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Illinois Car and Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

By Hurley, McKenna & Murtz

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Last Entry: November 08, 2009 at 19:03:23

FAA grounds wayward Northwest Airlines pilots

Posted on November 08, 2009
Recent events surrounding the two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their Minneapolis destination by 16 minutes and 150 miles, has raised questions about pilot responsibility in the cockpit (Lowy, AP for FindLaw, 10/28). Fortunately, the FAA acted swiftly in grounding the pilots indefinitely and revoking their licenses for a year...

Recalls: Off-road Utility Vehicles

Posted on November 02, 2009
Just under 4,000 off-road utility vehicles have been recalled due to the threat of unprompted acceleration (AP for FindLaw, 10/21). The vehicles are manufactured by Bad Boy Enterprises of Natchez, Mississippi and were recalled in response to ?32 reports of unexpected acceleration? leading to injury to both the user and bystanders...

Nissan Recalling 143,000 Vehicles Vulnerable to Road Salt

Posted on October 26, 2009
Christopher Jensen reports, ?Nissan and Infiniti have issued a geographic recall of about 143,000 vehicles in cold-weather states because road salt could cause corrosion that could cause the tire-pressure monitors to malfunction? (New York Times Auto Blog ?Wheels?, 10/16)...

Highway Deaths at Record Low in first half of 2009

Posted on October 19, 2009
Ken Thomas reported, ?the government says deaths on U.S. highways have dropped to a record low during the first six months of 2009,? which is a continuation of a recent trend (AP for FindLaw, 10/9). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released data supporting a 7 percent decrease in highway deaths from the same period last year...

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Toyota issues huge recall over accelerator risk

Posted on October 11, 2009
Ken Thomas reports on the California traffic accident that ended fatally for passengers of a Lexus ES350 in August, which led ?Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday [September 29] to issue its largest-ever U.S. recall, involving 3.8 million vehicles? (AP for FindLaw, 9/30)...

Sorting Out Differences in Helmet Standards

Posted on September 28, 2009
As a personal injury lawyer, I fully support clarifying helmet standards, as discussed in a recent New York Times article. Dexter Ford reports, ?the surest way for motorcycle riders to avoid joining the rapidly growing ranks of fatality statistics ? up 144 percent since 1997, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ? is to wear proper head protection...

Toyota Orders Inspections after a Deadly Crash in Southern California

Posted on September 27, 2009
Toyota said recently, ?it will order all dealers to inspect their cars for mismatched floor mats after a mat was suspected of snagging a gas pedal on a runaway Lexus, ending with a fiery crash that killed four family members in San Diego County? (Robert Jablon, AP for FindLaw, 9/15)...

Volvo Recalls Cars for Fuel Pump Problem

Posted on September 21, 2009
Christopher Jensen recently reported, ?Volvo is recalling almost 12,000 vehicles because a computer problem involving the fuel pump, [which] could allow the vehicles to stall. The affected vehicles are the 2008-2010 S80, the 2009-2010 XC60 and the 2009-2010 XC70? (New York Times, 9/11)...

FAA orders replacement of Airbus airspeed sensors

Posted on September 14, 2009
Joan Lowy reports, ?federal safety officials are ordering the replacement of Airbus airspeed sensors? (AP for FindLaw, 9/3). These sensors are the kind suspected of causing the fatal crashes of Air France Flight 447 and all 228 on the plane in June...

Chrysler Reverses Stance on Product Liability

Posted on September 08, 2009
Christopher Jensen reports, ?when Chrysler went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, the court granted an important request to prevent current owners from suing the new company if they were injured by a safety defect in the future? (New York Times, 8/28)...

Controller was on phone during Hudson River crash

Posted on August 28, 2009
One personal phone call made the difference for two air traffic controllers who are being removed from duty as a result. The AP reports, ?the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statements Thursday that the controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and his supervisor have been placed on administrative leave because the controller was involved in ?apparently inappropriate conversations? at the time of the [midair] crash between a small plane and a tour helicopter that killed nine people? (Joan Lowy, FindLaw News 8/14)...

VW DSG Transmission Problem Leads to Recall

Posted on August 28, 2009
Christopher Jensen writes for the New York Times? Blog Wheels, ?Volkswagen is recalling 13,500 of its 2009 and a few 2010 models because of a problem with its fast-shifting DSG automatic transmission. The vehicles covered are the Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, GTI, and Eos built between September 2008 and August 2009 (8/21)...

