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Insurance Institute Tracks Truck Accidents Noting that one in 10 highway deaths occur in a crash involving a large truck, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety compiles extensive information on truck accidents. Check here for the latest statistics, status reports and other resources. Coalition Dedicated to Improving Car-Truck Safety The Truck Safety Coalition is dedicated to reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by truck-related crashes, providing support to truck crash survivors and their families, and educating the…

By the numbers 3,757 Killed – In 2011, 3,757 people died in collisions with trucks, an 11.2 percent increase over 2009. There were 88,000 injuries reported during the same period. Source: Commercial Motor Vehicle Facts, March 2013, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (download) Only $750,000 – Motor carriers are only required to maintain $750,000 in insurance per crash. Yet, damages from a fatal crash can exceed $4 million, leaving injured motorists and taxpayers to pay the difference. Source: Study…

After reaching an historic low in 2009, deaths and injuries from truck accidents are on the rise. Why the turn for the worse? According to a startling report from the American Association for Justice, lax practices are forcing a growing number of unsafe trucks on the road that are often driven by overworked, underpaid and poorly trained drivers. Meanwhile, outdated insurance laws fail to provide adequate coverage for those involved in a car-truck accident. Since…

Clifford’s Notes, Chicago Lawyer October 3, 2013 By Robert A. Clifford A man called my office over the summer with a potential case. He is a professional who lives on the Near North Side of Chicago and rides his bike downtown to and from work nearly every day. He considers himself a highly experienced bicyclist, having ridden thousands of miles in his life — including across the country. One day after work as he is…

As the summer winds down, the findings of a recent study on amusement park rides are interesting. A study published in Clinical Pediatrics concluded that of the nearly 93,000 children under 18 years of age who are injured on amusement park ridges and treated in U.S. emergency rooms between 1990-2010, 34 percent occurred at fixed sites. Dr. Gary Smith, senior author of the paper and director of the Center of Injury Research and Policy at…

In the wake of the massive data breach of four million patients at Advocate Medical comes word of other patient files being compromised at Chicago-area medical facilities. A front-page story of the Chicago Tribune (“Patient files left exposed,” Sept. 10, 2013) explain how records were found scattered at the now closed Edgewater hospital, which has been the site of many break-ins. Chicago Tribune reporters Ameet Sachdev and Nancy Loo reported that despite Edgewater Medical Center’s…

Clifford Law Offices has received hundreds of calls from patients who said they received letters from Advocate Medical regarding the compromise of their privacy and medical information in July. Advocate Medical reported that four computers were allegedly stolen from their Park Ridge offices. The computers contained important information regarding four million patients’ dates of birth, Social Security numbers and medical diagnoses. Some people who called have experienced unauthorized credit cards being opened in their names,…

7 in 10 Wrong: While 96 percent of parents and caregivers believe their child safety seats are installed correctly, research shows that seven out of 10 children are improperly restrained. Source: Child Passenger Safety Overview, Seatcheck.org  71 & 54 Percent: Correctly installed child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers riding in passenger cars. Source: Traffic Safety Facts 2011 Data, National Highway Traffic Safety…

Car seats are designed to save young lives. Unfortunately, most parents think they are installing the seats correctly, when inspections show seven in 10 are installed wrong! The consequences can be deadly given that motor vehicle accidents are the number one killer of kids in this country. And in fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than half of those deaths and serious injuries could be prevented by placing children in age- and…