Traffic Accidents | Lane Brown, LLC

The transition between winter and spring often proves to be a dangerous time for Chicago drivers. Weather can be very erratic, changing from warm and rainy conditions during the day, to cold and snowy overnight. The quickly changing conditions can create hazardous city roadways for area drivers.

In an effort to help keep you safe on crowded Chicago roadways, here are a few adverse weather driving safety tips to consider before heading out in your car:

Check the local news and Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) web site for vital travel and safety information.
Do not go out on the roads unless you absolutely have to.
Allow extra time for travel. Be sure to give yourself time to slow down or take a different route if needed.
Be sure your headlights are working properly. Travel with your headlights on their standard setting during rain, snow, or fog—high beams will not help you to see better in adverse weather.
Be sure your wiper blades are in proper working order.
Clear your windows completely of snow or ice and do not start driving until they have defrosted completely.
Pull over if you are caught driving in the middle of an intense Illinois rainstorm or a blinding snowstorm and feel unsafe. Find a safe place to stop and wait until conditions improve before continuing.

If you have been involved in a serious auto accident, be sure to seek the counsel of a highly qualified Chicago car accident attorney to receive answers to your questions and help your assert your legal rights. The compassionate and skilled attorneys at Lane Brown will take the time to fully hear your case, examine the details, and help you to understand your legal options. Call 312-332-1400 today for your free consultation.

If you are considering a trip on a Megabus, you have probably heard some of the pros and cons of riding the bus line.

Rave reviews speak of cheap ticket prices, free Wi-Fi, and convenient travel. However, complaints can range from simple inconveniences like late arrivals and spotty Wi-Fi connections, to serious problems such as roadside mechanical failures, incompetent bus drivers, or tragic accidents that result in injury or death.

Once on the road, passengers have little control over bus safety or the circumstances of their trip. The following tips may decrease your chance of suffering injury and help reduce the stress of your bus ride. First, take some basic precautions before boarding the bus:

Check the bus exterior to determine whether it appears to be in good working order and the lights work properly.
Listen for odd sounding noises that may indicate mechanical problems.
Verify that your driver is alert and attentive as you board the bus.
Find out whether a second driver is available on a long trip—riding along, or available at a scheduled stop.

If you feel any reason for concern before leaving, do not stay on the bus. Although tragic Megabus accidents are rare, they do happen. Mechanical failures, poor road conditions, and driver capabilities can trigger a Chicago bus crash.

In addition to some basic precautions, the following stress relievers should make your trip more pleasant:

Arrive early—at least 30-45 minutes before your scheduled departure so that you have plenty of time to find the correct bus.
Check the weather and dress accordingly. Stops are typically outdoors—leaving passengers exposed to the elements.
Pack snacks for your trip to make sure you have access to food when you get hungry.

Once your trip on Megabus begins, your safety becomes the responsibility of the transportation company. It is their primary duty to keep you safe while providing you with their transport service. If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, an experienced Chicago vehicle accident attorney can help. The attorneys at Lane Brown have been serving Illinois residents for many years, and will put our knowledge to work for you. Contact us today at 312-332-1400 for a fast and free consultation.

Kudos to the American Association for Justice (AAJ)! Today AAJ filed comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on proposed rulemaking governing the regulation of used cars and the installment of event data recorders in cars, respectively.

The proposed rules by the FTC regarding the sale of used motor vehicles raised consumer protection concerns and AAJ’s comments focused on the liability issues expressed during the Regulatory Review Notice comment period. AAJ specifically opposes the creation of a “safe harbor” for car dealers even if they demonstrate compliance with proposed disclosure requirements.

Comments to NHTSA responded to the agency’s proposal that all light vehicles be equipped with event data recorders (EDRs) or “black boxes” by September 2014. AAJ urged NHTSA to strengthen their regulatory framework by enhancing the availability of EDR data as well as ensuring data accuracy. Also, data recorder equipment malfunctions should not bar litigants from fully investigating their cases through formal discovery requests.

