On Oct. 29, 2008, Jonas Zigmantas was driving a flatbed truck for trucking company A.V., Inc. The truck was traveling northbound on Illinois Interstate 294 around 9:30 p.m. Zigmantas stopped his truck because he was involved in a minor property damage crash with a Honda Accord, which was driven by…
A speeding truck leaving the Newhall Tunnel in Southern California apparently lost control, crashed into the center divider and came to a stop some 1,700 feet outside of the tunnel exit. As other motor vehicles were leaving the tunnel, they braked and slowed down to avoid the crashed truck. A…
The family of Paul Katuszonek has agreed to a settlement with Goldstar Foods Inc. The case involved Officer Katuszonek, who was killed in a traffic accident in 2012. The Katuszonek family brought a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that the food distributor and long-haul trucking company that employed the driver was…
On Dec. 1, 2008, Sarah Conway, Kathleen O’Toole and Mary Heidkamp were passengers in Joan Steenveld’s car when it was broadsided by the defendant, Lynnard McCullough, who was driving a tractor-trailer. All but Steenveld perished in the crash. Both of the vehicles skidded off a snowy, icy road. Steenveld’s southbound…
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,…
Adam Nowak was installing electrical equipment at an energy plant when a crane hook fell about 60 feet from an overhead crane, which struck and killed him. Mr. Nowak was an electrician working for Matrix Service Co., and he was installing electrical equipment at the Veolia Energy’s Schuylkill Steam Plant. The lawsuit…
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has stated that U.S. truck and bus regulators are not taking steps to prevent serious safety hazards before fatal crashes. The NTSB claims that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has known about deficiencies in bus company practices before some fatal crashes but took no…
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…
Illinois law provides for losses suffered when an Illinois insurance company goes bankrupt, is liquidated or cannot meets its obligations. The Illinois Insurance Guarantee Fund is available to step in when an insurance company fails. In this case, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision written by the…
Three-month-old Emma Takacs developed a poor appetite. She had a fever that was in excess of 103 degrees Fahrenheit. Emma’s mom and dad took her to a hospital’s emergency room where a nurse documented Emma’s abnormal vital signs and fussiness. An emergency department doctor, Duane Siberski, M.D., examined Emma. Dr. Siberski diagnosed an…