Chicago Injury Lawyer BlogWhile leaving a Christmas party in Orland Park, Illinois in December 2019, school teachers Rone Leja and Elizabeth Kosteck were struck by a 2016 Buick Regal in a parking lot. The high-impact collision caused Ms. Leja to suffer fatal injuries, and Ms. Kosteck to suffer serious injuries. The driver of the 2016 Buick Regal was a 73-year-old retired priest named Paul Burak. Mr. Burak was also a guest at the Christmas party. Mr. Burak had consumed alcohol that night, but he told partygoers he was ‘fine’ to drive. According to a prosecutor subsequent trial, Mr. Burak thought he backed into a curb when he struck the two women, before he drove away down a service road. A witness followed him in his car and requested that Mr. Burak return to the scene. Paul Burak is due in court again this month to face his punishment for striking and killing Rone Leja with his vehicle. The attorney for the Leja family spoke with the Chicago Sun Times, calling what happened to Leja a ‘senseless death’ that could have been easily prevented. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Car Accident
The Dangers of Hungover Driving
We all know the dangers of drinking and driving. But what about getting behind the wheel the morning after a night of heavy drinking? The average person can break down a single unit of alcohol — a 12-ounce beer, 5 ounces of wine or a 1.5-ounce shot — in about an hour. (Bear in mind that bars and restaurants may serve you more than a single unit of alcohol per drink.)
One hour to break down one standard drink is an estimate for the average person, but not everyone breaks down alcohol at the same rate. There are several factors which affect how quickly your body breaks down alcohol, including your height, weight, gender, age and metabolism, whether you were eating, and whether you take medications that affect the absorption of alcohol. Ultimately, the only thing that can actually reduce your blood alcohol content is time. Late nights and excessive drinking lead to painful mornings and the dreaded effects of a hangover.
Distracted Driving Update: Car Accidents Involving Distracted Drivers are on the Rise
In November of 2019, Alexandra Mansonet was on her way to work at a New Jersey non-profit at around 8:30 a.m., when she smashed into the back of a parked Toyota Corolla. The Corolla subsequently shot forward and struck a pedestrian, Yuwen Wang, which sent her flying into the air. Ms. Wang had just said goodbye to her husband for the day as she went out for her morning walk. Following the collision, she was transported to the hospital and died several days later. Ms. Mansonet told police that she looked up to see the Corolla right in front of her as she was driving. She admitted that she was texting and driving at the time of the collision.
The prosecution equated the crime of her distracted driving with that of someone who had been drinking and driving. People seemingly check their phones and send text messages while driving all the time, but according to Cambridge Mobile Telematics, distracted driving can actually be more dangerous than drunk driving. Drunk drivers need about four more feet added to their stopping reaction time than non-distracted sober drivers. However, a distracted sober driver (for example, someone who is texting) needs about 70 more feet to look up and realize what is going on. Continue reading
Pedestrian Accidents Rising Across the Country
Last month, 10-year-old Srijan Panthi and his mother, Mina Panthi, were hit by a city garbage truck in Corona, Queens, New York at around 7 a.m. on their way to school. The garbage truck was pulling out of a commercial driveway and making a right turn when it struck Mina and Srijan. According to a local resident, there was a stoplight at the intersection where the truck turned, but there was no dedicated crosswalk sign for pedestrians. Because there was no crosswalk sign, authorities had difficulty determining who had the right-of-way.
After the accident, the truck driver stayed at the scene, but no charges were filed against him. However, he was suspended from work immediately following the fatal events of the morning. Mina and Srijan were taken to a nearby emergency room. Mina survived, with serious injuries, but Srijan was pronounced dead four hours later. Continue reading
Uber Self-Driving Vehicle Hits and Kills Pedestrian
Last week, a self-driving vehicle operated by Uber struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. Uber’s car, which was utilizing an autonomous mode, similar to Tesla’s autopilot feature, struck and killed the pedestrian, Elaine Herzberg, around 10 p.m. At the time of the incident, there was a driver at the wheel, but the Uber car did not have any passengers. Even though the car was a self-driving car, a driver was at the wheel to take over in case the car’s autonomous system failed.
The fatal accident occurred as Ms. Herzberg was walking her bicycle across the street. The street she was crossing did not have a crosswalk and the speed limit was 45 miles-per-hour. At the time of impact, Uber’s car was going about 40 miles-per-hour. Initially, the driver of the Uber vehicle, stated that Ms. Herzberg “darted” out in front of the Uber vehicle and as a result, the driver was not able to stop the vehicle in time to avoid hitting her. However, video from the accident, which contains both interior and exterior views, shows that Ms. Herzberg was more than halfway across the road at the time of impact and that driver at the wheel of the Uber was looking down and not looking at the road at the time of the accident. Continue reading
Why are Injuries from Semi-Truck Accidents on the Rise?
