Single Vehicle Accident in Unincorporated Stickney Kills Pregnant Woman and Unborn Child

A single vehicle crash that occurred recently in unicorporated Stickney has left a 24-year-old woman and the unborn child she was carrying dead, it is being reported.

According to a spokesman for the Cook County Sheriff's department, the accident occurred on the 4900 block of South Central Avenue at approximately 7:40 in the evening, on March 22. The woman was travelling northbound on Central Avenue in her Pontiac G6 when she hit a mailbox on the northeast side of the street, which caused her vehicle to spin around and hit a metal pole located on the same corner.

The woman and her unborn child were pronounced dead at about 8:30 p.m. at Loyola University Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Officials said that an accident reconstruction team is investigating the crash, and that no one else was in the vehicle.

Tragically, fatal one car accidents such as this one occur much too frequently within the greater Chicago area. The causes of these single vehicle collisions can include anything from a malfunctioning motor vehicle, unexpected obstructions in the roadway, inclement weather conditions, and even over-correcting one's vehicle in order to avoid another crash. Additionally, a distracted driver or otherwise impaired motorist can also be the cause of these types of accidents.

For example, in 2011 alone, across the State of Illinois, more than half of the 918 fatal traffic collisions involved only one motor vehicle. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests that a large proportion of those one-car traffic accidents occur in larger urban areas like Chicago.

If you were injured in a car accident, you should contact a car accident lawyer in order to discuss your rights and remedies. You might be able to recover damages from the negligent motorist related to the cost of your medical care, which can include medical bills, physical therapy, and lost wages from work, as well as for any resulting disability. Additionally recoverable expenses can include things such as pain and suffering, funeral expenses, and more.

Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

Child Passenger Safety Week – Car seat check this Saturday

It’s National Child Passenger Safety Week again.  This is a very important topic, and I want to  share this information with my readers, loved ones and  Michigan drivers.

As a Michigan personal injury lawyer, I’ve handled  auto accident lawsuits involving children who were seriously injured or killed because their car seats weren’t properly installed. Some of these young children still have very serious disabilities many years later and their young lives will never been the same.

Consider the following:

•    Car accidents are the leading cause of death for children from 3 to 14 years old (U.S. Department of Transportation).

•    An estimated 8,959 lives were saved by child restraints from 1975 to 2008 (U.S. Department of Transportation).

•    You can register your child car seat and receive notifications of defects and recalls. Find out how on Safercar.gov.

Parents and caregivers are urged to have their children’s car seats checked on National Seat Check this Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. As part of National Child Passenger Safety Week, certified child passenger safety technicians will be available to inspect car seats and provide hands-on advice, free of charge.

Here’s a child car seat inspection station locator, where you can search by state and zip code for the inspection station nearest you.

Below are safety tips for protecting babies and kids in the car. These safety tips can help prevent car accident injuries and can  save lives.

1. Infants (under the age of 1 and less than 20 lbs): Secure your infant in a rear-facing car seat in your vehicle’s back seat. Deactivate the front passenger airbag if a rear-facing car seat must be secured in your front seat.

2. Toddlers (1 year or older and 20 lbs or more): Secure your tots in a forward-facing car seat in your vehicle’s back seat.

3. Children (4 to 7 years old and under 4 foot 9 inches in height): Secure children in a booster seat in the back seat.

4. Children (12 years old and younger): Secure all children in the rear-seat of your vehicle to avoid potential injury from a deployed airbag, should a car accident occur.

Remember to follow your car seat manufacturer’s instructions and your vehicle owner’s manual on how to install your child’s car seat or booster seat.

For more child safety tips and Michigan resources for your kids, you can order a free copy of my book, How to Keep Your Children Safe – Simple Steps to Protect Your Loved Ones From Hidden Dangers.

- Steve Gursten is one of the nation’s top personal injury lawyers handling auto accident lawsuits. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and has received the highest verdict in the state for a car accident or truck accident victim in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

- Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, by Chris and Kris

Related information to protect yourself:

Protecting children in car accidents - New advice on car seats

14 tips for protecting your kids in the car

10 things to know if you’ve been injured in a Michigan car accident

Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our Michigan personal injury lawyers.

Michigan Auto Lawyers

Child Passenger Safety Week Kicks Off to Help Save Children in Illinois Car Accidents

National Passenger Safety Week is taking place from September 18th to the 24th. During this time, the Illinois State Police (ISP) will be continuing its efforts to help keep child passengers safe in the event of a car accident in Chicago or elsewhere in the state. During the 2011 safety campaign, the Department of Human Services will be joining the ISP to conduct a number of events and child seat inspections to help parents to learn how to properly buckle a child in a motor vehicle.

ISP Trooper Mindy Carroll says that all parents and guardians are encouraged to attend these events and to have their child's car seat inspected by a certified technician. During this time, parents will be taught how to properly buckle in a child's car seat. Recent statistics show that roughly 75 percent of child seats are improperly installed into motor vehicles.

Our Illinois child injury attorneys ask that all parents do their part to help keep our children safe. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 1,500 children who were age 14-years-old or younger who were killed and another 180,000 who were injured in motor-vehicle accidents in 2009 in the U.S. We would also like to point out that nearly 250 child lives ages 4 and younger were saved in 2008 because they were properly buckled in their child seat. When these seats are used properly, they can reduce the risk of death by more than 70 percent for infants. The seats have the ability to decrease the risk of death for toddlers aged 1- to 4-years-old by more than 50 percent. Booster seats can reduce the risk of injury for children ages 4- to 7-years-old by nearly 60 percent.

"It's very important the car seat is secured properly inside the car and the child is secured properly inside the seat," says Carroll.

According to Carroll, the ISP follows the most recent child car seat recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Carroll goes on to instruct Illinois parents to keep all children that are under the age of 13 in the back seat. She also suggests that you keep your child in a rear-facing car seat for as long as they're within the seat's height and weight limits as set forth by the manufacturer.

Illinois has enacted the Child Passenger Protection Act to further its efforts to keep our child passengers safe. This Act holds parents and guardians responsible for keeping children under the age of 8 safely and properly restrained in a child-safety seat. If you're busted with a child passenger who is not properly restrained, you can face a $75 fine for the first conviction. Illinois will waive the fee if you can prove that you have purchased or received an approved child seat and have had a technician properly install it into the vehicle.

If you or your child has been injured in a Chicago car accident, contact Abels & Annes for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights. Call (866) 99-ABELS. There is no fee unless you win.

More Blog Entries:

Two Children Injured in a Three-Car Accident in Illinois, Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog, August 16, 2011

New Car Seat Regulations to Increase Child Safety in Chicago Car Accidents, Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Blog, March 22, 2011

Chicago Car Accident Lawyer

San Diego Attorney Shows How to Choose the Right Child Car Safety Seat

Next » Posted On: November 12, 2010 by Ross Jurewitz

So now that you have a newborn baby, you need to figure out what you need to buy in order to make sure they are safe, particularly when they are traveling in your car. Along with cribs and strollers, choosing a car seat is a very important decision for parents to make and it should not be taken lightly. There are many types of car seats for parents to choose from, and it is very easy to get overwhelmed.

As a new father myself, my wife and I had to determine the best child car seat to use for my child. Keeping my daughter safe in my car is crucial. Please read the full article at the Jurewitz Law Group personal injury website to learn how to choose the right child car seat for your children.

Posted by Ross Jurewitz

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