Posted on June 14, 2019 in Blog Post

Summer is on its way, temperatures are heating up and many people are taking to swimming pools to cool down. While swimming pools are a fun way to beat the heat, they can be dangerous. According to the National Safety Council, there are more than 7,000 deaths from drowning that occur throughout the country each year. Most of these deaths occur to children who are under the age of 5. In fact, drowning is the leading cause of death and injury to children who are under the age of 5. Almost all swimming pool accidents are preventable, so it is important to understand what you can do if you or your child has been injured or has died in a swimming pool accident.

Causes of Swimming Pool Accidents

Swimming pool accidents are almost always preventable, which is why it can be so devastating when an accident happens. Some of the most common causes of swimming pool accidents include:

• Inadequate lifeguard supervision

  Continue Reading ››

 Posted on May 31, 2019 in Blog Post

When it comes to premises liability in Illinois, the duty of care that property owners owe those who are on their property changes in certain situations. The level of liability you have to an occupant on your property depends on whether or not the person was a trespasser on your property. If the person was lawfully on your property, you have the responsibility of exercising ordinary care to ensure the property is reasonably safe. If the person is a trespasser, you are only responsible for refraining from willful or wanton conduct. When it comes to a child trespasser, the rules are slightly different.

What is the “Attractive Nuisance” Doctrine?

When it comes to children trespassers, the laws pertaining to the property owner’s duty of care are slightly different. Rather than having strict liability, a property owner can be accused of negligence if they knew or should have reasonably known that there was a condition present on their property that posed a risk of injury to children. The reason why there is a difference in how adult and child trespassers are treated is that children often do not have the ability to recognize certain hazards or understand the consequences of their actions.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on May 17, 2019 in Blog Post

Accidents are called accidents for a reason -- they happen unexpectedly. When it comes to accidents that occur on private property in Illinois, accidents can range from slipping on ice and snow in the winter to drowning in a swimming pool. Premises liability is the idea that property owners are responsible for accidents that occur on their property. The Illinois Premises Liability Act contains information about responsibility and negligence when it comes to maintaining property and allows those who are injured on another’s property to pursue compensation.

Owner Responsibilities

The Premises Liability Act states that property owners have a duty to those who are on their property to take “reasonable care under the circumstances regarding the state of the premises or acts done or omitted on them.” This means that property owners are required to ensure their property is physically safe for others to be on. It also means that property owners are responsible for overseeing the acts of others while they are on their property.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 26, 2019 in Blog Post

Car accidents can be deadly events. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were more than 37,000 Americans killed in traffic crashes in 2017. Even in traffic crashes that did not involve a fatality, there were more than 2.7 million people injured in traffic crashes in 2017. Depending on the factors surrounding the accident, injuries range from bruises and superficial cuts to internal bleeding and traumatic brain injuries. One of the most common traumatic brain injuries resulting from car accidents are concussions.

What Is a Concussion?

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that occurs when the brain is jostled and the fragile tissue of the brain hits the walls of the skull. This commonly occurs when a person sustains a blow to the head, but violent shaking of the head and/or upper body can also result in a concussion. Symptoms can appear right away or they can take time to develop. Symptoms typically dissipate, but it can take days, weeks or even longer for that to happen.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 12, 2019 in Blog Post

Now that the weather is getting warmer and more people are partaking in outdoor activities, motorcycle riders everywhere are rejoicing and getting their bikes out to take them for a spin. For many people, riding a motorcycle is thrilling and not just a hobby, but a way of life. Unfortunately, riding a motorcycle can also be dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motorcyclists are around 28 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle accident than passenger car occupants. In 2016, there were over 5,000 motorcyclists killed in motor vehicle accidents. Understanding the common causes of motorcycle accidents can help you make sure you keep yourself as safe as possible while on your bike.

Not Knowing Your Bike Well Enough

Before you set out on the open road, you should make sure that you are comfortable handling your bike. Riding a motorcycle safely takes a lot of skill, patience, and practice. The NHTSA states that about a third of motorcyclists killed in crashes are either improperly license to ride a motorcycle or not licensed at all. Before you take your bike out onto the road, try practicing in a parking lot or a road that is not very busy.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 29, 2019 in Blog Post

At some point during the day, everyone is a pedestrian. If you are not in your vehicle and you are walking, you are a pedestrian. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a pedestrian includes anyone who is walking, running, jogging, sitting or lying down. Being a pedestrian involved in a traffic accident can be extremely dangerous. Serious and sometimes even fatal injuries can occur when vehicles hit pedestrians. The NHTSA has reported that there were nearly 6,000 pedestrians that died in fatal traffic crashes in 2016. Fortunately, there are things that both drivers and pedestrians can do to reduce the number of pedestrian accidents.

