One of the great dangers that plague today’s world for a majority of Americans is car crashes. The latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that the leading cause of death in 2016 for children who were 10 and 11 years old and young adults ages 16 to 22 was motor vehicle crashes. Nearly 7.3 million police-reported traffic accidents occurred in 2016, injuring more than 3 million people and killing nearly 37,500 people. Getting into any car accident is a serious matter, even if nobody was hurt. Apportioning fault is a big part of ensuring you get the compensation you deserve from any damages to your vehicle or injuries you sustain from a car accident. But how is fault determined in these cases?

Violation of a Traffic Law

One of the easiest ways to determine who is at fault for a car accident is whether or not either party violated a traffic law. Every person on the road has a duty to follow all traffic laws and to refrain from actions that endanger others on the road. If it can be proven that one party violated a traffic law and that violation led to the collision, that party may be held liable for the damages from the accident.

Type of Collision

The next thing that your attorney, insurance agent, judge and any other person involved in making the decision as to who is at fault will look at is the type of collision that occurred. Certain types of collisions can make it easy to see who was at fault for the collision. For example, a rather common type of collision is a rear-end collision. Most people would agree that the person who hit the car in front of them is mostly responsible for the accident, rather than the driver who was hit.

One of the most dangerous driving behaviors is speeding. Most states, including Illinois, have strict laws about speeding that are regularly enforced. If you excessively speed, you could face felony charges, but that does not stop some people. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding killed more than 9,700 people in 2017 alone, with speeding-related deaths accounting for around 26 percent of all traffic fatalities. Even when speed-related accidents do not cause death, they can cause serious and life-altering injuries.

Reasons for Speeding

There are a variety of reasons why a person would speed while they are driving. Often, drivers do not even realize that they are engaging in this dangerous behavior, while some do and speed nonetheless. Reasons why a person may speed include:

• They are running late for something
• They are distracted by their cell phone or other type of distraction
• They are intoxicated or impaired by alcohol or drugs
• They are simply unconcerned with the safety of others

Further, there are certain factors that have been known to correspond with the type of people that are guilty of speeding. For example, young adults who are under the age of 34 tend to make up the majority of the population who speeds. Males, no matter their age, tend to be speeders more often than females. Those who have had adverse driving incidents on their records, such as a previous speeding, DUI, license suspension or revocation or car crash are also more likely to speed.

Now that the weather is warmer and days are sunnier, more children and their caretakers are flocking to playgrounds. What should be a fun day outside, can turn into a disaster pretty quickly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are more than 200,000 children who are treated for playground-related injuries at emergency departments each year. Of those 200,000 children, nearly half (46 percent) are treated for severe injuries, such as fractures, internal injuries, dislocations, and amputations. The CDC also states that around 75 percent of nonfatal playground injuries occur on public playgrounds, with most occurring at schools and daycare centers.

When your child is injured while in your care or the care of others, it can be an emotionally and financially stressful experience. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help recover some of the costs and damages associated with the injuries your child sustained.

Common Playground Hazards

There are many reasons why a playground could be unsafe and dangerous for children. Most of the time, a hazardous playground is one in which the responsible property owners do not keep up with the maintenance of the playground equipment. Some common examples of playground hazards that could cause injury include:

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
• Lack of or inadequate markings or barriers dividing the shallow section of the pool from the deep section
• Missing safety equipment, such as life jackets or life rings
• Lack of gating, fencing or pool covers

Proving Negligence

To have a successful swimming pool accident claim, you must prove that the property owner was negligent and knew about certain dangerous conditions that were present on his or her property. The Illinois Civil Jury Instructions state that negligence is “a failure to do something which a reasonably careful person would do.” For example, most people would understand that swimming pools pose a danger to children and would have a fence or pool cover on the pool when it was not in use. If a child were to drown in a pool that did not have these safety features, you may be able to claim that the property owner was negligent.

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.

The property owner has the responsibility of anticipating that a child could trespass and become hurt because of a condition that existed on their property. The Illinois Civil Jury Instructions state that the degree to which the property owner will be held responsible depends on the risk of injury to the child relative to the cost or inconvenience to remedy the dangerous condition that was present on the property. If the cost or inconvenience to remedy the condition is minimal, the property owner has a duty to do so.