Recalls Include Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon

Posted on August 17, 2009
The latest recalls by the National Highway Safety Administration include the Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon (Jensen, New York Times, 8/7). The possibility that ?break lights may not illuminate ? or stay on all the time ? has prompted General Motors to recall almost 186,000 vehicles in states with many days of hot weather...

New Study: Older Drivers and Medication

Posted on August 17, 2009
Tanya Mohn reports on ?a new study [that] has found that most older drivers were unaware of the potentially dangerous impact of medications on driving performance? (New York Times, 8/11). According to the report released by the AAA Foundations for Traffic Safety, ?78 percent of respondents used one or more medications, yet just more than one in four were aware of the possible dangers of driving while on medications...

Recent Study says that Texting while Driving Increases risk of Crashing by larger margin

Posted on July 30, 2009
A recent study that videotaped truck drivers for 18 months found that the risk of texting while driving ?sharply exceeds previous estimates based on laboratory research ? and far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions? (New York Times, Richtel, 7/27)...

Support Grows for Alcohol Interlocks on Cars

Posted on July 30, 2009
The New York Times? blog, Wheels, discusses a recent campaign to ?stop drunken driving by putting some form of alcohol interlock in every new car? (Wald, 5/19). The Alliance of Automobile Manufactures suggested that Congress budget for ?spending $30 million a year on developing devices that would sense alcohol in a driver...

Ford Focus and Volvo C30 excel in Crash Tests

Posted on July 24, 2009
The New York Times (Jensen, 7/21) discusses crash tests performed on two-door versions of popular sedan vehicles. The 2009 two-door models of the Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cobalt, Honda Civic, Scion tC, and Volvo C30 were recently tested. The crash tests were just released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which usually focuses its testing on four door models generally used by families, but ?the organization said the results of these tests could not automatically be applied to two-door versions of the same car because of design and structural differences...

Data on Distracted Drivers withheld due to Political Pressures

Posted on July 24, 2009
Matt Richtel reports for the New York Times, (7/21) results from a 2003 long-term study of 10,000 drivers to determine the effects of distracted driving were withheld from the public partly due to political pressures. The goal of the study was to determine the real danger posed by drivers using cell phones, however hundreds of pages of research and warnings about cell phone usage while driving were not made public, in part, because of concerns about angering Congress...

Helping the Elderly Keep Their Driving Skills

Posted on July 17, 2009
As a personal injury lawyer I am pleased to hear of new technology geared towards helping older people maintain safe driving skills. Although losing the freedom to drive is not something most of us like to consider, we all need to be prepared for the day that we can no longer drive safely...

Speed Kills but Ticketing Falls

Posted on July 17, 2009
Although no one likes getting a speeding ticket, ticketing serves an important function ? to deter drivers from driving too fast and causing injury to themselves and others on the roadway. According to the New York Times blog, Wheels, ?even if you speed every day, the laws of probability say you will get only one speeding ticket every 35 years...

An emergency device for motorcyclists

Posted on July 10, 2009
As a personal injury lawyer in Chicago, I favor most anything that increases personal safety. Fortunately, the following story has a happy ending as a result of a relatively new GPS device, the Spot Satellite GPS Messenger. Especially in locations where cell service is inadequate, this emergency tracking device may prove to be critical for survival...

Texting is more dangerous than driving drunk

Posted on July 10, 2009
Although neither texting while driving nor driving drunk is ever a good idea, recent studies comparing the two have shown just how dangerous texting while driving really is. Richard Chung writes for the New York Times Automobile blog, Wheels, the current issue of Car and Driver magazine discuses recent results from a study testing the differences in reaction times when texting while driving versus when driving drunk...

General Motors attempts to leave injured families behind in the bankruptcy process

Posted on July 01, 2009
American Association for Justice President Les Weisbrod, released an urgent action alert on June 29, 2009 asking all those who seek justice to contact the White House immediately to keep GM from abandoning over 300 people injured by serious defects in their vehicles...

Safety Investigations stepped up on several models

Posted on July 01, 2009
Christopher Jensen reports for the New York Times (6/26) ?There were no significant automaker recalls this week, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stepped up safety investigations into three models: the Mercedes-Benz ML, the Chevrolet Corvette and the Toyota Sequoia...

