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Recent Blog Posts
Flaherty Law Celebrates Two-Year Anniversary
Will County attorney Daniel R. Flaherty marked the second anniversary of his firm, Flaherty Law, LLC, on July 31. Each anniversary is important to Daniel Flaherty, as it represents another year of growth, both professionally and personally.
Plainfield, Illinois, attorney Daniel R. Flaherty has practiced law for 10 years. He started his career as an insurance defense litigator in personal injury and property damage cases. In 2010, he decided to focus on representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases. He gained experience in the field while helping clients recover millions of dollars in damages, which was crucial in his choice to start his own practice.
Flaherty Law, LLC represents clients who have suffered injuries due to varied causes. Injuries from motor vehicle accidents are a large part of the practice because of their prevalence. However, the firm can also help clients who have been injured as a result of:
Sleep Apnea Tied to Truck and Train Accidents
Transportation safety experts have determined that undiagnosed or inadequately treated obstructive sleep apnea in drivers can lead to accidents caused by sleepiness or inattentiveness. Two agencies in the United States Transportation Department had been pushing for more testing to be required of truck drivers and train operators for this disorder.
However, that initiative was recently dropped. The Transportation Department says that the condition is still an “on-going concern,” but that it can be addressed using existing regulations.
When the effort to regulate sleep apnea testing began, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Federal Railroad Administration stated that untreated obstructive sleep apnea "can cause unintended sleep episodes and resulting deficits in attention, concentration, situational awareness, and memory, thus reducing the capacity to safely respond to hazards when performing safety sensitive duties."
Check for These Injuries after a Bicycle Accident
Bicyclists can be severely injured after being hit by a car or truck, even if proper safety measures are being followed. In the wake of an accident, the worst thing a cyclist can do is to shrug off any aches or pains and avoid seeking medical care.
Common bicycle accident injuries include: broken limbs, brain injuries, nerve damage, and dental and jaw injuries. These can be extremely painful, they can take months or years to heal, and they can be expensive to treat.
Be on the lookout for these conditions, which may indicate that there is a serious problem:
- Head injuries. Warning signs include: a cracked helmet, a headache that does not dissipate, lost consciousness, confusion, or vision changes.
- Difficulty taking a deep breath. This can mean that you have a rib injury. If the fracture remains unstable and shifts, your lung could be punctured.
Steps You Can Take after a Car Accident to Help Your Claim
A car accident is a traumatic experience, and you are likely to have a lot on your mind in the immediate aftermath of an accident. Once you leave the accident scene and attend to your pressing medical needs, you may be wondering what you can do to ensure that your car accident claim moves smoothly.
The truth is that there are many things you can do following an accident that will assist you and your attorney. These actions include:
- Inform your insurer. Even if you do not believe that you were at fault, it is best practice to tell your insurer of the incident as soon as possible. Failure to do so could result in the denial of a later claim.
- Get a copy of the police report. If police came to the accident scene, there is usually a report. This report contains a lot of helpful information, including the personal information of the involved drivers, insurance details, and a summary of what transpired. The report may also include whether any traffic tickets were issued.
Why It Matters If the Person Who Caused Your Accident Was on the Phone
By now, all drivers should be aware of the dangers of distracted driving. According to the Illinois State Police, distracted driving is present in more than one million car accidents every year in North America. The economic impact of these accidents reaches nearly $40 billion annually, some experts estimate.
Distracted Driving is Likely a Factor in Your Accident
If you have been involved in a car accident, it is possible that the person at fault was distracted in the moments leading up to the accident. While there are many potential distractions, driving safety advocates have drawn attention to cellphone use. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
Doctors, Lawyers Most Likely Professionals to Have Car Accidents
According to one study, members of some professions are more likely to get into a car accident. The results suggest that working a profession that requires more education does not make someone a safer driver.
