Photo Credit: goodgerster, Creative Commons

When the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) discovered that 81.5 percent of those who died in early morning (3 a.m.-4 a.m.) automobile accidents from 2008 to 2012 were not wearing seat belts, it wasted no time in launching a campaign to help reduce the number of fatalities in Illinois auto accidents.

That campaign is known as the 2013 Click It or Ticket mobilization, which runs now through Memorial Day weekend.

IDOT, along with state police and local law enforcement agencies, will be conducting not only seat belt checks but also roadside safety and drunk driving inspections.

Illinois drivers can expect to see the influence of the campaign all across the state, where offenders of seat belt and drunk driving laws will be ticketed or arrested.

While the heaviest of checks will be performed during rush hour in the morning and afternoon, as well as the late night hours, motorists should be prepared to stop at any time.

Seat Belt Statistics in Auto Accident Cases

Due to the high number of automobile accident fatalities that were not wearing seat belts, the bulk of the campaign is aimed at seat belt law violators.

From 2008 to 2012, seat belt use declined significantly in the 4 p.m. hour on Illinois roadways. Even more alarming is the dramatic drop in seat belt usage from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m.

It was during these late night hours that the percentage of fatalities not belted were the highest, ranging from 46.8 percent to 81.5 percent over the course of those nine hours.

The Click It or Ticket campaign will work to reduce the number of drivers not wearing a seat belt in order to help save more lives.

Rich: We certainly see these cases arising out of what are often just the very basic types of traffic accidents that occur on the highway everyday.  You have to keep in mind that vehicles are known and expected to be operated at highway speeds, which in many instances, especially when you get out into some rural areas, the speed limits are literally 70mph or 75mph.  But even at much lower speeds, we see rear impacts where a seat back may fail, and by that I meant the back of the driver’s seat will collapse backwards.  The unfortunate effect of that is to propel the occupant, either driver or a passenger, backward in their seat.  They can be driven upwards so that their head impacts the interior roof of the car, or they can hit a rear seat and cause compression fractures to their neck, resulting in spinal cord type injuries that usually cause some degree of paralysis.

Question: What does the term, crashworthiness mean and how does it relate to product liability cases?

Rich: Crashworthiness really refers to the capability of a vehicle or component parts to, in the most basic sense, be crashworthy, and by that, I mean to be able to withstand a crash and not cause or enhance injury to an occupant.  Vehicle manufacturers know and expect that their cars and trucks and SUV’s are going to be involved in collisions  — that’s simply a known fact and it happens everyday and, therefore, the government requires, and the manufacturers have an obligation to design vehicles with the expectation that the vehicles are going to be involved in reasonably foreseeable crashes.  And the interior parts of the vehicle have to be designed so as to be certain not to enhance or increase injury to an occupant in the event of a crash.  A vehicle may roll over because of a defect in the center of gravity that causes the vehicle to have too high of a center of gravity that results in it rolling over unexpectedly.  However, even after that occurs, the roof of the vehicle should not cave in to the interior compartment of the vehicle and cause further injuries.  Or in a rear-impact type collision, a consumer does not expect the seat to collapse, so as to then propel their body backwards giving rise to a head injury inside of the vehicle.  Or even if there is a front-end collision, an air-bag is expected to go off in order to help reduce the potential injury.  So crashworthiness really relates to the obligations of vehicle manufacturers to help prevent and minimize injury to occupants during known and expected vehicle collisions.

Question: What do I have to show to be successful in a product liability case?

Rich: Basically, the legal standard is simply that you are proving that the vehicle is unreasonably dangerous and in Illinois, at the present time, there are basically two ways to accomplish that in terms of method or proof.  One is often referred to as the Consumer Expectation Test.  That really means that we have to prove that the product failed to perform as a consumer would reasonably expect it to perform when the product is being used in a normal and expected manner.  A second way of proving a product to be unreasonably dangerous is by evidence that gives rise to a Risk Utility Analysis.  That essentially involves circumstances where even if the product performs as expected, the product still may have risks that outweigh the utility or usefulness of the product, and in those instances, we show that there are other types of reasonable alternative designs, that could have been employed and could have been used for a safer design and could have been accomplished at a similar price or without any significantly greater cost to the manufacturer.

Question:  What is a product liability case?

Rich: A product liability case is a claim that arises as a result of a condition in a product that has rendered that product defective and it makes the product unreasonably dangerous.  Basically there are three categories by which a product can be deemed to be unreasonably dangerous.  That can occur either as a result of a manufacturing defect that gives rise to a defective condition in a single product purchased by a consumer, or secondly there can be a defect in the design of a product that gives rise to an entire category of products as deemed dangerous, and thirdly, a product can be considered to be unreasonably dangerous as a result of being sold to consumers with inadequate warnings about the risks of the product and the inherent dangers, or without providing proper instruction to the consumer as to how to safely use the product.

Question: What types of products are involved in product liability cases?

Rich: Probably every conceivable type of product that any average consumer comes into contact with has the potential to be the subject of a product liability case.  Unfortunately, almost any type of product can end up with a design that renders it unreasonably dangerous.  We frequently see at Clifford Law Offices defects in the design of motor vehicles, sport utility vehicles, trucks, and passenger cars.  With respect to defects in the design of vehicles, they may encompass the seat backs, the seat belts and deficiencies in the strength of the roof design.  We also see products such as children’s games that have toy pieces that are simply too small to safely be used by children.  I’ve seen children’s games where the pieces disintegrate the minute it is put in a child’s mouth.  The parts start unraveling and the child can swallow them.  We see and handle cases involving defects in component parts of aircraft, household appliances and inadequate wiring that give rise to fires.  Factory equipment such as conveyor belts that don’t have emergency shut-off switches and barbeque lighters with inadequate safety guards have caused serious injuries to our clients.  Virtually, every conceivable type of product unfortunately sometimes can be put on the market with an unsafe design that renders it unreasonably dangerous.

