Text While Biking, Get a Ticket
Drivers in Chicago are aware that there is a ban on using cell phones while operating a vehicle and now that could extend to anyone operating a bicycle. If House Bill 3849 gets approved by state lawmakers police officers across Illinois will be able to hand out tickets to anyone caught either talking or texting on their mobile device while riding a bicycle. “This addresses beyond the road, this addresses the bike path as well,” Said Representative Kelly Cassidy of Chicago. Cassidy also says this bill is the result of bicycle safety groups calling for such a law. This law would be similar to the law already enforced on Illinois motorists. There was a 5-4 vote on Wednesday, February 8th where the House Transportation Committee endorsed the texting while biking ban with a goal of reducing accidents. If you or a loved one has been involved in a bicycle accident contact expert attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. for a free personal injury consultation.
The Bill needs to be approved by the full House, the Senate, and signed by the governor to go into effect. The bill will allow bicyclists to use hands-free devices while biking. With this Bill bicyclists can easily avoid a ticket if they pull over on the side of the road or path to text or make a phone call. Opposition to this law claims there are already enough laws. It seems that even with laws already in place car accidents and bicycle accidents still occur.
Victims of bicycle accidents should know their rights. Texting impairs motorist’s ability to focus on the road and can also have the same effect on bicyclists. When motorists and bicyclists take the necessary precautions and avoid distractions such as mobile devices, while operating either a vehicle or a bicycle, accidents can be avoided.
Grandfathers Not Safe in Nursing Homes
Over the weekend 80 year old Anibal Calderon was beaten to death at an Oak Park nursing home. Police said that another resident of the Oak Park nursing home is responsible. Police are still investigating the incident which occurred at the Oak Park Healthcare Center located at 625 N. Harlem Avenue in Oak Park. A nurse found Anibal Calderon lying unconscious Sunday night in the nursing home’s Alzheimer’s and dementia ward. He was taken to Rush Oak Park Hospital and was later transferred to Rush University Medical Center. He later died early Tuesday. Police believe a 66 year old man, who is also a resident at the Oak Park Healthcare Center, beat Calderon in the head with an object. Police say the incident began with an argument between the two residents and the 66 year old man ended it by beating 80 year old Calderon. An autopsy report determined Calderon died from head injuries and blunt trauma from an assault. Anibal Calderon’s death has been ruled a homicide by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Incidents such as these can be prevented if nursing homes take the necessary precautions to keep their residents safe. Victims should understand their legal rights. Our expert attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. can help victims know their rights. If you or a loved one experienced a similar situation please call our office and schedule a free personal injury consultation.
Children’s Safety Will Hit Your Wallet
Earlier this week Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill allowing the City of Chicago to use cameras to catch speeding drivers near schools. The bill known as S.B. 965 will go into effect on July 1 and allows speed enforcement cameras within 1/8 of a mile, or one city block, around schools and parks between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. each weekday. The speed enforcement cameras are to be used within 1/8 of a mile around parks from one hour before the parks open to one hour after they close, which means cameras will be shut off only between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. It also allows using existing red light cameras and mobile cameras to catch speeders within 1/8 of a mile of schools and parks in Chicago.
The Expired Meter website issued a Freedom of Information request on all calls, emails and letters from the public to the governor’s office to learn about the response to the legislation. So far it has been negative; of the 224 calls, letters, and emails about the speed camera bill, an overwhelming 91 percent were opposed to it. Governor Quinn’s response was, “You may get letters, perhaps emails. You know, you study each communication, but… I’m not sure that’s a scientific sampling of all the people of Illinois, I think there are some people who are for the bill and some aren’t for it and, you know, that happens in a lot of situations.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a statement on Monday morning thanking Quinn.
Walking Under Historic Building Can Hurt You
As reported in CBS’ Historic Auburn-Gresham Building Torn Down After Partial Collapse, shortly after noon on Tuesday, January 31st, four people were injured when a three story historic building partially collapsed. The building, located on the northeast corner of 79th and Halsted, has been vacant for 20 years and was originally constructed in the 1880’s. It is owned by the city of Chicago. The debris falling from the building injured people on the street and caught two others under scaffolding.
