Slipping and falling can lead to severe injuries that may have a significant impact on your life. Traumatic brain injuries, internal organ injuries, spinal cord injuries, and broken bones are just a few of the potential injuries that can be sustained in a fall. If you or a loved one have been injured in a fall, you may wonder whether you have a valid personal injury case. This blog will discuss the main elements that must be present in order for a slip and fall injury claim to be successful.

Four Components in a Successful Personal Injury Case

In order to win a personal injury case, the victim must be able to prove that the four main components of negligence are present. These include duty, breach, causation, and damages.

• Duty - The first component that must be present is duty. The plaintiff must show that the defendant owed them a duty of care. This means that the defendant had a responsibility to take reasonable precautions to prevent injuries. For example, business owners have a duty to keep their premises safe and free of hazards. Spilled liquids, unsecured rugs, and slippery floors are all examples of hazards that can lead to slip and fall accidents.

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Driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the most dangerous things a person can do. Unfortunately, drunk driving is still common in Illinois and across the nation. If you or a loved one were injured in a car crash caused by an intoxicated driver, you may be interested in learning about your legal options. The drunk driver may face DUI charges and even jail time for his or her role in the crash. However, the criminal justice system does not provide compensation to victims of drunk driving accidents.

You may be able to seek monetary damages through a personal injury lawsuit. If you are successful, you could receive compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. It is important to note that you only have a limited time to file a personal injury lawsuit. Therefore, it is important to speak with an experienced attorney as soon as possible after the accident.

Bringing a Personal Injury Claim After an Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver

A personal injury claim may be the best way to hold a drunk driver responsible for the harm their actions caused you. In most cases, an out-of-court settlement is reached with the at-fault driver's insurance company. Unfortunately, insurance companies are interested in protecting their bottom line, not providing you with the full compensation you deserve.

Traveling by automobile is an essential form of travel woven into our society's very fabric. However, with gas prices soaring to unprecedented levels, many are looking for other, more economical forms of travel. There is no better way to burn calories and save money at the gas pump than taking your bike out for a ride instead of your car. Unfortunately, vehicle operators often forget that the road does not belong solely to them.

Whether riding a bike or even crossing the road on foot, being struck by a car can result in dreadful consequences and, in some cases, even wrongful death. If you or someone you love has been hit by a vehicle, consider contacting a knowledgeable personal injury attorney to pursue compensation for your injuries. Depending on the circumstances of your case and the severity of your injury, you may be entitled to compensation to account for lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, and more. 

Driver Negligence Resulting in Bicyclist and Pedestrian Injuries 

In many instances, when someone is riding their bike or walking down the road and getting hit by a car, it can result from driver negligence. Unfortunately, there are many different forms of driver negligence, including:

Rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft are becoming increasingly prevalent in modern-day society. According to the Pew Research Center, 36 percent of adults in the United States say they have used ridesharing apps like Uber or Lyft. Many individuals use apps like these because they provide a safe transportation alternative, especially if you are traveling to the airport or other locations with limited parking. In addition, Uber and Lyft are often seen as attractive alternative modes of transportation for a night out on the town. However, what happens if you are in an Uber or Lyft and your driver gets into an accident, causing you to suffer injuries?  

If you have been injured in an Uber or Lyft car accident, consider contacting an experienced personal injury attorney who is familiar with rideshare car accident cases to get the compensation you may be entitled to receive. 

Your Uber or Lyft Driver Was At Fault in a Car Accident, and You Were Injured. Now What? 

If you were injured as a passenger in an Uber or Lyft, you might feel overwhelmed and confused about what exactly happened. Often, passengers in rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft are in the backseat and not paying any real attention to what’s happening on the road. For the sake of this blog, let us assume that your Uber or Lyft driver was at fault for the accident and that you sustained injuries. In Illinois, drivers are legally required to have car insurance. Illinois also sets minimum insurance levels required for Uber and Lyft drivers to carry. Uber and Lyft insurance policies when carrying a passenger exceed the minimum required under Illinois law. 