One killed, three injured in Illinois train derailment

Posted on June 23, 2009
The New York Times /AP (6/21, A18) reported, "Rail cars containing thousands of gallons of ethanol exploded when a Canadian National Railway freight train derailed on Friday night, killing one person and resulting in the evacuation of hundreds of nearby homes...

43 Vehicle Recalls issued this month

Posted on June 23, 2009
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued 43 vehicle recalls this month for defects that pose safety hazards. Manufacturers are required to correct the defects at no cost to consumers (New York Times, 6/19). Recalls involve brands including but not limited to Kia, Hyundai, Volvo, Ducati and Harley...

Mercedes Benz unveils safety research car

Posted on June 18, 2009
Mercedes-Benz is known for pioneering advanced safety technologies (New York Times, 6/18). This week, the automaker introduced a concept car built to illustrate some ideas to protect drivers and pedestrians. The concept car, the ESF 2009, was unveiled at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Conference in Stuttgart, Germany...

Airbags may cause hand injuries

Posted on June 18, 2009
Ken Thompson began to question airbag safety after he suffered a partial amputation of his right thumb after minor impact (New York Times, 6/17). This was the only injury he sustained in the very minor collision as both cars were able to drive away from the accident virtually undamaged...

Pilots involved in regional crashes had failed skills tests

Posted on June 12, 2009
USA Today (6/8, Levin) reported, "In nearly every serious regional airline accident during the past 10 years, at least one of the pilots had failed tests of his or her skills multiple times, according to an analysis of federal accident records." As both a Chicago personal injury lawyer and a regular airline passenger, I find this information disconcerting...

AAJ: Transportation Agencies Need to Quickly Enact Safety Standards

Posted on June 12, 2009
As a personal injury lawyer in Chicago, I see many transportation accident cases. In order to avoid unnecessary injuries and fatalities, transportation safety measures should be reevaluated at regular intervals, especially after material information surfaces suggesting the current measures are not sufficient to ensure public safety...

Governor Signs CTA Section 41 Notice Repeal

Posted on June 04, 2009
On Monday, June 1, Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 84 (CTA Section 41 Notice Repeal) into law. SB 84 is now Public Act 96-0012. P.A. 96-0012 was sponsored by Senator Ira Silverstein and Representative Al Riley (ITLA Legislative Bulletin 6/3). P...

Missouri columnist: Nixon should veto motorcycle helmet bill

Posted on June 04, 2009
In a column in the Columbia Daily Tribune (6/2) J. Scott Christianson wrote that the original intent of Senate Bill 202 "was to prevent insurance companies from assigning blame to motorcycle riders involved in an accident simply because they were riding a motorcycle...

Illinois Death by Dragracing Results in Settlement; Highlights Need for Adequate Underinsured Coverage

Posted on April 22, 2009
As reported in The Pantagraph by Edith Brady-Lunny, a Bloomington, Illinois family settled their suit against two drivers for a 2007 collision which resulted in the death of the 25 year-old Bloomington resident. The deceased was the passenger in one of the vehicles, which was apparently drag racing when it struck the other vehicle head-on...

Illinois Court Issues Landmark Wrongful Birth Decision; Allows Parents to Seek Damages for Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress and Lifetime Medical Expenses

Posted on April 09, 2009
Today the Illinois Appellate Court held for the first time that under Illinois law, the parents of a disabled child in a ?wrongful birth? case can recover damages for the costs of caring for the child after he reaches the age of majority. The previous Illinois Supreme Court decision which first recognized a claim for wrongful birth, Siemieniec v...

Chicago man charged with DUI in crash that killed his wife

Posted on December 26, 2008
The

Hit and run accident kills Chicago girl

Posted on December 01, 2008
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend took a sad turn for two Chicago girls who were victims to a hit and run accident. An 18 year old girl was killed walking on Lake Street in Chicago, when a car struck her and a friend. Her friend ultimately survived the crash...

Chicago family wants more serious charges filed in fatal DUI accident

Posted on November 23, 2008
The family of a woman who died in a Southside accident wants more serious charges filed against two drivers who were involved the a deadly crash. Prosecutors now say they believe police improperly investigated the crash where one of the alleged offenders was an off-duty Chicago police officer...