Firefighters worked to remove the victims and searched under the rubble for an alleged fifth victim. According to the Chicago Fire Department it appears the top of the building’s brick façade collapsed along the roofline causing it to fall below. The scaffolding surrounding the building buckled as the roofline collapsed, trapping several pedestrians. Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Robert Hoff included that a tree had grown through the building’s roof and believes years of neglect, along with recent weather conditions, and the age of the building led to the building’s collapse.
Attempted Rescue: Police Officer and Tow Truck Driver
In relation to our last post about fire ordinances, there was a fire early Tuesday morning at an 3-story complex on 130th street, near the far south side of Chicago. Sergeant Mike Saladino, a veteran of 11 years, was on a routine patrol early Tuesday morning around 3:15 a.m. when he heard there was a fire about two blocks from his location. He responded immediately and arrived in a matter of minutes. A tow truck driver, who was originally there to repossess a car, was already on the scene and had just smashed open the jammed door of the first floor apartment. The tow truck driver had a fire extinguisher in hand and was attempting to put out the blaze. Two small children were reportedly trapped in the burning building. The American Burn Association state that there are approximately 1.1 million burn injuries in the United States each year severe enough that they warrant medical attention. Experienced accident and injury attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. understand the immediacy and sensitivity required in handling cases that involve burn injuries.
Unfortunately Officer Saladino and the tow truck driver were unable to rescue the two small children. The flames were too extreme, and the smoke too blinding. According to the Chicago Tribune, Officer Saladino was very distraught that he could not save the children. He said he could not stop thinking about his twin daughters at home, who were around the same age as the victims. He kept thinking what if it had been them in the fire. That’s what drove him to run into the burning building. The Tribune reports that Saladino was very emotional and could not bear to look at the two small bodies of the victims brought out once the fire was put out.
The fire was started by a 6-year old boy attempting reheat some pizza on the stove top in the kitchen. His pregnant mother was asleep in another room. She was a single mother doing the best she could with 3 kids and one on the way. She and the 6 year old boy managed to escape the fire, but it claimed the lives of her other two children Destiny Myles (3) and Jeremiah (1). She attempted to run back in and save the kids twice but passed out due to heavy smoke. The pregnant mother is currently in critical condition in the hospital. There is no word yet if the complex was completely up to fire code. If the building is older than 1975, it is not required to have a sprinkler system. The officer and tow truck drivers are definitely very brave men to have run into a burning building. Sadly fire fighters did not arrive on the scene in time. If you or someone you love have been involved in a fire, please contact accident injury attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. who can help assess the specifics of your situation discuss appropriate choices with you.
Chicago Fire Ordinance Failure
Let’s rewind back a few years to 2003, when a fire killed six people trapped behind locked doors in a stairwell in the Cook County Administration Building located in the Loop. This fire prompted
Bridgeport: Teen Youtube Beating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roK2XIZKn8Q
By now, many of you Chicagoans have heard about the 7 teenagers that beat up and robbed an Asian high school senior this past Sunday. This is mainly because one of the teens recorded the beating with their cell phone and the video has gone viral via Youtube. The teens involved in the beating were all under the age of 18. There was one 17 year old boy, two 16 year old boys, three 15 year old boys, and a 15 year old girl. The girl allegedly lured the victim into the alley on the 2700 block of South Shields, where the boys waited to beat him. All the teens, except 17 year old Raymond Palomino, are being charged with juvenile delinquencies. While accident injury attorneys Zneimer and Zneimer do not typically handle these types of cases, they do handle personal injury cases caused by assault. Typically, insurance companies will not cover these types of acts unless the act is forseeable
Raymond is the only one of the teens being charged as an adult. His dad actually turned him in after seeing the video of the beating on the news. This viral video ended up backfiring on these teens, since many of their peers identified them via the comments on the Youtube page. Raymond is being charged as an adult with robbery and aggravated battery. His bail is set at 100,000 dollars. It seems as though Raymond is being made out as the ring leader of the group. This could be because in the video, he shouts “get him,” when the victim becomes visible. Raymond is also seen in the video removing a gym shoe from the victim’s backpack and striking him in the face repeatedly with it. He then took the victim’s wallet, removed the cash, and then dropped it into the sewer.
