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Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation Round Up

Here’s what other personal injury and workers’ compensation lawyers have been talking about over the past few weeks: Jury Instruction Social Networking (Day on Torts) North Carolina: Jail Time for Uninsured Employers (Workers’ Compensation Blog) Cell Phone Use Cited in 24% of Motor Vehicle Crashes (Personal Injury and Social Security Disability blog) NFL Concussion Website […]

White truck speeding

Illinois Legislators Seek to Revise Law for Chronic Speeders

Currently in Illinois, repeat speed offenders are oftentimes sentenced to court supervision and fines instead of license suspensions. According to this Chicago-Tribune article, sometimes the supervisory sentence is handed down improperly and the motivation for these types of alternate sentences is to allow the chronic speeder to avoid a license suspension. However, as reported in […]

Vehicle crash test

Female Crash Test Dummies Now Regularly Being Used

It may surprise you to learn that it wasn’t until 2003 that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began to sometimes use female crash test dummies when simulating crashes to determine the safety of vehicles. Why does it matter whether female crash test dummies are used? Well, because as explained in the ABC.com article, […]

Smart car

Are insurers ready for driver-free cars?

Many of us fondly recall the Jetsons cartoon from our childhoods. It was a show that still seems incredibly futuristic, and yet many of the inventions envisioned in the Jetsons aren’t yet a part of our reality. But one concept–driver-free cars–is already a possibility in 2012. Search engine leader Google is currently testing driverless cars […]

Ambulance parked

Illinois Court on Ambulance Driver’s Liability for Car Accident

if you’re injured as a result of an automobile accident with an emergency services vehicle that is responding to a call, are you be able to receive compensation for your injuries? Well, the answer is–it depends. In Illinois, in many cases, responding emergency vehicles maybe held to be immune from liability, but ultimately, the facts […]

Fiery car

How much should automakers be fined for not complying with recall rules?

In late March, the United States Senate approved legislation that would increase the fines levied against U.S. automakers who failed to comply with automobile recall regulations. Currently, automakers are fined a maximum of $17 million but the proposed legislation would greatly increase the maximum fines to $250 million. As explained in a Detroit News article, […]

Bus with stop sign

Are School Buses Unsafe?

Although automobile safety has changed by leaps and bounds over the last few decades, safety standards on school buses haven’t changed much since the 1960s. Unlike cars, seat belts aren’t mandatory and many school buses aren’t even equipped with them. A number of recent and very serious school bus crashes, one on Washington and one […]

Windshields on

Safety Advocacy Group Seeks Enactment of Rear View Mirror Safety Regs

Safety advocacy groups play an important role in forcing the enactment of safety regulations and thus protecting consumers from dangerous products. A particularly vulnerable sector of our society is children. If anyone requires advocacy on their behalf, it’s children–especially when it comes to automobile safety. Fortunately, KidsandCars.org is in their corner, constantly pushing for safety […]

Two cars crashed at front

Illinois Court on Liability of Police Officer for Car Accident

Sometimes, car accidents occur when a police officer is responding to a call and in many cases, depending on the facts of the case, laws exist which provide immunity–for police officers and their employers–from liability in personal injury lawsuits. In determining whether immunity applies, the courts must first decide if officer was “was engaged in […]

Couple at funeral

Sudden Increase in Teen Deaths From Car Crashes

You may find it surprising to learn that car accidents are the leading cause of death for United States teenagers. And, sadly, according to the results of a new study conducted by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the number of teen deaths caused by automobile accidents increased in the first half of 2011. This […]