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Personal Injury Law

Illinois Car and Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

By Hurley, McKenna & Murtz

Post Frequency: 0.5/day

Last Entry: March 22, 2011 at 01:28:39

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...

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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 nsurance Institute for Highway Safety says the fatal crash rate involving motorcycles with optional ABS was 38 percent lower than the rate involving similar cycles without the systems. ABS, like its counterparts on cars and trucks, helps riders stop their bikes abruptly without locking the wheels or fishtailing...

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. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggest that distracted driving triggers nearly 80 percent of the nation's car crashes...

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...

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