Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

This month, the Illinois Central Railroad Company settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of a Chicago Dancer killed in a train crossing crash. On April 16, 2010, twenty-six year Katie Ann Lunn was returning home from watching her dance students perform at a competition. When Lunn reached a University Park train crossing, her SUV was struck by an Amtrak train killing the beloved dance instructor. The wrongful death lawsuit claimed the railroad crossing signals were turned off earlier that day for maintenance work and were never reactivated. Witnesses told the Chicago Sun Times after the crash that when they drove over the railroad seconds before the fatal crash the signals were not working and the gate did not come down until the train had almost passed them.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration Office Of Safety Analysis, there were 10,951 train accidents in the United States last year, resulting in 248 fatalities. In Illinois, there were 950 train accidents last year. Although there were no fatalities in 2011, there have already been several in 2012 including two in the Chicagoland area.

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Last week, an eighty-eight year old female was killed while riding an escalator at a train station in Lindenhurst, New York. Initial reports indicate a broken escalator handrail prevented the elderly woman from grasping the handrail. The woman's clothes then got stuck in the escalator while she was on the ground, causing the woman to slowly choke to death. Just minutes before the woman's apparent wrongful death, an elderly man had a similar incident on the same escalator but seemed to escape serious personal injury.

In the United States, there are approximately 35,000 escalators providing about 105 billion passenger trips each year. Most escalators are located in commercial and public buildings like malls, hospitals, airports, and train stations. Although escalators speed up passenger travel from one point to another, escalators can cause serious injury or death if they are defective or improperly maintained.

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Less than two years since the Indiana State Fair stage collapse that killed seven and injured over forty-five others, fingering pointing among those involved has escalated dramatically. The Indiana Occupational Safety And Health Administration recently levied fines against Mid-America Sound Corp, the company charged with erecting the stage, the Indiana Fair Commission, the entity in charge of the venue, and the union that worked the site. Although Mid-America Sound received the largest fine, the company denies any responsibility. Instead, Mid-America Sound blames the Fair Commission, claiming they failed to heed warnings about the stages structural integrity during high winds. The Fair Commission blames the band Sugarland, who was scheduled to perform just before the storm, claiming the band refused to delay their concert despite being told of severe incoming storms. While there is much debate around all who should be blamed, the basic facts about what happened are well established.

On August 13, 2011 at 6:00 PM, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center issued a "severe thunderstorm watch" for central Indiana, which included the location of the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis. The Emergency Alert System bulletin cautioned the storm was capable of producing winds up to 70 MPH. At 8:39 PM, the Indiana State Police say they issued a warning to the crowd in the grandstand suggesting they should take cover because of incoming severe weather. About ten minutes later, strong winds thundered in causing the stage to collapse, resulting in 4 deaths. Over 45 others suffer various personal injuries. Wind gusts exceeded 70 MPH. The stage collapse occurred between live musical performances by Sara Bareilles and Sugarland. Earlier, pop singer Janet Jackson and country band Lady Antebellum cancelled their performances.

Since the stage collapse, lawyers for those injured or who lost loved ones filed a class action lawsuit against the State of Indiana for personal injury and wrongful death. Most of those claims have settled. Another lawsuit had been filed against Sugarland claiming the band negligently refused to delay starting their concert despite being told of impending severe weather.

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Choking hazards are leading cause of unintended wrongful death and serious personal injury in small children. Every year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issues recalls for toys that can pose a risk of injury to children, including choking hazards. Just recently, the CPSC and Health Canada announced the recall of the Colorful Hearts Teddy Bear By Build-A-Bear. The recall was announced because the teddy bear's eyes could loosen and fall out, creating a choking hazard for small children. For additional information on this recall and other recalled toys, visit the CPSC website at http://www.cpsc.gov/.

Choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional death in children under 5. The size of a small child's trachea is about the diameter of drinking straw. Thus, any small item can pose a serious risk of choking. Common sources of choking hazards include toys, household products and foods. Toy manufacturers often label their products as choking hazards. However, just because product manufacturer does not provide such a warning is no guarantee the product poses no choking hazard, particularly if it breaks. Indeed, there have been many product liability lawsuits that involve a failure to warn by the manufacturer, including those involving choking hazards.

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The holidays are a wonderful way to spend time with friends and family. As the holiday season approaches, it is important to remember that we must all celebrate responsibly when it comes to drinking and driving. As a personal injury lawyer who has prosecuted drunk driving cases, I am all too familiar with the risks associated with drinking and driving.

Auto accidents are a leading cause of wrongful death and serious injury in the US. The addition of alcohol increases these risks exponentially. Almost one-third of all traffic-related deaths in the US involve at least one person impaired by alcohol. In fact, one person is injured in an alcohol-related accident every minute.