Insurance study shows ABS cuts rider deaths and bike damage

Posted on November 16, 2008
The

Increase in fuel prices may contribute to more truck accidents on Illinois roads

Posted on October 13, 2008
Increase in fuel prices may contribute to more truck accidents on Illinois roads. That's the conclusion many trucking experts have come to as a result of the large increase in gas prices. They say that trucking companies are forced to make up for the gas price increase in operating costs and due to the rise in fuel prices, truck drivers and trucking companies are left with three options: pass the cost down to their customers, make up for the increase in costs by driving more hours-- or some combination of the two...

DUI Death Toll Decreased in Illinois in 2007

Posted on October 07, 2008
The Department of Transportation announced the latest national drunk driving-related death statistics. The report, found

Chicago Alderman Calls For Ban On Texting While Driving

Posted on September 11, 2008
On Wednesday, Chicago politician Edward M. Burke proposed a crackdown on drivers who text message or surf the internet while driving?presumably to cut down on car accidents in the City of Chicago.

Antidepressants and depression may increase chance of car accidents

Posted on August 27, 2008
A new study suggests that depressed drivers who take antidepressants are more prone to car accidents. The study, published by a University of North Dakota psychology resident, focused on the impact antidepressants have on driving performance. During the study, the research team asked 60 people to "drive" a computerized version of a car in a program that replicated real-life conditions...

Car accidents eliminated by 2020?

Posted on August 21, 2008
Car accidents may be eliminated by 2020. That?s the plan established by Volvo, who claims that its drivers and passengers will escape even the most serious car crash without harm as a result of new technologies and designs they are developing. Ford-owned Volvo is not the only car market participant who has set their sights on injury-free accidents?other automakers, parts suppliers, government and global agencies from the United Nations to the OECD are all looking at ways to eliminate the 1...

City sues Chicago School Bus Company for Fire Truck Accident

Posted on August 14, 2008
The city of Chicago has sued a company that operated a bus involved in collision with a fire truck that resulted in the death of a veteran firefighter. The

New Bicycle Laws Protect Illinois Bicyclists

Posted on July 23, 2008
Long-time bicycling enthusiasts who are hitting the roads during the summertime are being met by a new wave of bicyclists who have adopted bicycling as a convenient form of transportation and an affordable alternative to record-high gasoline prices. As the number of bicyclists in Illinois has increased, so has the number of accidents in which bicyclists are injured...

Hurley McKenna & Mertz Files Suit for Murder of Nursing Home Resident

Posted on June 11, 2008
Hurley McKenna & Mertz has filed a suit under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act against Somerset Nursing Home of Chicago alleging civil violations of Illinois state law arising out of the violent murder of a resident of the nursing home. The suit alleges that the nursing home negligently permitted the resident, who was under physician orders to be supervised at all times by nursing home staff due to a history of seizures from a brain tumor, to leave the nursing home without any supervision...

Expert testimony

Posted on May 20, 2008
The testimony of two police accident investigators about the cause of a fatal traffic accident was properly admitted because both witnesses had substantial experience and ''real-world'' expertise as accident investigators even though neither had any particular scientific or academic knowledge about accident investigation...

Suit Exposes Sexual Abuse by Illinois Boy Scout Executive

Posted on November 20, 2007
Today Chicago law firm Hurley McKenna & Mertz filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America, the Blackhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts, and Dixon, Illinois resident Charles Bickerstaff. Bickerstaff, also called ?Chuck,? was a nearly thirty-year paid employee of the Boy Scouts, spending the last eleven years as a Senior District Executive of the Blackhawk Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, based in Rockford, Illinois, and was recently assigned to Lee, Ogle and Whiteside Counties...

Illinois Court Holds Caps on Medical Malpractice Damages Unconstitutional

Posted on November 13, 2007
In August of 2005, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, under pressure from medical malpractice insurance companies and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, signed a law the capped non-economic damages solely in medical malpractice cases at the arbitrary amounts of $500,000 in cases against physicians, and $1,000,000 in cases against hospitals...

Railroad pressured families into settlements without the benefit of legal counsel

Posted on November 01, 2007
A lawsuit in Arkansas against the Union Pacific Railroad claims company officials pressured families of victims injured or killed by trains to quickly settle for amounts lower than what they may have received with a lawyer's help. An Associated Press story explains: The suit, now being argued before a judge in Lafayette County, Arkansas, says officials came to families in emergency rooms or while they still grieved...

Illinois Issues New Driver's Licenses to Deter Identity Theft

Posted on October 23, 2007
The State of Illinois has designed new driver's licenses and state identity cards to prevent identity theft and fraud. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois driver's licenses will now feature a second, smaller photo of the cardholder, duplication of the date of birth and microtext that requires a magnifying glass to read and is difficult to copy or duplicate electronically...

