Chicago, IL Personal Injury Blog

It's winter in Chicago and the snow is bound to fall. Although the season has started off fairly mild, it is unlikely that sidewalks, streets, highways and interstates throughout Illinois will remain clear of snow and ice much longer. As winter weather approaches, drivers need to be aware of changing road conditions and adjust driving style accordingly, allowing more time to reach your destination, being prepared for longer braking distances and knowing how to react when you drive over a patch of ice.

A recent study at Purdue University revealed that men over the age of 45 are more likely to crash their cars on snowy, icy roads and women tend to be safer drivers during the winter months. Particularly, men 4 and older driving pickups or another four-wheel-drive vehicle are at the greatest risk of a weather-related car accident.

Investigators believe that there is a false sense of security related to all-wheel-drive vehicles. Although they allow drivers to accelerate more quickly on ice and snow, they do not change the distance it takes to safely brake under similar conditions.

In recent years, there have been concerted efforts to limit, ban and bring awareness to texting while driving. And for good reason, texting and driving is the most dangerous form of distracted driving. So far, much of the safety push has been to ban texting while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle; however, the City of Chicago recognizes that texting is also a safety hazard when done by bicyclists.

The ban, which took effect in November 2011, forbids bicyclists from text messaging or talking on a cell phone without hands-free technology. Passed by the Chicago City Council without dissent, according to Huffington Post, the ordinance allows fines for violators of $20 for the first offense and up to $100 for three or more offenses. However, if texting bikers are involved in traffic collisions, the fine can be increased to $500.

Congratulations to Principal Judy Schutter and the staff and students of Mary, Seat of Wisdom Catholic School in Park Ridge. The school was one of only 49 private schools in the country recognized by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School.

The National Blue Ribbon School program recognizes overall academic excellence and success in closing achievement gaps, particularly amongst minority students in both public and private elementary, middle and high schools throughout the country. The United States Department of Education began recognizing high-performing or improving schools since 1982. Less than five percent of the over 138,000 schools throughout the U.S. have earned the honor of being named a National Blue Ribbon School.

Principal Schutter and the school will receive the award at a ceremony in Washington, DC on November 14 and 15, 2011.

For More Information: Niles Herald-Spectator, "Pair of Park Ridge parochial schools earn 'Blue Ribbon'," 29 September 2011

An Oregon, Illinois woman was left injured and dissatisfied by her new $12,000 walk-in tub "designed to the Highest Standards ensuring your Safety, Comfort and Independence," according to the website of Premier Bath, the tub's manufacturer. During only her second use of the tub, she fell and became wedged for 30 hours in a tub partially filled with water.

When she realized she'd be unable to get out, she shut off the faucet filling the tub and attempted to pull the drain to empty it completely. But, the chain on the drain stopper broke, leaving her stuck in the bathwater until she was rescued by her daughter 30 hours later. She was in shock, unconscious and had suffered significant skin injuries by that time. Because of the faulty drain mechanism, she spent four days in the hospital and three months in a nursing home recovering from her injuries.

Standing up for Injured People Throughout the Chicago Area

Fighting back against Premier Bath, the maker of the tub, for the injuries caused by the defective drain mechanism, the Chicago products liability attorneys at Clancy Law Offices filed suit on the injured woman's behalf. As stated in the lawsuit filing, "The failure and/or malfunction of the drain," directly caused her injuries.

Inspection teams from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently identified significant quality of care and patient safety deficiencies at three Illinois nursing homes. Because of the deficiencies, the nursing homes - Alden Town Manor Rehab & Hcc in Cicero, Columbus Manor Res Care Home in Chicago and Galesburg Terrace in Galesburg, Illinois - were added to the CMS Special Focus Facility (SFF) Initiative.

The SFF initiative was started in 1998 to identify and track poorly performing nursing homes. Routine inspections are held at all nursing homes throughout the United States that receive money from Medicare and Medicaid. While almost all facilities, on average, have 6-7 deficiencies, those that are added to the SFF list have been found to have significantly more or significantly more serious deficiencies as well as a pattern of uncorrected issues over a period of time.

It's summer and road construction projects are in place on many roads and highways across Illinois and the United States. These construction zones present a new set of dangers, both for motorists and for road workers.

Illinois is addressing these dangers with "Give Em a Brake Zone" (GABZ) patrols. These extra construction zone patrols will look for distracted drivers (those texting or using cell phones in a construction area) as well as those exceeding the speed limit with air patrols and laser speed guns. In Illinois, speeding in a construction zone carries a maximum $375 fine for a first offense. Two-time offenders face a maximum $1000 fine and a 90-day license suspension.

Scott's Law Requires Motorists Yield to Emergency Vehicles

Illinois drivers should also be aware of the 2009 law that requires motorists to yield to emergency vehicles, or any vehicle equipped with oscillating lights, by reducing speed and changing lanes away from the emergency vehicle, if possible. GABZ patrols will also be looking for motorists who ignore this state law, named for a Chicago fireman who was struck and killed on the Dan Ryan Expressway by an intoxicated driver.

Many claim the current health care crisis of rising costs and too few providers is fueled by medical malpractice lawsuits and multi-million dollar verdicts. But as health care costs continue to skyrocket, the number of payments for medical malpractice claims actually continue a 7-year decline.

In 2010 only 10,195 payments were made on claims of doctors' medical mistakes. The amount of money paid on claims has reached its lowest number since 1998, according to a study by Public Citizen.

"Health care costs have nothing to do with what's going on in the courtroom," stated Public Citizen's Congress Watch Division Director, David Akrush.

Choosing a nursing home is a difficult decision. Most people don't have direct experience with nursing homes until they need one for their parents or themselves. Finding information to help with the decision process previously has been difficult, leaving consumers with little more to go on than brochures from the facilities.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) website was created to help consumers obtain important information to assist them in choosing a nursing home or long-term care facility. The site has recently seen some changes that further improve functionality and quality of the information.