Auto Accidents

How to Keep Your Teen Driver Safe During Prom Season

April 26, 2017 | The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

One of the best things a parent can experience is seeing their child all dressed up and ready for prom. The dinner, the dance, and the pictures all remind us that our child is growing up. It’s an exciting time but it can also be a very dangerous one, especially on the roads.

Teen drivers are not known for being safe drivers. In fact, car crashes remain the No. 1 cause of death among teenagers. Add in friends, excitement, dates, and the temptation to drink before getting behind the wheel, and you only intensify the problem. But it’s not only alcohol and drugs that can cause an accident. Texting, talking or cell phone use while driving is fast becoming one of the country’s most dangerous activities. So how can you keep your teen driver from being in a car accident this prom season?

Talk to your teen about drunk driving. Let him/her know that car crashes involving teens and alcohol tend to be more serious and even deadly. Talk to your teen openly about drug use and the very real consequences of using drugs and driving. Remind your child of the legal consequences of DUI. Discuss whether he/she has felt peer pressure to try drugs alcohol and give your teen strategies for saying “no” or avoiding the issue altogether. Ask your teen to make a promise to you that he or she will not drive impaired or let a friend drive impaired.

Red Light Cameras Increase Accidents in Chicago

April 19, 2017 | John Risvold

Across the Chicagoland area red light cameras have been installed at hundreds of traffic signals. These red-light cameras are sold to citizens as a way to reduce traffic accidents and increase safety on the roadways. The problem is, the cameras aren’t making us safer. These cameras actually increase the likelihood of an accident occurring.

A Daily Herald analysis of 52 intersections across 29 Chicago suburbs shows that after cameras were installed, crashes involving injuries stayed the same or increased at nearly half the intersections where that data was reported. Crashes considered hazardous increased at nearly one-third of the intersections analyzed by the paper.

Similarly, a Chicago Tribune study found a 22 percent increase in rear-end crashes that caused injuries at intersections with red-light cameras.

The Dangers of Truck Accidents in Illinois

March 19, 2017 | John Risvold

Chicago is a major hub for shipping and transportation. Large commercial tractor-trailer trucks, busses, and other large vehicles occupy many of the major tollways and expressways in the Chicago area on a daily basis. During your morning or afternoon commute you see these large trucks along the expressways. While these trucks and busses are essential to moving goods and people from one place to another, they are also becoming increasingly dangerous.

In 2014, the year the most recent Illinois data is available, the Department of Transportation noted that crashes involving large trucks accounted for 6% of all accidents. But these accidents were deadlier than the average car accident, comprising 13% of all fatalities.

More importantly, truck and bus accidents happened on clear days, with good weather and good visibility over 77% of the time.

Traffic Deaths Increase for Second Straight Year

February 16, 2017 | John Risvold

Despite all of the advances in automobile safety, traffic-related deaths are on the rise. Over 40,000 people died in automobile crashes in 2016. According to new estimates from the National Safety Council, some factors contributing to the increase include distracted driving and not taking proper precautions. 47 percent of motorists are comfortable with texting while driving, while 16 percent do not wear seat belts, and 10 percent drive under the influence of alcohol or marijuana. The NSC is calling for a total ban of cell phone use while driving, a stronger measure than Illinois’ push for hands-free driving. NCS also is pushing lawmakers to make collision avoidance technology like automatic braking standard in all vehicles.

Bloomberg News reports US motor vehicle deaths hit 40,200 last year, up six percent from 2015 and 14 percent from 2014. The increase marks a trend also identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which reported an eight percent spike in deadly crashes in the first nine months of 2016 compared to the first nine months of 2015.

An increase in distracted driving is just one of the many causes outlined by The New York Times. While cars and phones now offer advanced voice controls and other features intended to keep drivers’ eyes on the road, apps like Facebook, Google Maps, Snapchat and others have created new temptations that drivers and passengers find hard to resist.

Could Your Car’s Takata Airbag Kill You?

January 24, 2017 | The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

Could the airbag in the automobile you drive, that is supposed to protect you in the event of an accident, seriously harm or even kill you instead?

For millions of drivers in the U.S., the unfortunate answer is yes. And many of these people are still unaware of the danger.

Millions of Takata airbags, in dozens of car models and brands, have a defect that could cause them to explode when deployed, sending metal shrapnel into the driver and passengers. Current airbag recalls in the U.S could eventually include as many as 42 million vehicles with the potentially lethal Takata airbags, but the word has not gotten out to everyone about the danger. So far, only 12.5 million of these faulty airbags have been replaced, and that leaves millions of people at risk. 1

Is it Time to Hang-Up the Keys?-What to Do About Elderly Related Traffic Accidents

July 15, 2015 | Ed Manzke

Co-authored by Gregory Zimmer of The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

Maybe…but perhaps not for the reason you think.