Many believe drunk driving will never impact their lives. However, one in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at one point in their life. For those lucky enough to avoid being a direct victim, nearly everyone will have a friend or family member who will be injured or killed in an alcohol-related accident.

Refusing to get behind the wheel while intoxicated dramatically reduces the risk of getting into an auto accident. However, even responsible people can, of course, still become a victim of drunk driving. There are many people who regularly drink and drive. In fact, a drunk driver will drive intoxicated about 80 times before their first arrest. Perhaps equally alarming, 50 to 75 percent of convicted drunk drivers continue driving on a suspended license.

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On November 19, 2009, an infant under four months allegedly died from suffocation in a baby sling. The Illinois family hired a Chicago personal injury lawyer who filed suit against the manufacturer, Eddie Bauer, and others. According to the suit, the baby sling was defective because it failed to provide a safety mechanism to prevent infant suffocation and failed to adequately warn about these dangers. The suit alleges the baby sling forced the baby's chin to her chest causing "positional asphyxia" or oxygen deprivation from breathing difficulty.

The lawsuit filed by the Illinois family is a type of product liability, wrongful death case. A product liability lawsuit is a type of personal injury case. In a product liability lawsuits, there are several theories from which a party may recover, including strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty of merchantability. However, the primary argument for any product liability case is that the product is unreasonably dangerous. On occasion, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (or CPSC) investigates reports that a product has caused serious injury or death.

A baby sling is a popular product that allows parents or caregivers to literally wear their infants as they go about their busy lives. In March 2010, the CPSC issued a warning regarding the dangers of baby slings. The warning was issued after at least three babies died in baby slings in 2009 alone.

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Over a decade ago, the major four tobacco companies in the US entered into a major settlement agreement with 46 states. The settlement required Phillip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, and Lorriad to pay $206 billion dollars to these states over a 25-year period. As a Chicago personal injury lawyer, I was always curious to see how Big Tobacco would be doing a decade later. As it turns out, they are doing just fine.

According to the Centers Disease Control ("CDC"), adverse health effects from cigarette smoking cause an estimated 443,000 deaths in the US or nearly one in five deaths in the US. More deaths are caused by tobacco use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle accidents, suicides, and murders combined. Ninety percent of all chronic lung diseases are caused by smoking. Ninety percent of lung cancer deaths in men and eighty percent of lung cancer deaths in women are also caused by smoking.

In 1998, the largest US tobacco companies entered into a Master Settlement Agreement ("MSA") with all US states except four (who previously settled with US tobacco companies). The 46 states that signed the MSA sought recovery for massive healthcare expenses incurred by states from tobacco use. In exchange for $206 billion and limitations on marketing practices, the tobacco companies received blanket protection from private personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits for harm caused by tobacco use. Many experts believe shielding these companies from individual lawsuits saved the tobacco industry far more than what they agreed to pay out to the states under the MSA.

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Car accidents and other motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of personal injury and wrongful death in the US. When motor vehicle accidents involve large vehicles such as a bus or truck, the risk of serious injury or death only increases. According to a recent report by the National Transportation Safety Board (or NTSB), the rate of fatal bus accidents is seven times higher for curbside buses than other bus operators. As a Chicago personal injury lawyer, this report reveals a serious danger among curbside bus operators that must be corrected.

There are 360 million bus passengers every year. Most bus operators pick up passengers at traditional, designated bus stops. In contrast, curbside bus operators pick up passengers from street corners, parking lots, and in front of retail stores.
Curbside bus operators have become increasingly popular based, in part, on their cheap fares. However, as with many things in life, cheaper is not always better--particularly when it comes to safety. More than half of curbside bus operator companies have been in business for ten years or less. Most curbside bus companies have 10 buses or less in their fleet. Thus, curbside bus companies are usually less experienced compared to traditional bus operators. According to the NTSB report, new bus companies were more likely to have higher accident rates and roadside inspection violations. Most alarming, the rate of fatal accidents for curbside bus accidents is seven times higher compared to conventional bus operators.

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Car accidents are a leading cause of death and personal injury in the US. Most of these accidents involve two or more vehicles. Among the worst types of accidents involving a vehicle is when the vehicle strikes a pedestrian. Last night, a six year- old girl was killed and another was injured when a car hit the girls while they were crossing the street on Chicago's South Side. As a Chicago personal injury lawyer, I am sickened when I hear these types of stories.

A "pedestrian knockdown case" is often a potentially deadly accident. It occurs when a person is on foot when hit (or knocked down) by a vehicle. A critical issue in most of these cases is whether the pedestrian was within a crosswalk at the time of the accident. A second important issue is whether the pedestrian had a red light or do not walk sign when they were injured. In general, pedestrians have the right-of- way in Illinois unless they have a red light or do not walk sign. In many instances, the driver claims he or she had the right away and the pedestrian did not and/or was outside of the crosswalk at the time of the accident. Consequently, these cases are often hotly contested.

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