Researchers and public health experts are stymied and alarmed by the growing trend of pedestrian injuries and deaths due to traffic accidents. While many types of car accidents have been steadily decreasing, pedestrian injuries have actually increased significantly in the last 10 years and pedestrian fatalities among children under age 15 have more than doubled in recent years. If you or a loved one were struck by a vehicle while on foot, you are probably wondering whether you have legal options.

Common Injuries in Pedestrian-Vehicle Accidents

Because of the significant difference in size and weight between a pedestrian and a vehicle, it is not surprising that injuries tend to be serious even when they are not life-threatening. Common injuries suffered by people struck by vehicles include, but are not limited to:

• Head, face, and neck injuries - These include skull and jaw fractures, damaged vertebrae, broken necks, traumatic brain injuries, globe luxation, paraplegia or quadriplegia, and spinal cord damage
• Foot, leg, and hip injuries - These include broken bones, torn ligaments and muscles, hemorrhaging, hip dislocation, and dismemberment
• Internal injuries - These include internal bleeding, broken rib bones, collapsed lungs, and ruptured organs
• Hand, arm, and shoulder injuries - These include shoulder displacement, broken bones, mobility loss, and dismemberment

What Damages Can a Pedestrian Struck by a Vehicle Sue For?

Injured pedestrians or their loved ones may be able to recover several kinds of damages, including pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, lost wages, medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of consortium, and more.

When you go to see the latest blockbuster hit at your local movie theater, you can hardly anticipate having a serious accident while inside the theater. After all, theaters tend to be fairly tame places as far as entertainment goes - you buy a snack, find your seat, and get up to leave after the movie is over.

Surprisingly, however, movie theaters are rife with opportunities for customers to get seriously injured. If you were hurt in a movie theater, it is important to take your injuries seriously. You deserve to be compensated for your medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages if the theater was responsible for causing or contributing to your injuries. To learn more, read this blog and then contact an experienced Illinois premises liability to learn more about your options.

Common Injuries in Illinois Movie Theaters

Many things in movie theaters can cause unsuspecting patrons to get hurt. These include, but are not limited to:

Devastating car accidents that cause serious injuries are events most people believe will never happen to them. Yet the most serious car accidents often happen when people least expect it; driving with friends in the car, for example, is a prime cause of distracted driving accidents because people are talking, handing each other things, and calling the driver’s attention away from the road. 

Young men are particularly susceptible to car accidents involving friends in the car. Goofing around and trying to show off are classic young adult behaviors, and while they are typically harmless, they can have serious consequences when they happen in a car. If you were injured when you were traveling in a vehicle that a friend was driving, and your friend’s behavior caused the crash, you may be wondering if you can take action. 

Insurance Companies and Car Accidents

After a crash involving close friends, you may be tempted to discuss the crash with your friend who was driving. However, their car insurance policy is likely to be a significant source of compensation for your injuries, and comments you make to your friend can make their way back to the insurance company. 

As Illinois summer moves into its hottest month, many motorcyclists will be on the road and trying to keep cool. While driving with the wind in your hair may seem like an excellent alternative to crawling into a piping hot car and waiting for the air conditioning to turn on, driving motorcycles has serious risks and limitations. 

Most obviously, motorcycles are small and difficult to see, making them easy victims of car and truck accidents. And while most motorcycle riders exercise caution, the few who take risks on the road contribute to more than their fair share of motorcycle accidents. Whether you are a motorcyclist or sharing the road with motorcycles, it is important to be aware of common driving errors that motorcyclists often make that end up causing accidents. 

Risky Motorcycle Driving Behaviors

The feeling of speed and small size can make it tempting to break more rules when driving a motorcycle. The behaviors that most often contribute to crashes include: 

Illinois construction sites are notoriously dangerous places to work. One of the most important security measures that help protect construction workers is scaffolding. Appropriate scaffolding that is constructed according to OSHA standards has saved the lives of countless people who must work in high places. Unfortunately, poorly constructed scaffolding causes thousands of workers every year to fall, resulting in serious injuries and even death. Such construction injuries are almost entirely preventable, and if you suffered an injury or lost a loved one because of poor scaffolding, you may rightfully feel angry and motivated to take action. 

