630-233-9946
Though many people utilize the interstate because it offers quicker ways to get to their destinations, it is not unusual for traffic on these roadways to cause issues. In some cases, vehicles can come to a standstill, and if drivers approaching the slowed or stopped traffic do not adjust their speed, it is common for auto accidents to take place. Unfortunately, some of these incidents can prove fatal.
It was recently reported that a crash on Interstate 70 in Illinois had a fatal outcome. According to reports, traffic had come to a stop in the right-hand lane of the roadway due to construction. The driver of an approaching vehicle did not adjust his speed as he came upon the stopped traffic, and as a result, his vehicle collided with the rear of another vehicle driven by a 68-year-old man.
Did one of these things cause your slip-and-fall accident?
It happened; you slipped and fell and suffered injuries. At first, you just felt embarrassed by it. Then the pain started to set in. As it turns out, your slip-and-fall accident ended up costing you a lot, physically, financially and emotionally. According to Illinois laws, you may not have to carry these losses on your own if negligence contributed to your injuries.
Slip-and-fall accidents can happen anywhere, and a number of factors can contribute to them. It does not matter if your incident occurred on private property, commercial property or government property; if one of the following issues contributed to your fall, you may have legal recourse.
Common causes of slip-and-fall accidents
The primary cause of these accidents is dangerous property conditions. These conditions might include:
Follow these tips to stay safe in road construction zones
Many people say the Midwest has two seasons: winter and road construction. You probably dislike the rough condition of the roads after the snow melts. Yet, if you’re like most drivers, you might also get upset about the efforts dedicated to making necessary repairs.
You know you can’t have things both ways, although you might get upset about the temporary inconvenience of work zones, regardless of crews’ attempts to maintain safe roadways. However, while road construction often slows down traffic for a bit, there are some ways you should increase your safety, and that of those around you, in work areas.
Three safety tips for road construction zones
Thousands of people have died due to accidents within work zones, while hundreds of thousands have suffered injuries. However, many motor vehicle accidents are preventable, and exercising defensive driving techniques can help you navigate through a work area without incident.
Impassioned, proven legal help across the vast personal injury realm
Some law firms spotlight their focused commitment to personal injury victims, yet their advocacy may be tempered by multiple practice areas competing for attention.
Kaiser Law is not one of those firms.
Indeed, the legal team at our long-established Bensenville law firm advocates exclusively on behalf of injury and accident victims and their families. In doing so, we proudly bring more than a century of collective experience and applied acumen to bear on their behalf, diligently seeking optimal recoveries marked by maximum compensation in every client matter.
The firm's demonstrated performance over decades in personal injury matters spanning Chicagoland communities and other locales across Illinois centrally recognizes this fact: The injury/accident universe is both broad and diverse, demanding a legal response that is guided by in-depth acumen across multiple spheres.
Our firm's website spotlights those varied and complex areas. Kaiser Law attorneys regularly represent diverse and valued clients in matters that span across the legal area of personal injury. The firm's empathetic and aggressive advocacy has secured notable recoveries in key personal injury realms such as these:
Medical malpractice: a notably complex legal niche
No reasonable person in Illinois or elsewhere expects medical care providers to be perfect. We know that doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab techs and other industry principals, while highly trained, are not infallible.
What we do rightly expect of them, though, is competence and their adherence to an established standard of care that prevails in the health care community.
When that performance threshold is maintained, things generally work out fine for patients and their families. When it is breached, another story altogether often unfolds.
That tale centrally involves adverse care outcomes. Not every negative patient result owes to provider error, of course, but those involving a medical professional's substandard care almost always do.
The direct results of negligently delivered care are widespread and frequently devastating for victims and their loved ones. Health care negligence spawns medical malpractice results that owe to myriad causes, including these:
Are you a Chicagoland construction worker with injury concerns?
American cities are of course diverse and varied, with each commanding attributes that set them apart from all other urban environments.
Chicago is arguably unique in that regard.
Famed poet Carl Sandburg once emphasized that. He spotlighted what he calls the "City of the Big Shoulders" in his celebrated poem simply termed "Chicago." He described the vast metro as "a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities."
