blog | Lane Brown, LLC

This winter season has been an especially difficult time for many drivers on Chicago’s roadways. Ice and snow have turned Illinois’ highways into “accidents-waiting-to-happen.” This is especially true for semi-trucks. Numerous accounts of roll-over accidents have made news headlines over these winter months. Aside from winter weather road conditions, there are a few different factors that lead to the majority of semi-truck roll-over accidents.

Speed is the leading factor that causes most truck roll-over accidents. Because semi-trucks most commonly travel on highways, this doesn’t necessarily refer to a semi going 65 mph in a 55mph zone. In reality, it tends to refer to traveling too fast for the road conditions.
Curves are another significant problem that can lead to roll-over crashes. These are commonly found at on and off ramps for highways throughout the Chicago area. Driver misjudgment, speed, delivery time restraints, road rage, and improper sign postings can all contribute to roll-over crashes on roadway curves.
An inability to control the truck is also a problem for many drivers. Driver inexperience causes many drivers to overcorrect in hazardous situations. When this happens, truck roll-over accidents can happen very easily.
Driver distractions also cause too many truck accidents. An inattention to the road and a lack of sleep can cause drivers to drift between lanes and not see many hazards along the road—including other nearby vehicles. As a result, truck drivers may inadvertently cause accidents in the process of trying to avoid them.

Were you injured because of a roll-over truck accident? Did a cargo spill from the accident cause your crash? If so, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries. Talking with an experienced attorney can help you understand the full scope of your legal rights. For more information about what to do after an Illinois car crash, you can request a free copy of our guidebook, The 8 Steps to Follow After Your Illinois Car Crash. Let us equip you with the information you need to protect your rights after a crash.

At Lane Brown, our team of attorneys have taken the initiative to help inform area community leaders, parents, students, and school leaders about the dangers of distracted driving. Throughout our experiences working closely with victims of distracted driving accidents, we’ve gained firsthand knowledge of the physical, emotional, psychological, and financial hardship that results from resulting accidents. Because of this, we’d like to help promote awareness and protect other Chicago families from this devastation.
How We Are Spreading the Message of Safe Driving

We’ve taken the message to local schools through public presentations. Our talks are geared toward high school students, parent groups, teachers, and other community leaders who influence the lives of Chicago’s youth. The subjects we cover include:

Dangers of distracted driving
Safe driving practices for accident prevention
Tips to remember if you are involved in a Chicago car accident

Distracted driving continues to be one of the leading causes of traffic accidents throughout Illinois and the rest of the country. Young, inexperienced drivers tend to be in the age group of the greatest offenders, although no demographic is completely exempt from this problem.
What Is Distracting Our Motorists?

Cell phone use (talking, texting, taking pictures, etc…)
Other passengers in the car
Day dreaming
Eating
Using other electronics (radio, GPS, etc…)

We’ve had the privilege of sharing this information, at no cost, with numerous audiences over recent months, and look forward to more opportunities to communicate this life saving information with other schools throughout the greater Chicago area. If your school or organization is interested in learning more about the dangers of distracted driving, please contact us today. We’d be honored to come discuss this extremely important topic with your group.

Category: Car Accidents

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Are you one of the thousands of truck drivers employed by one of 100+ trucking companies throughout Illinois? Ever hear the phrase “In it for the long haul?” It’s been used in reference to personal relationships, jobs, education, and a host of other applications. As the phrase implies, distance and hard work are both factors in the endeavor, no matter what it is. This is quite literally part of the job description for a long haul truck driver.

In mid-2013, new federal regulations within the trucking industry were enacted in an effort to help prevent serious truck accidents and injuries. These laws put restrictions on when long haul truck drivers can work, how long they can drive in a single trip, and when they must take their breaks. For drivers traveling back-and-forth across the country each week, the job can be very fulfilling—yet still exhausting. But, could there be a downside to these new restrictions that could also put truck drivers, and other motorists on the road, in danger?

The Negative Impact of Long Haul Truck Driving

The new federal regulations actually may be putting more semi-trucks on the road during rush hour. This is because drivers are limited in how long they can drive at night. These laws that affect when drivers can work may actually force them to take breaks when they aren’t tired, and drive when they are!
There are numerous serious health risks that can be attributed to long haul truck driving. These can include: heart disease, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer in the stomach, prostrate, lungs, and bladder. Truck drivers with compromised health are at a higher risk of getting into a serious accident on the road.
The nature of long haul truck driving can take a toll on the body. Chronic stress, inconsistent schedules, excess workloads, extreme time deadlines, and demanding physical labor can impact a driver’s physical, emotional, and mental health.

Fatigued, physically ill, overworked, and distracted long haul truck drivers can easily cause serious truck accidents in a split second, all because the odds are stacked against them from the start.

Want more information about long haul truck driving accidents? Give Lane Brown a call today. We’re conveniently located in Chicago, but proudly serve victims throughout Illinois. Help is a phone call away.

Residential neighborhoods outside of a downtown setting are an ideal place for many individuals to live in. You may be one of these people. Sidewalks, bright streetlights, large yards, and tree-lined streets draw families with children, empty nesters looking for a quieter place to live, or even the individual looking for the benefits of city living with a small-town feel.

If you’ve noticed, there typically aren’t stoplights in residential neighborhoods to control traffic. Usually these intersections feature stop signs or yield signs to indicate right-of-way for motorists. Usually, in residential neighborhoods, there isn’t a need for traffic lights to direct traffic safely. However, more than 700,000 stops sign-related car accidents still happen each year across the country. In many situations, these accidents can be avoided when motorists exercise a little extra caution on the road.

