Ana Reyes was the owner of a motor vehicle and was the sole named insured. She purchased auto insurance from American Access Casualty Co., and the policy specifically said there would be no liability coverage for any accident in which she was operating a motor vehicle. On Oct. 30, 2007,…
Leroy Walker Jr. was working as a flagman for Curran Contracting on May 1, 2008. He was directing traffic on Route 173 near Lorelei Drive in Zion, Ill. Walker was standing in front of a construction site where a new Super Wal-Mart store was being built. The defendant, Steven Kruglar, was driving…
A $41,418 jury verdict was entered by a DeKalb County, Ill., jury for Victoria Polastrini, who on Jan. 10, 2008 was stopped in a line of cars at a red light on southbound Sycamore Road (Route 23) at Dresser Road in DeKalb, Ill. When she was stopped, her car was rear-ended by…
On March 25, 2011, Lance Wright, a 50-year-old bicyclist, was on a public sidewalk heading southbound past a Walgreens store at its parking lot at 5431 S. Harlem Ave. in Chicago, Ill. The bike he was riding collided with the defendant’s car as it was leaving the parking lot. Wright argued…
The number of highway deaths in the United States in 2012 rose to 33,561. This was an increase of more than 1,000 deaths from 2011. This data was provided preliminarily by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The same report of data from NHTSA revealed that the number of deaths…
On Feb. 19, 2009, Georgene Paz was eastbound on Palatine Road at Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, Illinois, when she was rear-ended by 41-year-old Richard Ahlman. Paz, age 52, drove herself to Central DuPage Hospital right after the crash complaining of lower back and neck pain. She continued to treat with…
A Cook County jury has determined that Brelinda Walker, age 58 and retired, was traveling northbound on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and while waiting to make a left turn on westbound Adam Street was hit from behind by the defendant, Adam Riley, age 21. Those facts were straightforward. The jury…
Sarah Burns, 29, left work early on June 22, 2010 because she was not feeling well and had a migraine headache. She was driving her car northbound on Route 53 in Palatine, Ill., around 12:40 pm, when she was forced to merge into the adjacent lane in front of defendant’s…
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has published recent data showing that the number of large trucks (those weighing more than 10,000 lbs.) involved in deadly crashes has risen. In 2011, 3,608 trucks were involved in fatal crashes. The 2011 numbers are an increase of 3 percent from 2010 and a…
The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed a decision made by a Cook County Circuit Court judge regarding a twice-filed injury case. Michael Fiorito and Joseph Bellocchio were involved in a traffic collision on Oct. 19, 2001. Fiorito was injured and hired a lawyer to sue Bellocchio. In August 2003, the attorney…