Anyone who has spent even a fraction of time in the city can feel its remarkable pulse and power.
Chicagoland construction workers feel that great energy most vividly, perhaps more so than any other demographic.
That familiarity is for obvious reasons, of course. Industry employees construct the metro's constantly growing collection of skyscrapers and other buildings. They build and upgrade its roads. They work underground on incomprehensibly large projects. And they are constantly exposed to elements and conditions that other work groups can't even fathom.
Illinois accident statistics spotlight need for proven legal help
The numbers are sobering and unquestionably dismal.
Moreover, they recur annually with numbing regularity.
Today's Kaiser Law blog post spotlights the vast and varied - as well as often sad - universe of motor vehicle accidents. It's a topic that commands much of our attention, and here's why: Reportedly, more than 100 people die in vehicle accidents across the United States on average every single day of the year.
That stunning data bit comes courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The DOT reports the occurrence of nearly 34,000 crash-tied deaths in a recent year.
Unsurprisingly, dire accident outcomes across Illinois contributed materially to that figure. Safety regulators state that 948 people died in motor vehicle accidents spanning the state during 2018.
Much crash activity of course centers on the Chicagoland area and surrounding suburbs, given the region's density and constant traffic complexity. We prominently note this on our personal injury website, underscoring the sheer variety of a local conveyance mix that ranges from cars, truck and buses to motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles and additional possibilities.
Winter accidents: Who is responsible?
Winter in Illinois can be brutal. And it's not just the freezing cold or the heavy snows, either. A big reason why winter is so treacherous is due to the weather-related hazards we must navigate every day.
Unfortunately, these hazards cause injuries more often than we'd like. In some cases, an accident is just that - an accident. In other cases, however, incidents like slipping, tripping and falling are the consequence of another party's negligence. So, who is to blame for winter accidents and injuries?
Understanding negligence
Getting injured on someone's property does not automatically make that property owner liable for damages. For there to be grounds for a legal claim, the property owner must be negligent, and that negligence must be the cause of a person's injuries.
Negligence refers to a person's failure to take reasonable care to prevent injury.
In the context of winter accidents on someone's property, this typically involves a property owner's failure to address conditions caused by ice, snow, rain or freezing temperatures. If these failures result in an injury-causing accident to someone legally permitted on the premises, the property owner could be responsible for damages.
Managing the paper chase after a crash
Illinois is one of the top commuter states in the country. Every day, tens of thousands of people drive in and out of Cook County alone. And for the most part, many of these trips end uneventfully.
In fact, Illinois ranks as the 13th best state for commuters to drive in, according to research by WalletHub. However, considering the number of cars there are on the road, the unpredictable weather and the time we spend in our cars on these commutes, it is no surprise that accidents happen.
If you get into an accident, there can be a lot of details to manage. In addition to reporting the accident and seeking medical treatment for injuries, you may also choose to pursue compensation for damages. And this can mean a lot of paperwork.
Paperwork to retain
After a crash, you should make every effort to collect and keep track of the following documents:
- List of people involved in and witness to the accident
Causes of truck crashes: Why they are never worth the risk
"Living on the edge."
That is a metaphor cited in a recent personal injury-linked media report spotlighting the way that some people interact with modern life. They readily assume risk. They take chances.
As the publication Fleet Owner underscores, that behavior might work out acceptably for some individuals as they go about their daily lives and occupations.
It spells a deadly recipe when employed on Illinois and national roadways, though. And especially where big trucks are concerned.
Readers of our blogs at the established Chicagoland personal injury law firm of Kaiser Law know well what we're talking about. Where taking chances is concerned, large commercial vehicles need to opt out. Drivers of big rigs like tractor trailers, 18-wheel semis and other highway behemoths need to exercise absolute due care every second they are behind the wheel.
Because when they don't, people die.
That result is flatly spotlighted by Fleet Owner in its nod to research conducted on commercial truck crash causes. The seminal federal Large Truck Crash Causation Study - described as "definitive" - reveals conclusively the tragic effects on passenger-vehicle drivers and occupants in instances when commercial truckers' on-the-road focus and care is lacking.
The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.