In Greenfield, IL, an elderly driver blew through a shed with his SUV, flew into the air after hitting a tree stump, and landed in a home’s kitchen.¹ In Wisconsin, another elderly driver managed to hit 9 vehicles in a grocery store parking lot, all on camera.² In Michigan, a third elderly driver reversed out of a CVS pharmacy drive-through and landed in a neighboring pool after plowing through a wooden fence.³ These sensational stories from the past few months are examples of a perennial favorite of the nightly news cycle-the dangerous and/or deadly incompetent elderly driver.

Simple Steps to Avoid a Traffic Accident This Memorial Day Weekend

May 22, 2015 | Ed Manzke

Memorial Day weekend is upon us and while we are all enjoying a day off and kicking off the unofficial beginning of summer, it is important to recognize the increased risk of traffic accidents when driving from one barbeque to the next. The National Safety Council projects that close to 400 people in the U.S. will die in traffic accidents during the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend.¹ Unfortunately, this projection is not hard to believe given that the national forecast for travel volume for this Memorial Day Weekend is the highest it’s been in 10 years.¹ In fact, fatalities from traffic accidents during Memorial Day Weekend are an average of 12.45% of the total fatalities in May.² That number may seem small until you realize that an average of 393 people die from traffic accidents each Memorial Day Weekend.²

So, during this busy weekend of fun and travel we should all take extra precautions to make sure we are safe while on the road. For example:

· Drive Defensively.

Automaker Fined $70 Million For Failing To Report Death and Injury Complaints

January 9, 2015 | Ed Manzke

Earlier this month, the Obama Administration announced a $70 million fine against automaker Honda. The fine–the largest civil penalty levied against an automaker–is in response to Honda’s failure to report to regulators death and injury complaints for over a decade between 2003 and 2014.

Among those complaints that were not reported were incidents of airbag failures manufactured by Japanese auto supplier Takata Corp. Takata-made airbags can rupture after a crash creating potentially fatal injuries to drivers and passengers.

This government action highlights the serious consequences to the American public of defectively manufactured automobiles. Each year, thousands of people are injured or killed as a result of unreasonably dangerous and defective cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Government action, like that taken against Honda, along with civil lawsuits against the manufacturers of defective automobiles work together to expose defective products, compensate those who have been injured or killed by these defective products and serve to improve future products and protect the public.

Uninsured and Underinsured Motor Vehicle Insurance: The Insurance No One Tells You About

October 24, 2014 | Ed Manzke

Imagine being involved in a serious motor vehicle accident that results in significant personal injuries, medical bills, and lost wages. Under these circumstances, you would be correct in assuming that the insurance company for the person who caused the accident and your injuries would be “on-the-hook” to compensate you for your losses.

However, what happens if the person who caused your accident had very little insurance or none at all?

Lately, I am encountering more and more clients who have been seriously injured in automobile accidents by negligent drivers with little or no insurance. Most drivers don’t think about the importance of uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) motor vehicle coverage until it is too late. The UM and UIM coverage from your own automobile insurance policy can protect you from a situation where you have been seriously injured by someone with inadequate or no insurance coverage. A personal injury attorney can help you secure full compensation through your UM and UIM coverages.

Distracted Driving Special Alert – Court Rules People Outside A Car Can Be Responsible For Accidents Caused By Texting While Driving

August 30, 2013 | The Collins Law Firm, P.C.

Everyone knows not to text while driving, but sadly, many people do it all the time, which leads to car accidents and personal injury lawsuits. On this blog it has previously been discussed that a case is pending in New Jersey related to if someone not in a car can be responsible for the personal injuries of someone hit by a texting driver who was texting back and forth with them. Earlier this month a New Jersey court ruled on that issue: “We hold that the sender of a text message can potentially be liable if an accident is caused by texting, but only if the sender knew or had special reason to know that the recipient would view the text while driving and thus be distracted.” The court has spoken. This has the potential to drastically change the legal landscape for distracted driving injury lawsuits nationwide. However, for the time being, New Jersey is the exception. But, states across the country (including Illinois) continue to toughen laws related to cell phone use while driving and distracted driving in general. As personal injury lawyers who deal with the consequences of distracted driving have been saying for years, there is a simple way to solve this problem, use common sense when behind the wheel and stop looking at your phone and focus on the road ahead. The cure for this problem is simple; this is not curing cancer. If drivers would simply put down their phones and make driving the #1 priority when behind the wheel, the roads would be a safer place, the number of injuries and fatalities would drop, and this country could focus on much more difficult problems that need to be solved.