Question: Can you provide us with a few examples of the types of product liability cases that you handle?

Rich: I just alluded to children’s games a moment ago, and those are ones that I find terribly tragic because it’s very unsuspecting for parents and obviously for a young child, but I had a case not too long ago that we successfully resolved, in which there were component parts of a building-block type game that were swallowed and were a size that could be easily swallowed.  The minute that the game piece ended up in the digestive track of the child, it disintegrated and ended up causing blockages in the child’s intestinal system, giving rise to emergency surgery and future injuries concerning the functioning of her digestive track.  We see those types of cases.  We see defective cribs with side-rails that can come down without any notice.  As I mentioned, we handle a lot of cases involving motor vehicles and sport utility vehicles.  A lot of times, when a vehicle rolls over, it ends up on its roof and the roof crashes or caves in, coming into contact with the occupant.  The minute there is contact between the roof and the occupant’s head, that can often give rise to brain injury or compression of the spinal cord, or fractures to the spinal cord which result in paralysis and quadriplegia.  A lot of times we see tires that blow because they have not been designed and manufactured properly with appropriate liners to withstand the riggers of being out in either very hot weather or very cold weather.  A moment ago, I referred to barbeque lighters.  We’ve unfortunately seen cases where children have been burned because a young sibling has literally been able to activate the lighter and those are very sad and unfortunate types of cases.  I am handling a case right now involving a woman who was very severely injured when her car came into contact with the back of a semi-tractor trailer.  As a lot of your listeners may realize, when they are on the road, if they look at the back of a semi-tractor trailer, they all have what’s known as a rear-impact guard that comes down at the very back of the vehicle.  That bar is designed to prevent a car from riding underneath the trailer.  Unfortunately, we have instances where those rear-impact guards actually fail because they haven’t been designed with a strong enough system of screws and bolts to keep them in place, and the minute it fails, that allows the vehicle to under-ride the trailer.  So, all of those types of defective products can give rise to some very tragic occurrences, and very severe and permanent injuries to our clients.

Not to mention the motorists who, should the bill pass, will need to use more caution when driving through designated school zones to avoid auto accidents and fines.

New Speed Zone Proposals

As the Chicago Tribune reported, data shows that most auto accidents in which school-age pedestrians are hit by vehicles occur at 3 p.m. with the next highest number of cases occurring at 5 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.

The current 20 m.p.h. speed limits are only in effect from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on school days when children are present, but the data shows that a large number of autos are involved in accidents in school zones outside of those hours.

That’s exactly what the new law aims to address by enforcing the 20 m.p.h. rule in a school zone any time a child is nearby, even if school is not in session. This includes weekends and holidays.

Hoping for Less Auto Accidents

If the new legislation passes the Illinois Senate, it could mean fewer auto-related accidents in school zones and greater safety for children.

Clifford Law Offices, a firm of dedicated Chicago car accident attorneys, is familiar with auto accidents in school zones. In the past, Bob Clifford was awarded a $24.1 million verdict for an 8-year-old Chicago boy who was struck by a bus in a school crosswalk.

The accident lawyers at Clifford Law Offices have the talent and resources to represent victims of school zone accidents. For more information call the firm at (800) 899-0410.

The organization is dedicated to honoring the lives of Chicago Police officers who were killed or injured while on duty.  Shannon McNulty, partner at the firm, also has been involved in this worthy cause for many years.

The race took place at Gold Star Memorial Park adjacent to Soldier Field in Chicago.

(left to right) – Kevin Durkin, partner, Clifford Law Offices; Matt Halvorsen; little Jackson Halvorsen; Kim Halvorsen, associate, Clifford Law Offices; Kevin Sowizrol, Clifford Law Offices; Sarah King, associate, Clifford Law Offices; Michelle King

(left to right) — Kevin Durkin, partner, Clifford Law Offices; Pat Jenkins; Jackie Gribbon, legal assistant, Clifford Law Offices; Kristina Gribbon

Here are five things to do in case of personal injury:

• Seek medical treatment – Even if you don’t feel any pain at the onset, it’s important to get a medical evaluation from a doctor. This will allow you to establish a medical record, which may be necessary should you decide to pursue litigation.
• Take photos – As soon as possible after the accident, take photos of anything that supports the claim, including: damages to vehicles, equipment or nearby surroundings. It’s also a good idea to take photos of any bumps, bruises or scratches on the body that resulted from the accident.
• Get witness contact information – It can be very difficult to reach witnesses after the event, so be sure to take down names, phone numbers and email addresses for these parties right away. If you do contact a personal injury attorney at a later time, the contact information for witnesses will be crucial for gathering testimony to support the case.
• Report the accident – In order to establish an official record, you will need to report the accident to your insurance company. At this time, refrain from giving a statement; just give the report. In addition, you should contact the proper authorities including the local police department.
• Call a personal injury attorney – If you believe you have a personal injury case then you should contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible. Doing so on a timely basis will allow the legal team to obtain evidence that is essential to the lawsuit, such as witness testimony that is often less accurate as more time passes.

Personal injury cases can be a stressful experience for all parties, but by following these steps right after the accident you may be able to get the support you need for a solid case. The personal injury attorney will work hard to ease the burden by representing you and your claim in court.

Clifford Law Offices has more than 30 years of experience in personal injury cases. Its team of personal injury attorneys has obtained significant settlements and verdicts for a number of these types of lawsuits, including the case of internationally acclaimed violinist, Rachel Barton, and the 2012 grain bin explosion in downstate Illinois.