Safety Tips for Drivers

Many times, it is not the pedestrian’s fault that an accident occurred -- most of the fault is placed on the driver. Here are a few tips to help drivers prevent pedestrian accidents:

• Keep your eyes on the road at all time. Pedestrians do not always act predictably, but you should always be on the lookout for pedestrians, especially in densely populated areas;

  Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 15, 2019 in Blog Post

All car accidents are devastating, but car accidents that involve alcohol are especially tragic. Drunk driving accidents are almost entirely preventable and can be some of the deadliest accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were about 10,874 deaths from alcohol-related car accidents in 2017. Those nearly 11,000 deaths equated to around 29 percent of all car accident fatalities in 2017.

The question of liability in these crashes is an ambiguous one. If you are filing a personal injury lawsuit because of injuries sustained in an alcohol-related car accident, you have a couple of options when it comes to pinning the fault on an entity. Many people immediately think that the driver is the entity at fault, but what they might not know is that you can also hold the establishment that provided the alcohol at fault too.

What Is the Dram Shop Act?

The Illinois Dram Shop Act (formally known as the Liquor Control Act of 1934) allows certain establishments and bars to be held liable for injuries that are caused by an intoxicated person that they have sold alcohol to. The Act allows third parties who have suffered damages and injuries as a result of actions of an intoxicated person to place liability for the accident on the establishment that provided the intoxicated person with alcohol.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 28, 2019 in Blog Post

Most Americans rely on vehicles to get them from place to place in their daily lives. Unfortunately, cars can be dangerous. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 37,133 people were killed in car crashes in 2017 and millions more were injured. Car crashes can result in serious and extensive injuries, but the type of injuries you can get from a car accident vary depending on a number of factors. Here are a few injuries that are common in those who have been in a car accident.

Whiplash

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, whiplash is the most frequently reported injury in car accident insurance claims. Whiplash is a neck injury that occurs most frequently during car accidents, but that can also occur from sports accidents, physical abuse or other traumatic events. Whiplash occurs when the head is forcefully and quickly thrown back and forth and can injure bones in the spine, discs between the bones, nerves and other tissues in the neck. Symptoms of whiplash include:

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 15, 2019 in Blog Post

Automobiles are perhaps the greatest invention of the modern age -- they simplify life and enable us to live more efficiently. With all of that innovation comes danger, as well. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 37,133 people who died in car crashes in 2017. Though the number of fatal traffic accidents has been steadily decreasing, car accidents still remain a problem. There are things that you can do to protect yourself on the road that can greatly decrease your chances of getting into an accident. Here are a few tips you can follow to help keep your chances of getting into an accident down:

Pay Attention to the Road

Try not to let other things distract you from the task at hand -- driving. Distractions can appear both inside and outside the vehicle and they are all equally as dangerous. Cell phone use is one of the most common forms of distracted driving, but you can also become distracted by changing the music, adjusting the air conditioner, reaching for an item you have dropped or by other passengers in the vehicle. Keep your eyes and mind on the road and you should be safe.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 30, 2019 in Blog Post

Dogs are one of the most popular animals that people keep as pets. According to the American Pet Products Association, an estimated 44 percent of American households have a dog. While dogs are clearly man’s best friend, they can also be pretty dangerous. It is estimated that nearly 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year, with 800,000 of those people needing to seek medical attention for their bite wounds. Of those 800,000, around half of them are children. Dog bites can often be unprovoked, but dog owners are responsible for their dog’s behavior. In Illinois, if you are bitten by a dog, you may have grounds for a premises liability lawsuit.

Dog Bite Prevention Tips

There are a multitude of reasons why dogs sometimes bite people. Most of the time, when a dog bites someone, they are doing so because they feel threatened. This is the basis for most dog bite prevention tips. Here are a few tips for how you can prevent a dog bite:

Continue Reading ››