that the actual TV itself can pose a huge safety hazard.

As large televisions become more popular, Chicago, Illinois product liability lawyers and consumer safety advocates through the country are seeing shocking increases in the number of children who are killed or injured by falling TVs.

In the last few weeks, two Chicago-area children have been killed after being crushed by television sets that tipped over. Between 2000 and 2010, falling TVs have killed 169 American children. Another 13,700 have been injured severely enough to require emergency room care.

In August, a Hawthorn Woods man was stopped on the shoulder of Highway 53 in Rolling Meadows changing a flat tire when another driver slammed into him. The other driver, a woman from Buffalo Grove, pinned him between his truck and the center median, the force of the crash wedging her own car underneath his pickup truck.

The driver of the pickup was conscious when emergency workers arrived, but suffered serious injuries from the Chicagoland car crash. He was taken to the Level I Trauma Center at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, but did not survive his injuries. He died September 1, one month after the tragic car crash, leaving behind his wife and two teenage daughters.

An investigation into the cause of the crash revealed that the driver had been using her cell phone just prior to causing the fatal Illinois car accident. She admitted to receiving text messages from friends and scrolling through her contacts while driving. Shortly thereafter, she clipped a semi-trailer and careened onto the shoulder of the highway where she struck the disabled pickup and its driver.

From 2005 to 2009, 17,487 car crashes occurred in Chicago, Illinois, involving 18,377 pedestrians. About 30 percent of those vehicle-pedestrian accidents involved cab drivers.

Taxi drivers are a known problem, yet a necessity, on Chicago streets. Chicago Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein relates that a majority of Chicago taxi drivers pose a threat to public safety, speeding regularly and "[Setting] a pretty bad example for everybody else. They hit the gas at every green light and slam on the brakes at every red light a block later."

Too Many Examples of Dangerous Chicago Taxi Drivers

Accidents involving taxi cabs happen all too frequently in Chicago. Illinois taxi accident attorneys have seen unsafe cab driving cause injuries to the drivers themselves, their passengers, passengers of other vehicles and pedestrians.