How Are Construction Workers Injured on Scaffolding? 

Scaffolding has been in use for hundreds of years, and the dangers of improper scaffolding have been understood for decades. When dangerous scaffolding errors take place because OSHA regulations are ignored by either the company or the employees responsible for setting up the scaffolding, there is simply no excuse. While scaffolding accidents can happen in many ways, the vast majority of avoidable accidents are attributable to the following situations: 

• Dangerous objects or substances sitting on the work platform 

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The most famous American personal injury cases often make news headlines for enormous settlements under circumstances that some people, without knowing the full story, may see as ridiculous. However, personal injury lawsuits remain a crucial lifeline for allowing people wronged by the dangerous, careless, or negligent actions of someone else to recover essential compensation that can cover anything from medical expenses to lost life quality. 

If you have been in a serious accident and suffered injuries for which someone else is responsible, you likely have questions about how personal injury cases work. Read this brief overview and then contact an experienced Illinois personal injury attorney. 

Overview of the Personal Injury Case Process

The first thing most people do is contact at least one personal injury attorney to schedule a consultation and get an idea of what their options are. Although it may be tempting to try to handle your case yourself, an attorney has the experience and skill necessary to let you know whether you are getting a fair deal and whether you could fight harder for something better. 

Because Illinois is in the center of the nation, its roads are a major source of trucking traffic. Tens of thousands of big rigs and smaller trucks travel through Illinois every day, and while the vast majority of these trips are taken safely, tragedy can strike when unsecured loads come loose and fall into the road, causing an accident. If you were injured when objects in the road caused you to strike the objects or swerve and crash into another vehicle, you deserve compensation for your pain and trauma. 

Are Trucks Always Responsible For Shifting Loads? 

Sometimes truck loads come loose even when best loading practices are followed. But when trucking company employees and drivers fail to follow state and federal safety laws that regulate how cargo must be distributed and secured, they fail in their duty to keep those around them safe. They may be held responsible for accidents that result from the falling load. 

But it can be difficult to prove that a fallen load is responsible for an accident, especially when trucking companies’ insurance policy providers will be sure to fight to avoid taking responsibility for your injuries. Having an experienced attorney with the tools and knowledge to conduct a full investigation can help you prove the trucking company or driver was responsible. 

Rideshare companies in Illinois fill an important economic gap by combining affordable rides with the technology to access those rides quickly and easily. However, because rideshare drivers are operating their own vehicles, they are at risk of causing a car accident through careless mistakes just like any other driver - perhaps more so, since rideshare drivers are everyday drivers, not trained professionals. 

When rideshare drivers cause serious accidents, injured victims may wonder whether they have the ability to seek compensation from the driver or the rideshare company. Rideshare liability law is a complex and evolving area of law, and every case is different. If you have been injured in a rideshare accident in Illinois, seek help from an experienced personal injury attorney who is up-to-date on the latest legal developments. 

Who is Responsible For Insuring Rideshare Drivers? 

Like many employees in the so-called gig economy, rideshare drivers are independent contractors responsible for insuring their own vehicles. If someone is injured in a rideshare accident, the lawsuit will typically be filed against the driver, not the rideshare company. However, rideshare companies do have insurance policies to protect riders against underinsured drivers and these insurance policies typically cover up to one million dollars worth of damages.

Around 4,000 people accidentally drown and die every year in America; around twice that number non-fatally drown. For children, the risk is even higher - drowning is the leading cause of death after car accidents for children between ages one and 14. And while parents and children can glean great enjoyment from a neighbor who is generous with their swimming pool, the threat of drowning without proper supervision and pool safety measures is a serious risk.