Boy Scouts Sexual Abuse Cases Revealed

Posted on October 22, 2007
The following story from Idaho provides an excellent example of why there should be no statute of limitations for sex abuse cases. Children fear telling the story, and as occurred in the Idaho case, there are forces in the community that try to blame the victims instead of the pedophile...

Illinois Jury Finds Motorcycle Tire Was Defective; Awards $15 Million to Brain Injured Woman

Posted on August 29, 2007
A federal jury in Peoria, Illinois has awarded a South Carolina woman $15 million after finding that a tire on the motorcycle she was riding had a defect which resulted in a fall and severe brain damage. As reported by Andy Kravetz in the Peoria Journal-Star, the jury deliberated over two days before deciding that defendant Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America Ltd...

Minnesota State Officials Knew of Bridge Collapse Risk

Posted on August 20, 2007
A startling article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune by Tony Kennedy and Paul McEnroe reveals that Minnesota state officials knew that the I-35 bridge was at risk of collapse: Internal MnDOT documents reviewed by the Star Tribune reveal that last year bridge officials talked openly about the possibility of the bridge collapsing -- and worried that it might have to be condemned...

State Lawsuits Against Railroads Have New Life Under New Homeland Security Legislation

Posted on August 16, 2007
As a lawyer who specializes in negligence suits against wrongdoers who cause serious inuries, I have always believed that federal or state laws that exempt certain industries from a duty to act reasonably for the safety of others were unfair, and dangerous...

Drunk driver relies on obesity to avoid DUI conviction in Illinois

Posted on August 15, 2007
A 49-year-old man charged with aggravated DUI and improper lane was acquitted on charges of drunken driving and improper lane usage after arguing to the trial judge that his obesity prevented him from successfully completing field sobriety tests. After Downers Grove, Illinois police pulled the man over for suspected drunken driving, the man, while polite and respectful, was unable to perform the standard field sobriety tests, which included standing on one leg for 30 seconds and a straight line heel-to-toe walk...

Drunk driver kills three in Chicago collision

Posted on August 06, 2007
On early Saturday morning a drunk driver ran a red light at the intersection of 47th Street and South King Drive on Chicago's South Side and killed three people in their 20's. A Chicago Tribune article by Jason Meisner describes the occurence. Chicago police charged the drunk driver allegedly responsible for the collision with reckless homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and driving under the influence...

Minneapolis bridge collapse demonstrates that tort immunity leads to complacency

Posted on August 03, 2007
The I-35W Bridge collapse in Minneapolis shows that tort immunity that shields states and municipalities from liability for negligence leads to complacency, neglect and disaster. Citizens assumed that teams of qualified professionals made sure the bridge was safe for use and would not fail--or that we would be warned if it was dangerous to use the bridge...

Illinois Appellate Court affirms Hurley McKenna & Mertz negligent credentialing trial victory against hospital

Posted on July 30, 2007
The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed the largest known verdict for a plaintiff in an institutional negligence case ever obtained in Illinois. The case is also the first reported case in Illinois dealing with a hospital's liability for negligently credentialing a physician, podiatrist or other health care provider...

Chicago Transit Authority to add "DriveCams" to reduce accidents

Posted on July 19, 2007
The Chicago Transit Authority will add driver monitoring cameras on some local bus routes to monitor the driving behavior of its drivers. The CTA hopes that the presence of the cameras will result in fewer bus accidents and personal injury claims from injured bus passengers...

New Jersey Passes Law Banning Quick-Release Hubs

Posted on June 21, 2007
Following up on an earlier post, quick-release hubs on the front wheels of bicycles can be a serious safety hazard. If the hubs are not properly tightened by the bike retailer, or are not properly designed by the bicycle manufacturer with safety devices to prevent sudden disengagement, or if neither the retailer nor manufacturer properly warns the user of how to properly check the hub, the front wheel can fall off...

Add Robert Bork to the List of Tort Reform Hypocrites

Posted on June 11, 2007
As first noted in the ACSBlog of the American Constitution Society, Judge Robert Bork, a prominent and unabashed judicial conservative whose nomination to the Supreme Court was rejected by the Senate, is seeking $1,000,000 in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages, in a personal injury lawsuit against the Yale Club of New York City...