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Recent Blog Posts
How Many Traffic Accidents Happen Each Day in Illinois?
In Illinois, there are 811 reported traffic crashes per day, according to the most recent data from 2014. By looking at the statistics from the Illinois Department of Transportation, drivers can tell what situations on roads are most dangerous.
If you have been seriously injured in a traffic accident on Illinois roads, speaking to an attorney who has experience in handling car accident cases is the first step you can take to be sure your medical bills and other injuries will be compensated to the full extent of the law.
More on Illinois Traffic Accidents
In 2014, 296,049 crashes were reported in Illinois. Of those, 20.6 percent involved some bodily injury. Crashes involving serious bodily injury account for 15 percent of the injury accidents. This class of injury includes those which prevent the victim from walking or driving such as severe lacerations, broken limbs, abdominal trauma, and skull or chest wounds.
Will Workers’ Compensation Cover Your Re-Injury?
Once a worker is injured, that part of the body remains more vulnerable to future injury, even though the worker has been fully treated. Aggravation of a pre-existing condition on the job is a common occurrence; however, the workers’ comp system can make recovery in these cases difficult.
Aggravation cases often require an attorney who is familiar with workers’ comp because these claims can be wrongly rejected by insurance companies.
Workers’ Compensation Should Cover Aggravated Injuries
The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act provides for coverage in the instance that a worker’s injury is caused by the aggravation of an older injury. The strongest cases are the ones where there is a lengthy period of time between the initial injury’s treatment and the re-injury.
What You Need to Know about Repetitive Injury Workers’ Comp Claims
When people think of an injury that would be covered by workers’ compensation, they often think of an accident that causes sudden pain and trauma like a fall off a ladder, an electrocution, or a forklift accident. However, one of the most common on-the-job injuries is a repetitive stress injury. These injuries are caused by making the same movement over and over. The movements need not be strenuous to cause this type of injury.
The onset of symptoms related to a repetitive stress injury should not be written off by the worker as a sign of aging or as part of the job. The workers’ comp system does provide for medical treatment and benefits for this type of injury.
Computer Work is a Major Cause of a Repetitive Stress Injury
The proliferation of computers and tablets used in the workplace have played a significant part in the increasing number of repetitive stress injuries. Typing, tapping a screen, and using a mouse—especially in a non-ergonomic way—can cause carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, and tendonitis.
Will Workers’ Comp Cover Your Accident That Occurred at Lunch?
Sometimes accidents happen during your workday when you are not “on the clock.” In these cases, an employee’s claim under workers’ comp may be denied by the employer’s workers’ comp insurance.
However, a claim denial is not the final word on whether there is coverage as these cases can present issues of coverage that may be difficult to decide. In these borderline cases, we advise that you have your claim reviewed by an attorney who practices in workers’ comp to determine whether you should be covered.
About Workers’ Compensation
The workers’ comp system is meant to provide workers with the assurance that their injuries sustained at work will be treated and to provide employers the assurance that the injury compensation will be limited.
Thus, in workers’ comp, employees need not prove fault on the part of the employer, but employees are not allowed to recover for pain and suffering. Employees can only recover the cost of their medical treatment and lost wages. Importantly, employees must prove that the injury occurred in the course and scope of their employment in order to be covered by workers’ comp.
Top 4 Causes of Fatal Truck Accidents
Truck accidents can cause severe damage to other cars and motorists given the size of 18-wheelers. Trucks are more susceptible to accidents when trucking regulations are not followed.
If you are a driver sharing the road with big trucks, it is important to understand why truck accidents occur. If you were in a truck accident and believe that someone else is at fault, it is important to contact an attorney who handles truck accident cases.
About the Study on Truck Accidents
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) looked at accidents involving large trucks over the course of 33 months. The NHTSA estimates that there were about 120,000 crashes resulting in fatalities and involving at least one 18-wheeler. The NHTSA also estimates that 141,000 trucks were involved in those accidents.
Complications From Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries can arise in almost any accident, including car crashes and slip and falls. TBIs are caused by a sudden jolt or strike to the head. TBIs can also be caused by repetitive hits to the brain.
Brain injuries are serious, and accidents where a victim has sustained such an injury should be handled by an attorney to be sure that the claim’s recovery is maximized. Complications can range from being obvious (such as a coma) or more subtle and not immediately apparent to others (such as learning disabilities).
However, all complications stemming from a TBI are likely compensable under law and should be reported to get a full recovery.
Complications include:
- Altered consciousness. This includes a coma state or brain death.
- Seizures. Seizures typically occur in the weeks following the accident but can become a regular occurrence extending long after the accident.
When and Where Will Your Next Car Accident Likely Happen?
Car accidents can happen anytime, anywhere. However, your odds of getting into a car accident are higher at certain locations and certain times of the day. Being aware of these risk factors can help you avoid accidents and practice defensive driving.
When Do Car Accidents Occur?
Nighttime accidents are especially dangerous. About 49 percent of fatal crashes occur at night. That means that the fatality rate per mile is three times higher at night than in the day. A key factor in the number of fatalities at night is seat belt use. Of nighttime fatalities, about 65 percent of motorists were not wearing a seat belt.
Another dangerous time to drive is in the late afternoon and early evening when people are driving home from work. More people on the road—especially people who are tired and ready to relax—create this risk.
3 Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
Nearly 450,000 Americans live with a spinal cord injury, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. Each year, about 11,000 spinal cord injuries are sustained in the United States.
What is a Spinal Cord Injury?
Most spinal cord injuries are attributed to vertebral column trauma. In a healthy person, the spinal cord sends and receives messages between the body and the brain. These messages control sensory, autonomic, and motor functions. However, when the vertebral column is injured, the spinal cord cannot send and receive these vital messages resulting in conditions such as paralysis and loss of sensation.
Spinal Cord Injury Classifications
The location of an injury on your spinal cord will dictate what impairments your will suffer. Injuries can be complete or incomplete.
Decoding Common Workers’ Comp Acronyms
The world of workers’ compensation comes with its own language that can be difficult for an injured worker to understand. In addition, workers’ comp claims must follow a rigid procedural scheme that can be confusing and frustrating for a layperson to understand.
Clients often rely on their attorney to explain the workers’ compensation process. Below are several terms that may come up in your case.
Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)
MMI is a determination made by a physician that your condition cannot be helped any further by medical treatment. For some people, this will mean that they can go back to work or go back to work in a reduced capacity. For others, MMI means that you will be classified as permanently disabled.
Once classified as achieving MMI, a worker cannot get any additional medical treatment paid for by the employer. There may be ways to dispute the MMI classification if you believe that more treatment may benefit your injury.
Learn When on the Job Injuries May Not Be Covered by Workers’ Compensation
If you have been injured at work, you may think your only option is to pursue a Workers’ comp claim. While this may be true in many cases, it is not true in all cases.
In some circumstances, an accident victim may get adequate recovery through workers’ comp. However, other accident victims can receive more compensation under a theory of general negligence, which is sometimes called a personal injury action.
Workers’ Comp
Workers’ comp is a system that was set up as a compromise between worker and employer. If a worker is injured during the course and scope of employment, the employer is liable for medical treatment of bodily injury and a portion of lost wages.
To receive these benefits, an employee does not have to prove fault on the part of the employer, and it may even be obvious that the employee was partially to blame for the accident. However, under no circumstance in a workers’ comp case will an employee be compensated for pain and suffering.
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David W. Clark, P.C.
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