Every year, thousands of people across the country are injured in car accidents with semi-trucks. In 2014, famed comedian and actor Tracy Morgan was severely injured, and his friend was killed, when a semi-truck rear-ended the limousine they were passengers in. The truck driver stated that he had been awake for more than 28 hours straight when his semi-truck rear-ended the limousine. The truck driver told officials that he had spent 12 hours driving his own vehicle from his home in Georgia to pick up his semi-truck in at a Walmart facility in Delaware. A spokesperson for Walmart stated that the company did not believe the semi-truck driver violated any federal safety regulations. The semi-truck driver later pled guilty to vehicular homicide and four counts of aggravated assault. The estate of the friend that was killed, James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, received a $10 million settlement with Walmart. Tracy Morgan also received an undisclosed amount in a settlement with Walmart. Continue reading
CTA Buses are Striking Pedestrians in Increasing Numbers
Last night, a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus struck and killed a pedestrian in the West Chatham neighborhood in Chicago. The pedestrian was walking in the crosswalk in the first block of West 79th Street at around 7:30 p.m., when she was struck by the CTA bus. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. The CTA bus driver was later cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. A similar accident occurred last month, when another CTA bus struck a pedestrian in the Old Town neighborhood in Chicago. According to the Chicago Police Department, the pedestrian was walking in the crosswalk in the 100 block of West Division at around 4:30 a.m., when she was struck by the CTA bus. The pedestrian was taken to the emergency room and was treated for swelling and contusions.
Last summer, a CTA bus struck a mother and her three children as they were crossing the street in the Lakeview neighborhood. According to police, the mother and her children were crossing at the intersection of Halsted Street and Waveland Avenue around 10:15 a.m., when the CTA bus struck them. A witness to the collision told reporters that the infant being held by the mother flew out of the mother’s hands and violently struck the concrete. The children were taken to the emergency room at Lurie Children’s Hospital and the CTA bus driver was taken to the emergency room at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. The driver was later given a citation for failure to yield to pedestrians.
Why are Motorcycle Fatalities Increasing in Illinois?
As the weather starts to warm up, more and more motorcyclists will start hitting the roadways. With the increase of motorcyclists on the roadways, comes an increased danger of those motorcyclists getting into serious, and even life-threatening, accidents. According to the Insurance Information Institute, motorcyclists are more vulnerable on the road and are more likely to be injured or killed in a car accident than occupants in a car, bus, or truck.
In September 2017, three people were injured in a motorcycle accident in Henry County, Illinois. According to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, a group of motorcycles were driving on U.S. Route 150, when two of the motorcycles crashed into each other. That same month in McHenry County, a sixty-three-year-old man was killed when a SUV struck his motorcycle. The Crystal Lake Police Department’s Accident Investigation Team, in reconstructing the accident, determined that the driver of the SUV, a seventeen-year-old boy, turned left in front of the motorcycle, striking the motorcycle. The motorcyclist later died at a local hospital. A similar occurrence happened in May 2017 in DeKalb County, where a twenty-six-year-old motorcyclist died after a SUV turned left in front of his motorcycle. The driver of the SUV stated that she did not see the motorcyclist before turning. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading
Is Tesla’s Autopilot Feature Safe for Drivers?
Last week, a Tesla Model S smashed into the back of a firetruck at a high rate of speed on a highway near Culver City, California. The firetruck was stopped for an accident on the highway. The driver of the Tesla reported that he had been using Tesla’s autopilot driver assistance system at the time of the crash and the autopilot system did not apply the vehicle’s brakes. Luckily, no one was injured as a result of the crash. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is currently investigating the crash.
Could Police Begin Spying on Drivers Suspected of Texting Here in Naperville and Surrounding DuPage County?
As a car accident lawyer, I am always looking at what makes us less safe on the road. At the top of this list is distracted driving. In Illinois, drivers are generally allowed to use cell phones, but are prohibited from using cell phones, hand held or otherwise, when driving in a school zone or when driving in a highway construction zone. Recently, Illinois tightened these restrictions and prohibited all hand held cell phone use while driving.
Texting – the most dangerous form of distracted driving – has long been prohibited in Illinois. Exceptions to the prohibition from texting while driving are quite limited: reporting an emergency situation and continued communication with emergency personnel during the emergency situation; using a device in hands-free or voice-activated mode; if the driver is parked on the shoulder of a roadway; or when the vehicle is stopped due to normal traffic being obstructed and the driver has the motor vehicle transmission in neutral or park. Absent an exception, texting is prohibited.
Continue reading