Here are the professions with the greatest rates of car accidents, ranked from highest to lowest:
- Doctors
- Lawyers
- Architects
- Real estate brokers
- Enlisted military personnel
- Social workers
- Manual laborers
- Analysts
- Engineers
- Consultants
Experts say that professions that involve a lot of driving – like real estate agents and social workers – may increase the likelihood of accidents. Also, workers in demanding professions with long hours may be surviving on less sleep. Drowsiness is a huge risk factor for car accidents.
Semi-Truck Accident that Killed 5 Highlights the Need for Adherence to Trucking Regulations
A truck driver responsible for the deaths of five people was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison. The deadly truck accident occurred in northern Illinois.
The truck driver pleaded guilty to five counts of reckless homicide. He also pleaded guilty to falsifying logbook records tracking how many hours he had worked.
The 2014 accident occurred on Interstate 55 near Channahon when traffic slowed down in a construction zone. Four of the fatalities were adults, and one 11-year-old also died. In one car, the accident claimed the life of a father, but his three children survived.
During the sentencing hearing, some of the victims and family members called for more regulations on the trucking industry as the truck driver was blind in one eye.
Trucking Regulations Help Keep the Road Safe
Dennis’s Law Recognizes the Rights of Bicyclists
A law that recently went into effect provides that motor vehicles and bicycles are to receive the same rights on the road in right-of-way situations. The law went into effect on January 1, 2017. This is an important change that is meant to enhance the protections given to bicycles and may be helpful is bike accident lawsuits brought by cyclists.
Background of Dennis’s Law
The law is named after an Illinois resident, Dennis E. Jurs, who died in a bicycle-motor vehicle accident in 2015. The driver of the vehicle was issued a traffic citation for his failure to yield to the right-of-way to the cyclist.
A Kane County judge dismissed the citation, pointing to case law that held a bicycle does not fit the definition of a vehicle. The family members were upset by the decision and brought the issue to the attention of a state legislator, who drafted the revision. The bill was voted into law almost unanimously.
Preventing Accidents Between Bicycles and Motor Vehicles
When it comes to bicycles and motor vehicles on streets, Illinois calls itself a “Share the Road” state. Bicyclists have the same right to be on the road as drivers and must be treated with respect. A driver who injuries a bicyclist in an accident can be charged with a class 3 felony. A driver involved in an accident with a bicyclist may be at fault if the driver:
- Does not give the bicyclist at least three feet of space when passing;
- Recklessly drives towards a bicyclist;
- Attempts to intimidate a bicyclist; or
- Violates a driving law.
Shared Responsibility
A bicyclist can suffer catastrophic injuries if struck by a car and may be able to receive financial compensation if the driver is liable. However, the bicyclist’s personal injury case can be weakened if he or she was acting recklessly. Bicyclists must follow the same laws as drivers, but some break common road rules because bicycles are more maneuverable than cars and can squeeze through tighter spaces. A responsible driver may not be able to avoid an accident if the bicyclist is acting unpredictably. There are laws and safety guidelines you must follow to protect yourself when riding your bicycle alongside motor vehicles:
Driverless Cars May Change Nature of Personal Injury Cases
If you are injured in a car accident, you can seek compensation from another driver if he or she is at fault. What if the driver at fault is not a person but a computer? Accidents involving self-driving cars may be a problem of the future, but that future is near. Companies are already testing driverless vehicles in some states, and the Illinois legislature is considering a bill that would allow such vehicles here. Researchers are considering the legal ramifications of when accidents involving self-driving cars become more common.
Perfect Drivers?
A national study claims that 90 percent of all vehicle accidents are caused by human error. Scientists are developing self-driving cars because computers will not commit those errors. A computer cannot drive drunk or experience road rage. Developers can program the car to not drive at unsafe speeds. However, computer-controlled vehicles are not flawless drivers:
From our office in Plainfield, Illinois, we serve clients in Will County, DuPage County, Kendall County, Kane County, Joliet, Naperville, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Aurora, Lemont, Crest Hill, Shorewood, Lockport, Woodridge, Wheaton, Oswego, Yorkville, Homer Glen, Lisle, and surrounding communities.
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