Chicago Man Sentenced for Fatal DUI Accident
The Sun-Times Media has reported that Cecil Conner (24) was sentenced today in Will County Court to 9 ½ years in prison for a fatal DUI crash that claimed the life of his girlfriend’s 5 year old son last May of 2010. Conner was facing from three to 14 years in prison after being convicted of two counts of aggravated DUI. Chicago accident and injury attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. have handled cases involving auto accidents, with excellent results for their clients. They can help give you peace of mind by dealing with the insurance companies and medical care providers first hand.
Apparently Conner’s girlfriend Kathie LaFond was originally driving Conner and the child Michael Langford Jr. (5) home because Conner was too intoxicated. They were driving home from Conner’s cousin’s party in Chicago Heights. In a surprising turn of events, they were pulled over in Chicago Heights and Kathie was arrested for driving without a valid license. The officer then told Conner to drive himself and the child home. The officer was completely unaware that Conner was too drunk to drive. Conner proceeded to drive home and crashed his red Chevrolet Cavalier into a tree, through a fence, and into another tree. Little Michael Langford was reportedly sleeping in the back seat of the car at the time of the accident.
The trial had been delayed because Conner’s attorney had requested a new trial. He wanted a new trial because he was not given recordings of telephone conversations between Conner’s and Kathie while she was in jail. He also felt the trial was flawed because he was restricted from calling two witnesses, Kathie LaFond, and Jennifer Tartt (Conner’s friend), who he felt could have testified on behalf of Conner’s character. The judge rejected the request for a new trial, stating that he did not think the recordings would have provided any new information. Conner’s defense attorney even asked for the recordings after the trial was over, but his request was denied by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Pedestrians with Headphones Have Greater Chance of Injury
As you walk through the streets of Chicago, everywhere you look fellow pedestrians all have on ear buds or head phones. This is especially true with joggers. These people may want to turn their music down next time they go for a jog or walk because according to University of Maryland researchers, use of iPods and other MP3 players make people much less aware of their environment, including oncoming traffic. This is particularly startling because almost everyone has a smart phone these days which have MP3 player capabilities. It’s as if people are deafly walking through the streets, unaware of all the impending dangers the city has to offer. The Chicago accident and injury firm Zneimer and Zneimer p.c. handle cases related to pedestrian injuries, whether caused by car, truck, or slip and fall. Please contact their office with any questions.
The lead researcher of the study, Dr. Richard Lichenstein found that people wearing headphones are at a higher risk of getting hit, injured, or even dying due to an accident. He claims that of these injuries, 70 percent proved to be fatal, and more than 50 percent of the victims were hit by trains. While these numbers seem a bit high, they are very believable. Chicago drivers can be a bit reckless and are always in a hurry. This is especially true with cab drivers. As I commute to work daily, I almost always usually see an accident almost happen, such as a biker getting hit by a car because neither was paying attention. The researchers report that between 2004 and 2005, there were 16 cases noted. However, that number rose to 47 between 2010 and 2011, nearly tripling. They found that the most common type of accident, at 55%, was being hit by a train. I would have guessed that the most common type would be being hit by a car. This is very shocking. The study also found that 75% of bystanders had actually seen the victim wearing headphones prior to the accident. Clearly these headphones are masking any sirens and outside noises.
A similar study was done in New Zealand in 1995 with 200 children. The study found that children with natural hearing problems were more likely to be hit by a car. It’s no surprise that Dr. Lichensteins study found similar results considering people are basically obstructing their own hearing with music. These people need to become more aware of their surroundings considering the city is full of many hidden dangers. Not only are they more likely to get hit by a car or train, but they may be easier pray for muggers or robbers. Bottom line, if you are venturing out into the world with your headphones on, please be aware of your surroundings. If you have been involved in a accident/injury, please contact injury attorneys Zneimer and Zneimer p.c. for a free personal injury consultation.