Articles Posted in Car Accident

After being injured in an accident, one of your first thoughts may be whether you should hire an attorney and when. If you are coping with the devastating effects of a serious personal injury or the tragic loss of a loved one, it is important to hire an attorney that possesses the necessary level of skill as a trial lawyer and who will devote his or her time, energy, and resources to resolve your injury claim. Hiring an attorney after your accident will allow you to focus on your health and recovery.

Research has shown that people who hire attorneys receive larger settlements than people who handle personal injury claims on their own. A study that was initially published by the Insurance Research Council in 1999 and has since been updated, found that accident victims who hired an attorney to help them pursue their claim received 40% more in settlement than accident victims who did not hire an attorney. A study published by the All-Industry Research Advisory Council likewise found that accident victims who retained an attorney received more in settlement ($1.59 per dollar of loss) as compared to accident victims who did not hie an attorney ($1.26 per dollar of loss). Continue reading

On February 13, 2021, two people were killed after their vehicle plunged at least 70 feet off the Stevenson Expressway, landing on the roadway below. The vehicle was driving inbound on the Stevenson at about 4:00 a.m. when it lost control near Ashland Avenue. The car landed on the street below at Archer Avenue and Robinson Street. Both occupants of the vehicle succumbed to their extensive injuries following the collision.

According to Illinois State Police, two other individuals were also injured in the crash. A 21-year-old woman and 25-year-old man were transported to Stroger Hospital in Chicago in critical condition. While it is unknown what caused the crash, a preliminary investigation by the Illinois State Police shows the car was traveling at a high rate of speed and likely struck a snow bank that was present where the car had lost control. The car also struck a light tower and knocked out the lights on the Stevenson in both directions between Ashland and the Dan Ryan Expressway.

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On January 26, 2021, a 30-year old woman and her 9-year old passenger died after a crash involving a semi-trailer on I-88 near Lisle, Illinois. According to Illinois State Police, Ashley Skrobot, of Lisle, was operating a 2009 Honda Accord in the westbound lane of I-88 near the Route 53 exit when she lost control of her vehicle. The Honda hit a median and then traveled back into the flow of traffic where it was hit by a semi-trailer.

Paramedics from the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department arrived on the scene to find two people trapped inside the heavily damaged Honda Accord. The crews were able to extricate both of the occupants where they were categorized as having life-threatening injuries. Ashley Skrobot was transported to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove where she eventually succumbed to her injuries. The 9-year old passenger was transported to Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition. Unfortunately, the child, whose name was not released, also succumbed to her life-threatening injuries two days after the crash.

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Around 6:30 a.m. on the morning of Friday, June 12, 2020, 17-year-old David Aguilar and 17-year-old Jorge Acosta-Flores were riding in a blue Infiniti G37X in the westbound lanes of North Avenue in Carol Stream, Illinois, when they struck the back of a red Freightliner box truck. The Infiniti got pinned under the rear of the truck and caught on fire. Acosta-Flores was driving the car, and he was presumed to have died immediately upon impact with the box truck. Aguilar was sitting in the passenger seat, and he was pronounced dead after being transferred to Central DuPage Hospital to receive emergency medical care following the accident. Both boys were about to begin their senior year at Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Illinois.

A Carol Stream police officer witnessed the car crash. Immediately after the car accident, the officer used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire that was caused by the impact. Photographs of the scene show the front of the Infiniti was completely destroyed. The windshield shattered and the roof caved into the interior of the vehicle. Additionally, the driver of the box truck is reportedly not injured, but there is still an ongoing investigation into what exactly happened to cause this fatal accident. Continue reading

Getting one’s driver’s license is a rite of passage for most teenagers. It’s a day that most look forward to and is an important milestone in terms of growing up and entering the world. However, the road can be a very dangerous place, and parents often worry about whether their teenagers are following the rules of the road and utilizing safe driving practices.  Parents’ worries about their children driving alone for the first several years are justifiable, given the alarming statistics about teen drivers.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the rate of death (per mile driven) is nearly four times greater for teenagers, than it is for all other age groups combined. New drivers at age 16 have the highest death rates, with one and a half times the deaths of those just slightly older at ages 18 and 19. Continue reading

In the last couple of years car accidents involving pedestrians have steadily increased. A report by the National Public Radio (NPR) released in 2017, stated that pedestrian fatalities had increased by over 11 percent in a single year, putting the number of fatalities to nearly 6,000 deaths. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated 5,376 pedestrians were killed in 2015 and 4,884 pedestrians were killed in 2014. Based on those numbers, NHTSA estimates that on average, a pedestrian was killed every two hours and injured every seven minutes in traffic crashes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pedestrians are 1.5 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to be killed in a car accident.

The CDC states that high vehicle speeds increase both the likelihood of a pedestrian being struck by a car and the severity of the pedestrian’s injury. In NPR’s report, the deputy executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance, interviewed by NPR, stated that, “If a pedestrian is struck at 20 miles an hour, they have a 10 percent chance of dying. If they are struck at 40 miles an hour, they have an 80 percent chance of dying.” Continue reading

Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Antonicelli v. Rodriguez, a personal injury car accident case involving multiple defendants. In the case, the plaintiff, Angela Antonicelli, was a passenger in a car traveling on Interstate 88. Antonicelli v. Rodriguez, 2018 IL 121943, ¶ 3.  Defendant Karl Browder was operating a semi-truck directly behind the vehicle Ms. Antonicelli was a passenger in. Id. Defendant Daniel Juan Rodriguez, while under the influence of cocaine, made an improper U-turn and struck Ms. Antonicelli’s vehicle. Id. at ¶ 4. Mr. Browder’s vehicle then slammed into Ms. Antonicelli’s vehicle. Id. As a result of the multiple collisions, Ms. Antonicelli suffered severe permanent injuries. Id.

Ms. Antonicelli brought a lawsuit against both Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Browder (as well as Mr. Browder’s employers) to recover medical expenses and damages for her injuries. Id. at ¶ 6. Prior to the case going to trial, Ms. Antonicelli and Mr. Rodriguez entered into a settlement agreement for $20,000, the policy limits of Mr. Rodriguez’s insurance policy. Id. Mr. Browder then filed a counterclaim against Mr. Rodriguez for contribution, alleging that Mr. Rodriguez’s intentional conduct was the causation of Ms. Antonicelli’s injuries. Id. at ¶ 7. Continue reading