Parents who have lost, or almost lost, a child to drowning because a neighbor did not place proper safeguards around their swimming pool know the deepest kind of hurt and trauma a parent can experience. If you find yourself in this situation, you may justifiably wonder whether there is something you can do to recover compensation and make sure other children are kept safe from drowning. 

How Do Pool Drownings Happen? 

While adults often drown because they cannot swim, disregard risky situations, or fail to read warning signs about dangerous water conditions, children usually drown because of the following reasons: 

Every year, more than a dozen children across the United States die in toy-related incidents. Many hundreds of thousands more are seriously injured by dangerous toys. In addition to the injuries caused to children, the experience of watching a child choke, cut themselves, or otherwise get injured in the safety of one’s home can cause lasting psychological trauma to parents. The tragic death of a young child is something many parents never fully recover from. If your child has been injured or killed by a broken toy, you may want to know whether an Illinois defective product attorney can help you hold the manufacturer responsible. 

Common Types of Dangerous Toys

Because of their inexperience and lack of judgment, children are at risk from many objects that are harmless to adults. Even something like a balloon can become stuck in a child’s mouth or throat, causing suffocation. Examples of other toys that pose a potential danger include: 

• Buttons on a doll’s clothing

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You are out celebrating with your family at a restaurant or enjoying a concert with friends. Suddenly, two other patrons start fighting. You try to move out of the way, but it is too late. Even though you were just a bystander, you end up being sent to the hospital because of your injuries. Outside of ruining your night, you are now stuck with medical bills and have to miss work while recovering from the injuries. If the venue did not provide proper security, or the security that was present was negligent, you may be able to hold the venue responsible through a premises liability claim. 

Responsibility of Venue Owners and Operators in Illinois

Any owner or operator of an entertainment venue or restaurant has the responsibility to keep their customers and visitors safe and free from harm. This can include protection from other patrons. If the owner did not take proper steps to ensure their guests' safety, they can be held liable for injuries that their guests incur. 

The venue where patrons congregate should have enough security staff to properly protect the safety of their customers. This can include inside the venue, as well as outside when visitors are exiting the building. In the case of an entertainment venue or a restaurant or bar that serves alcohol, the owner may be liable if they did not have proper measures in place to prevent harm to their patrons from these types of incidents. This can include hiring adequate security staff who will remove patrons who are belligerent or aggressive and who can break up a fight if one occurs. If the patron or patrons who started the fight were clearly drunk and causing problems for the staff and customers, the owner of the venue may be liable if steps were not taken to remove the person and keep others safe.  

While every driver knows they should be paying attention to the road, the reality is often far different. Newer drivers can be easily distracted by others in their car, while older drivers may take for granted their skill to operate a vehicle while changing music or taking a bite of a snack. It is clear from statistics that distracted driving is a leading cause of traffic accidents. Even losing focus for a split second can lead to severe crashes that can lead to personal injuries for all drivers and passengers involved. Here are some of the most common distractions that lead to vehicle accidents:

Common Causes of Distracted Driving Accidents

• Cell phones – The most common cause of distracted driving is the cell phone. Even if the phone is in “hands-free” mode, making a call, sending or reading a text, or looking for directions can distract a driver enough to cause an accident.

• Other occupants – Having another person in the car with you can be distracting if you are carrying on a conversation with them, looking at them, or trying to hand them something. This can include children in the back seat. Taking your eyes off the road even momentarily can be dangerous.

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If you were injured due to another individual’s or company’s direct harm or negligence, you could receive financial compensation for damages. However, the personal injury case process can be tricky to navigate. It is easier said than done to file a claim or lawsuit. When choosing to pursue a personal injury lawsuit, it is essential to understand how the legal process works and to make a checklist of the critical items needed. Here is a comprehensive case checklist of what to prepare for a personal injury lawsuit in Illinois. 

Medical, Police, and Other Official Reports

The best place to begin when preparing for your injury lawsuit is to collect all of the official documented reports in your case. There are many different personal injury cases, from car accidents, dog bite injuries, construction site accidents, and product defects. You will want to include any official police reports in your case and the medical documentation that explicitly lists the injuries you sustained. 