Remembering S.T.O.P. Could Help You Avoid a Car Accident

S – Safe Distance. Keep a safe distance between your car and any car in front of you when approaching a stop sign intersection. A good rule is to always look for the rear wheels of the car in front of you. If you can’t see them, you’re too close!
T – The Painted Line Matters. Look for a painted line at the intersection. This line is meant to serve as a guide for drivers. If you stop at or before this line, you should ensure that the front end of your vehicle does not protrude into the intersection. Otherwise, your efforts to stop might be too late when cross traffic comes your way.
O – Oncoming Traffic. Oncoming cross traffic can be hidden or difficult to see because other objects obstruct your view. For intersections that are only a two-way stop, ease into the intersection slowly to give yourself extra time to respond to traffic you might not see immediately.
P – Pause a few seconds. A significant number of stop sign crashes are rear-end collisions. Avoid a car crash by waiting a few seconds if there’s a car in front of you at the stop sign. Don’t move forward the second that they do. They may still stop before fully entering the intersection.

Our parents and teachers taught us that name-calling and other forms of verbal teasing can’t really hurt us. I can’t possibly give an accurate count of the number of times I was told that “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

That old adage is now being called into question by new research from UCLA. Dr. Naomi Eisenberger has found that social rejection and physical pain are intrinsically linked in the brain, so much so that a lack of the former can impact the latter.

How is it that social rejection could affect physical pain? In an experiment published in the 2006 issue of the journal Pain, Eisenberger used 75 subjects to explore perceptions of physical pain in the context of social situations. First, the researchers identified each person’s unique pain threshold by transmitting varying levels of heat to the forearm. The participants graded pain levels until they reached “very unpleasant.” This provided a baseline for the participants’ “normal” pain thresholds under normal conditions.

The test subjects then played a game of ball-tossing with 3 characters on a computer. One character represented the participant, who was told by the researchers that the other two characters were played by real people. (Actually, the other characters were computer-controlled.) The participant was either a) socially included by having the ball tossed to the participant, or excluded, in which case the ball was never tossed to the participant. In the final 30 seconds of the game, a new heat stimulus was applied and subjects again rated the level of pain they felt.

The excluded group participants reported 67% more social distress on average, which was not particularly surprising. What was more of a surprise was that the same people who reported great social distress from the game also reported higher pain ratings at the end of the game—showing a link between social and physical pain.

The findings by Dr. Eisenberger were supported by other studies which demonstrate a connection between emotional and physical pain. Many functional MRI (fMRI) studies, which measure functional brain activity through visualization of blood flow, have confirmed that emotional and physical pain both activate the brain’s dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Still other studies note that people who suffer from physical conditions such as chronic pain are more likely to have emotional anxiety and feel social rejection more deeply.

People who have suffered traumatic injuries often suffer obvious physical disabilities, pain and disfigurement. The suffering they experience is less obvious to others, but is no less real to the individuals who’ve been injured and their families.Those individuals have been thrown into a new way of living. Their home, work and recreational lives may have been turned upside down, and they frequently reach a point where they feel that they have been left alone to deal with thier very personal pain and fears. They can feel isolated and rejected by those who had been around them when they were well, but seem to have left their lives once injury has kept them from being a full participant in society’s living. And now, we know, and have scientific proof, of the sad fact that isolation, the stigma of rejection and emotional distress we knew was there can actually worsen the physical pain suffered by the injured person. An awful cycling of physical and emotional pain that can be crippling.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious and disabling injury because of someone else’s fault, you may be able to take actions to help find your way through the difficult times ahead. At Lane Brown, LLC, our attorneys have spent decades helping people cope with the devastating impact that serious injuries can have. Please contact the attorneys of Lane Brown, LLC, or call us at 312-332-1400 to speak with us about your options. We can help. To learn more about Lane Brown, please visit our website at lanebrownlaw.com

Category: General

Labels: disabling injury pain trauma

If you’ve been the victim of a horrific event, like sexual abuse for instance, the experience can be life shattering. Learning to get through the day-to-day activities of life can be an overwhelming ordeal. If you are a family member watching your loved one go through this process, the experience can have its own effects on you, too.

It’s important to know that you don’t have to suffer in silence. Do not let any abuser or situation shame you into thinking your dignity, self-respect, and personal life are of little to no worth. You are not alone, and you are not responsible for the sexual crimes committed against you.

If you do choose to pursue legal action against your perpetrator, there are a few things to keep in mind that will help your sexual abuse attorney best serve you and your case:

Seek counseling first – A trained therapist or psychologist can help you come to grips with your victimization. This can help you communicate a clear, consistent account of your abuse. It will also help you learn to cope with the stress and emotions that may surface in the midst of a legal case.
Have clear communication with your attorney – This includes returning phone calls, keeping scheduled consultations, and speaking as honestly as you can about the abuse. Remember… we are on your side. We want to help you get the justice you deserve.
Keep records of any communication between you and your abuser – Saved emails, letters, text messages, pictures, or videos can help to corroborate your story in a situation that is typically viewed as “your story against theirs.” This will help your attorney structure a solid case against your abuser or the organization he/she works with.

As much as we would want to be able to serve every client that approaches us about a sexual abuse claim, the reality is, we cannot help every person in need. We primarily serve victims of childhood sexual abuse, and due to the nature of these cases, a statute of limitations in Illinois, and the intense nature of these cases, it’s important for victims to contact us in a timely manner. But also important to consider is the fact that victims need to understand the emotional effects that such legal action can have. Having external support—through counseling, family, or a support group—can help victims as they have to recount the events of their abuse.

If you have questions about childhood sexual abuse, and whether or not you might have a legal case against your perpetrator, please feel free to contact our compassionate, experienced, and professional attorneys at Lane Brown to schedule a free, confidential consultation today.