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Recent Blog Posts
Understanding Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents
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.
How to Prevent Pedestrian Accidents in Illinois
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;
Dram Shop Liability in Illinois Drunk Driving Accidents
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?
Common Injuries After Illinois Car Accidents
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:
Defensive Driving Tips to Help You Avoid an Accident
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.
Dog Bite Prevention and What to Do if You Are Bitten
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:
Top Causes of Truck Accidents in the United States
In 2016, there were nearly 12.5 million large trucks registered in the United States, accounting for billions of vehicle miles traveled. Unfortunately, accidents involving large trucks accounted for around 13 percent of all fatal traffic accidents in the United States. What is even worse, is that even when truck drivers are at fault for accidents, 8 out of 10 people killed in crashes involving large trucks are people who were riding in the other vehicle. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is dedicated to understanding the causes of accidents involving commercial motor vehicles and putting measures into place to prevent them. The FMCSA, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has determined a few top causes of commercial truck accidents in the United States.
Critical Reasons and Critical Events of Truck Accidents
What to Do if You Are a Victim of a Hit-and-Run Car Accident in Illinois
In every state, there are laws in place that state you must stop and stay at the scene of any car accident that you are involved in. Unfortunately, not everyone makes sure all is well after an accident. In the event that you are the victim of a hit-and-run accident, you will probably be feeling frustrated, angry and lost. Hit-and-run accidents must be handled differently than normal car accidents, mostly because the other party is not always known. Even though it will be more difficult to pursue compensation for damages and injuries, it is not impossible. Fortunately, there are things you can do to mitigate the negative consequences of a hit-and-run accident.
Gather as Much Information as Possible
Information is key to having a successful hit-and-run claim. Having as much information as possible will increase the chance that the police will catch the driver who fled the scene and it will also help your insurance company make a decision about your claim. If it is possible, you should get information such as:
Premises Liability and Inadequate Security Cases
Being safe or worrying about your safety is not something that often crosses our minds. Most of the time, we just assume we will be safe when we go to a store or stay in a hotel. There is an infamous saying about assuming -- mainly, that you should not do it. But by law, business has a responsibility to reasonably prevent accidents or crimes from occurring on their property. This is known as premises liability and is the responsibility of the owner or operator of an establishment. By law, we should be able to assume that we will be safe when we are walking through a parking lot or when we are shopping at a store. Premises liability cases can be complex, especially when dealing with negligent or inadequate security cases.
Examples of Negligent or Inadequate Security
When it comes to premises liability, the laws can be complex because there is so much that is left up to interpretation. The general consensus is that business owners have a responsibility to keep their premises safe for you. Examples of negligent or inadequate security include:
Special Considerations All Winter Motorcyclists Should Take
As the snow begins to fall, everyone scrambles to get their snow tires on their vehicles, change their windshield wiper blades and dig out their snow brush -- but those steps typically only pertain to the four-wheeled variety of vehicle owners. Those who own motorcycles have a set of concerns that are specific to their vehicle and riding it in cold, snowy weather. According to the United States Department of Transportation, there are approximately 8,410,255 motorcycles registered for private ownership in the country and over 300,000 of those motorcycles are registered in Illinois alone. Riders who are inexperienced or unprepared for cold-weather driving can find themselves in serious motorcycle accidents if they are not careful. If you are planning to ride your motorcycle this winter, here are three things you should think about before heading out on the road:
Prepare Your Vehicle for Winter
Quinn Law Group, LLC
847-232-7180
350 S. Northwest Highway, Suite 300, Park Ridge, IL 60068
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