Chicago Illinois Personal Injury Law Blog

With Chicago being one of the largest cities in the United States, it is no surprise that there are so many serious or fatal car accidents in the city. While the majority of vehicle accidents are due to carelessness, distracted driving, or alcohol, the effects can be life changing for the innocent people involved. Negligent drivers put accident victims at risk not only high medical bills, but for death, as well.

Research has shown that Chicago car accidents are more likely to happen along certain problematic roadways. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, in 2010 there were 63 recorded crashes where Stony Island Avenue meets 79th Street and South Chicago Avenue -- more than any other intersection in the region. This area forms the Chicago Skyway. Twenty-eight people were injured in those crashes. The accidents were largely the result of drivers trying to speed past the intersection's red light.

On Easter Sunday, a 62-year-old man was assaulted in a home invasion and robbery. Now, his daughter is pursuing a wrongful death claim against the landlord of the senior citizens building in Old Town where her father lived. A homicide investigation is also underway.

According to the police report, the man was beaten in his high-rise apartment on April 7^th and found by police the following day. The attacker or attackers have not been caught or arrested and took off in the man's car, a Chrysler 200 Coupe. The victim, a Vietnam War veteran, died 11 days later as a result of the injuries sustained in the beating.

There are a lot of people in Chicago who have limited English proficiency. With nearly 25 million people across the country whose English is less than fluent, it is extremely important that critical services have options for people who don't speak English. One of the most important services that people need, regardless of language ability, is medical services and when there is no professional interpreter available, it opens up the patient to a host of medical errors.

Without access to professional interpreters, it is very easy for physicians to make a prescription error, something that could have deadly consequences. A new study now has research that supports this, showing that there is a 20 to 22 percent risk that a non-professional interpreter making a translation error will expose a patient to a serious medical error. If there is a professional interpreter, however, the risk drops to 12 percent. There is no information on what happens when there is no one available to help with translation.

A 26-year-old Chicago woman slowly made her way to the witness stand March 23 to tell a judge how her life had been "forever changed" by an accident last spring. The accident occurred when a Chicago city employee drove a city pickup truck right into her and a handful of other people walking in a Near North Side neighborhood. At the time, the 62-year-old driver was on-duty and allegedly intoxicated. He no longer works for the city.

Injured by a drunk driver, the woman was forced to hobble to the front of the courtroom with a cane in her right hand and a brace on her right foot. She described her ongoing pain and the details of her dozen operations needed to fix multiple leg fractures and a broken pelvis. She faces still more painful operations in the future. At the time of the accident, she was out strolling with a toddler that she cared for as a nanny. She heroically managed to push the stroller containing the child out of harm's way just before the truck shattered her body. The 20-month-old girl still suffered some minor injuries.