Before You Speak With an Insurance Adjuster in Illinois…

Shortly after a person is injured in a Chicago motor vehicle accident, it is very common for the at-fault party’s insurance company to contact the victim in order to gather information.

The adjuster will most likely ask to confirm the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of all victims. The adjuster will also need to know the vehicles’ makes and models, where the accident occurred, and what type of injuries were sustained.

Chances are the adjuster will want the victim to provide the answers to these questions during a recorded call. It is very important to not allow the call to be recorded unless you have first spoken with an attorney.

The adjuster will probably also tell the victim that in order for the medical bills to be paid, the insurance company must order all of the corresponding records that relate to the accident. For these records to be ordered, a medical authorization must be signed, giving the insurance company permission to contact the doctor or hospital where those records are housed. While this may seem logical, and necessary in order for the bills to be paid, it is actually an extremely bad idea to sign a medical authorization provided by the insurance company.

This is because the insurance company will take the opportunity to use that release to order medical records that have nothing to do with the accident itself. Instead, they will order your complete medical chart, in hopes of finding something that is private in nature and potentially detrimental to the case.

While it is true that the records do in fact need to be ordered, make sure that it is done by an attorney you trust, and who has your best interests in mind.

Before you speak with any insurance adjusters, talk with one of the experienced and trusted attorneys at Lane Brown (888-529-9377). We offer a free consultation to discuss your case. Call today and learn how we can get you the compensation you deserve.

Cars and trucks that are too quiet? In fact, it appears that some vehicles are so quiet that they may be dangerous! The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency has proposed a new safety standard, as required by the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (PSEA) of 2010, which proposes to establish a Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) setting minimum sound requirements for hybrid and electric vehicles. This new standard would require hybrid and electric passenger cars, light trucks and vans (LTVs), medium and heavy duty, trucks, and buses, low speed vehicles (LSVs), and motorcycles to produce sounds meeting the requirements of this standard. This proposed standard applies to electric vehicles (EVs) and to those hybrid vehicles (HVs) which are capable of propulsion in any forward or reverse gear without the vehicle’s internal combustion engine (ICE) operating. This standard would ensure that blind, visually-impaired, and other pedestrians are able to detect and recognize nearby hybrid and electric vehicles, as required by the PSEA, by requiring that hybrid and electric vehicles emit sound that pedestrians would be able to hear in a range of ambient environments and contain acoustic signal content that pedestrians will recognize as being emitted from a vehicle.

Sometimes, the injuries you have sustained in a car accident may not be immediately apparent. If, for example, you are involved in a 10-car pileup on a Chicago highway, and have emerged relatively unscathed, you may decline the advice of an EMT to get checked out at a local hospital, “just to make sure.” Especially if other motorists have been severely injured, you may even feel guilty about getting treatment for your scratches and bruises, and choose to go home instead.

This is a major mistake. If you decline immediate medical care, you have created a crucial gap in the paper trail needed to file an Illinois personal injury claim at a later date.

What happens if you wake up two days later feeling dizzy or nauseous, or you have a stiff neck, or if you feel a pain in your abdomen that wasn’t noticeable right after the accident? You can still visit a doctor, and that doctor can still make the reasonable inference that you were injured in the pileup—but if you choose to sue another driver, or your insurance company, for damages, their attorneys will seize on your carelessness to claim that you sustained your injuries elsewhere, or even that you made them up in order to file a lawsuit.

At Lane Brown, LLC, our experienced Chicago vehicle accident lawyers know that it pays to be thorough when laying the groundwork for a personal injury lawsuit in Illinois. If you don’t back up your claim with the proper medical documentation, or if you give opposing counsel any reason at all to believe that the documentation is suspect, you may not be able to recoup damages for your injuries and time off from work.

Questions? Call us today at 312-332-1400 for a free consultation!