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How to Protect Your Child After Sexual Abuse Has Occurred

When families learn their child has been sexually abused, they experience many different emotions. Parents and children alike are angry, sad, scared, and eager to make things better. All of these emotions are important and all require your attention. However, right now, we want to focus on what you can do to make things better.

Three Things You Can Do to Protect Your Child Now

Whether your child has been hurt by a mentor, a coach, a teacher, or a clergy member in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, it is important for you to do the following to protect your child after sexual abuse:

Watch for signs of physical harm. These can occur directly or indirectly from abuse.
Give your child a voice. This will depend on age and personality. However, it is important that your child does not keep everything bottled up. Talking, writing, and drawing are all outlets that can help your child express his emotions in a safe way. For some children, filing a civil lawsuit against the person who committed the abuse and the organization that allowed the abuse to occur can also help with healing.
Look toward the future. This is, undeniably, a part of your child’s life and will always be a part of your child’s history, but it is not the only part. Help your child to move forward.

Has your child been the victim of sexual abuse? What did you do to help your child through this difficult time? Please leave a comment in the space below and share your ideas. Your comments may help another family provide the support and help they need for their child.

Potential Airbag Problems Reported in Chevy Impalas

On April 7, 2014, the Center for Auto Safety asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate a potential defect in 2003-2010 model year Chevrolet Impalas.

According to information provided in a letter to the NHTSA, a software flaw could cause the control module to misread a passenger’s weight and cause the front airbags to become ineffective in a crash. More specifically, the letter suggests that a flawed algorithm was used to determine weight and the force with which the front bags are deployed in these vehicles.

To date, the Center for Auto Safety claims that there have been 143 fatalities in Chevy Impalas when the airbags failed to deploy. Ninety-eight of those who died were wearing their seat belts at the time of their accidents. The NHTSA does not keep track of why airbags fail to deploy. Thus, it is not yet possible to determine whether all of these fatalities were due to the potential software flaw.

The NHTSA and General Motors (GM) did not immediately respond to the allegations raised by the Center for Auto Safety.

This Problem May Not Be Only for GM Owners

In the past two years, the federal government has investigated or a recall has been issued due to defective airbags in vehicles by the following automakers: Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, Volvo, and Honda.

Faulty Airbags Are Not Just a National Problem

For the families of the 143 people who died, the problem of faulty airbags is not a national problem—it is personal one. If you have lost a loved one on the Northwest Tollway, or if you have been hurt on the Stevenson Expressway because your Chevy Impala airbag failed to deploy, you deserve to be compensated for your loss.

It is important to understand your rights. Please feel free to peruse related articles on our web site and then contact us directly for more information.

The recall of General Motors (GM) vehicles with faulty ignition switches has raised many questions. Whether you have already been in an accident in Skokie or you are concerned about being in an accident on the Chicago Skyway, you are probably wondering about the following:

Why is the GM recall different from other automaker recalls? The most important difference in this recall is that GM allegedly knew about the defective ignition switch, but did not issue a recall. As a result, people died, were injured, or were involved in accidents that could have been prevented. On the other hand, Toyota’s recall of approximately 6 million vehicles in April 2014 was not associated with any reported fatalities or injuries related to the defects.
Is there an investigation? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating GM. As of April 8, 2014, GM was being fined $7,000 a day by the NHTSA for failing to answer the agency’s questions by the required deadline. At the same time, GM is facing congressional panels. The NHTSA is also being investigated by congressional panels and the federal Department of Transportation’s inspector general’s office for missing the faulty ignition switch in the now-recalled vehicles.
What should you do if you have been hurt or lost a loved one because of a faulty ignition switch in a GM vehicle? You should contact an experienced lawyer—your injury, or your loved one’s death, may have been preventable.

As government and other investigations into the GM ignition switch recall continue, more answers should become available. Please check our website regularly for important updates.

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. As the name suggests, the purpose of this safety campaign is to raise public awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. As a result, the National Safety Council is specifically urging the public to become aware of the hazards associated with using a cell phone while driving. However, cell phone use is not the only type of distracted-driving behavior that causes serious accidents on I-294 and throughout the Chicago area.

Other Forms of Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is anything that takes your eyes of the road, your hands off the steering wheel, or your focus from the task at hand—driving safely. In addition to texting while driving or using a cell phone while driving, the following activities may be distracting to Chicago drivers:

Eating or drinking while driving
Programming or using a GPS while driving
Talking or arguing with passengers
Reading while driving
Changing the music while driving

All of these distractions are preventable—drivers simply do not have to do them while driving. They are not worth the risk of causing a serious accident that hurts themselves, a loved one, another motorist, a pedestrian, or a biker.

Get Involved

Now is a great time to take action against distracted driving. Learn what it is and pledge to stop doing it. You can also help by sharing this information with your family and friends on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus. Doing so may help to prevent a serious distracted-driving accident.

Your child was not touched inappropriately by anybody—for that you are grateful. However, what did happen to your child was appalling at best and permanently harmful at worst. As a result, you may be wondering whether your child was sexually abused without physical contact.

It is Possible

Sexual abuse can take many different forms. It can occur without an assault of physical touching. For example, your child may have been sexually abused if he was:

A victim of sexual harassment, including repeated sexual insults, comments, or verbal threats
A victim of sexual advances
Made to watch pornography
Forced to participate in pornography
Required to perform sexual acts on himself
Made to observe someone else performing sexual acts
Otherwise victimized without touching

Whether your child comes home from a Hyde Park party reporting inappropriate sexual behavior, or you begin to detect signs of sexual abuse over time, it is important to take your concerns, and your child’s health, seriously.

Your Child May Need Help

Sexual abuse without physical contact can have the same devastating effects as sexual abuse with physical contact. It is no less important to protect your child’s health and his legal rights in this type of situation.

We know how hard this is for your child and for your whole family. Our highly trained and experienced lawyers want to provide you with a safe place to explore your legal options so that you can make an informed decision about how best to proceed. You can get in touch with us quickly and easily by filling out the contact form at the top of the page.

It wasn’t you who got hurt. As the horror of the Chicago Skyway truck crash you witnessed plays over and over again in your mind, you are thankful that your vehicle was not involved and that you were not physically injured. Still, you cannot get those who were hurt out of your mind.

You Can Help Those Involved in the Accident

If you are at the still at the scene of the accident then:

The first thing that you should do is to call 911. Do not assume that those involved in the crash are able to do make the call themselves. They may be physically injured or unable to reach their phones.
Wait for the police to arrive. You may need to tell the police what you saw. Do not make any assumptions, however. Simply tell the truth as you saw it. Also, make sure that the police have your name and contact information.

After the accident, you can cooperate with the parties to the crash by giving an accurate account of the accident and being willing to participate in the discovery or trial process, as necessary.

You Can Help Others Avoid Accidents

Now that you have seen the harm that can be done when a tractor-trailer collides with another vehicle, you can help protect your family, friends, and neighbors. Talk to your loved ones about the risks of being hurt in a truck crash and share this blog post on your Facebook page or Twitter feed so that others can be aware of the risks and can know how to help if they witness a crash.