Collecting Case Evidence 

The next step in your case checklist is to collect all relevant evidence that can help you in court. Typically, good evidence that will uphold in a case includes:

Car accidents can be devastating and lead to serious, life-altering injuries. Distracted driving, including texting and driving, causes thousands of severe injuries and fatalities each year in the United States. To combat the use of cellphones or other electronic devices when driving, Illinois passed a law prohibiting distracted driving. However, distracted driving continues to be an issue rampant on the roads. Victims that have been injured during a car collision from a distracted driver may be awarded financial compensation to help cover the costs of their injuries. Distracted driving also may lead to severe legal consequences.

Understanding Illinois Distracted Driving Laws 

According to 2022 driving statistics, approximately 400 fatal crashes caused by texting and driving occur each year in the United States. This figure indicates the need for safety laws to prevent distracted driving. Illinois law states that drivers may not use hand-held electronic devices while driving on the road. The legal consequences for texting or using a device while driving can include fines anywhere from $75 to $1,000. If a driver causes bodily harm to another individual due to distracted driving, they may be charged with aggravated use of a device while driving, leading to a Class A misdemeanor for bodily injuries to the victim or a Class 4 felony if the victim is killed. 

Establishing a Faulty Party 

If you were a car accident victim of a distracted driver, you may be entitled to financial compensation to aid in your recovery. To hold the other driver responsible for their distracted driving, you must establish that they were the faulty party. Declaring fault may seem like an easy pursuit; however, it can be challenging to prove fault in a car accident, especially if the faulty driver obtains legal representation. Suppose you are looking to establish fault and receive compensation for your injuries or a loved one’s death. In that case, it is in your best interest to speak with or hire a skilled personal injury attorney with experience establishing fault in distracted driving cases. 

Purchasing and consuming products is a part of everyday life for most Americans. From groceries to shampoo to toys for your children, there seem to be unlimited amounts of products to purchase. Sometimes, an item has a mistake or fault in its design or composition that injures the consumer. Whether a product was purchased online or in person, defective consumer goods may lead to an injury. If you were injured from a faulty product, you may be entitled to receive compensation for your damages. 

What is Product Liability in Illinois? 

Product designers, manufacturers, and distributors have a responsibility to ensure that the product iis up to standard and works as advertised. A company or another individual that sells a product may be held responsible if the item causes injury to a consumer due to a mistake in its composition. Illinois law considers a product “defective” if it has an inherent flaw in its design, manufacturing, or its warning label. 

Mistakes in a product’s creation, design, or warning labels may lead to a serious injury. A chair with a faulty design may cause a person seated on it to fall and injure themselves. An incorrectly manufactured toy may have a piece sticking out that impales or scrapes a child playing with it. A medication with a faulty warning label may cause a person to suffer medical problems. 

While most dogs are considered a man’s best friend, dog bite injuries can leave devastating results for both the victim and the pet owner. Injuries sustained from a dog bite may cause the victim long-term physical disabilities, pain and suffering. Even if a dog has no history of being aggressive or violent, the owner may still be held liable if their dog attacks you. If you were attacked by a dog, it is important to reach out to a personal injury lawyer immediately to ensure you can protect yourself and pursue the compensation you deserve.

Suing for a Dog Bite Injury

The injuries that can occur from an animal attack can leave a victim disabled, disfigured, and with severe trauma. The costs that a victim accumulates from medical bills may be pricey, so they may be eligible to seek financial compensation to cover hospital bills and more during a claim or lawsuit. Per the Illinois statute of limitations on personal injury claims, typically, victims have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit. 

Liability for Dog Attacks in Illinois 

Illinois dog owners are strictly liable for injuries caused by their dogs. The exception to this rule is if the dog who attacked was provoked, abused or otherwise instigated into attacking by the victim or someone else, the owner may not be held responsible. This is because provoking the dog would be an external circumstance that led to the dog attack. Many animals will become protective or aggressive if they feel threatened by another force.