Personal Injury Cases – Mike Slocumb Law Firm

May is National Bike Safety Month and the goal of the month is to raise awareness of bicycle riders and to make the streets safer for bicyclists. National Bike Safety Month consists of events such as a ride-to-work and ride-to-school days in order to make drivers more alert to the presence of bicycle riders and to encourage safe riding. Other aspects of National Bike Safety Month include educational campaigns such as DOT’s Roll Models to provide bike safety advice to both riders and drivers.

Our Auburn accident attorneys know that reducing the risk of bicycle accidents is always an important issue not just during National Bike Safety Monthm but throughout the summer months. This is especially true in Alabama, which the Detroit Free Press recently reported ranks 49th out of 50 states in terms of being bike friendly.  Alabama has a lot of work to do to improve things for bicycle riders as the second-worst state in the U.S. and National Bike Safety Month is a good time to get started on improving bicycle safety.

Tips for Drivers to Protect Bike Riders

Bike riders can wear helmets, make eye contact with drivers and use hand signals in order to reduce the risk of becoming involved in an accident. Unfortunately, the efforts of bicycle riders can only go so far in avoiding crashes. There are more drivers of motor vehicles who are responsible for causing collisions. This means that unless the drivers of cars are aware of bicycle riders, know the risks of bicycle accidents and know how to share the road safely with riders, many preventable bicycle accidents are going to occur. Over the summer months when more people are out riding, the number of bicycle accidents will also increase unless drivers take steps to improve safety.

Drivers can do a lot to try to make the roads safe for riders and many of the steps that drivers can take to improve conditions for bicyclists are very simple. For example, drivers can make Alabama a better place for bike riders by:

• Understanding that bikes need to be treated the same as any other vehicle on the road. Bicycles have both the same rights and the same responsibilities.
• Avoiding crowding bicycle riders. When there are bike lanes, drivers should be sure to respect the lanes and leave bike riders their space. If there are no bike lanes, riders should be aware of bicycle riders sharing the road and should avoid getting too close.
• Yielding the right-of-way to bicycle riders when traffic signals or road safety rules require them to do so. Again, bikes are treated like cars so if you’d give a car the right-of-way, you need to do the same for a bicyclist.
• Watching out for “dooring,” which occurs when a driver opens a door up right into the path of an oncoming bicycle. This, obviously, should be avoided so a collision doesn’t occur.
• Paying attention while driving. If drivers simply pay attention, avoid distractions, don’t drive drunk and don’t drive when falling asleep, this will make things a lot safer for bicycle riders.

Drivers, in other words, need to use reasonable caution behind the wheel and need to be aware that bicycle riders have just as much right to be on the roads. This will make Alabama a much more bike friendly state.

If you have been injured in an Alabama traffic  accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-HURTLINE.

A fatal motorcycle crash in Naperville, about a half hour outside of the city, was reportedly the result of a motorist who was not only full of alcohol, but also anger.

Our Chicago motorcycle accident lawyers know that incidents like this are far too common, as are those that, like this one, involve a hit-and-run.

Thankfully, the individual responsible for this reckless act of violence was eventually caught and is now facing criminal sanctions.

The 32-year-old suspect reportedly turned in front of traffic at a busy intersection in the middle of the day last June. As a result, a 63-year-old motorcyclist slammed into the side of his vehicle. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation reports this is the number one cause of fatal motorcycle crashes nationwide — a driver that fails to yield the right-of-way and turns in front of an oncoming rider.

At the time of that incident, the younger driver had been chasing a car full of teenagers, whom he had reportedly been involved in an altercation with just a few minutes before in an apparent road rage incident. The teenagers had reportedly threatened the man, according to a later account by defense lawyers. However, if those threats generated fear, it’s not clear why he would then be chasing them.

What we do know is that he was so focused on catching up to those teenagers that he was barreling through traffic, with little to no disregard for the lives of anyone else on the road that day.

Appallingly, even after the crash, the younger driver did not stop to see if the motorcyclist was alright or how he might offer assistance. He fled. And his fleeing was not motivated by the fact that he was afraid for the consequences to himself. Rather, he remained intent on catching up with the car load of teens and so, he continued to give chase.

The driver had admitted to using marijuana earlier in the day, and drug tests would later reveal trace amounts of cocaine also in his system.

The motorcyclist, too, was reportedly under the influence of alcohol, but prosecutors stressed that what happened that afternoon was in no way the fault of the deceased rider. Prosecutors said he was doing nothing more than riding his motorcycle on a clear, sunny afternoon day.

A verdict from the judge in the bench trial is due at the end of this month.

While this is an egregious and tragic example of how road rage can quickly explode into a life-shattering event, the truth is, there are many manifestations of it.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that the most common form of road rage is excessive and aggressive speeding, especially during inclement weather or heavy traffic. Speed is a factor in one out of every three fatal accidents. The reason it’s so dangerous is that drivers have less time to react to a dangerous situation, meaning it is going to increase the risk that the wreck will be more severe than it would otherwise.

The DOT recommends the following actions to help avoid a confrontation with a road rager:

• Don’t react if another driver is behaving uncivilly toward you. Don’t make eye contact, don’t accelerate, brake, tailgate or suddenly swerve. All of this can be scene as provocations.
• If you are approached by a driver who is aggressive or think you are being followed, travel to the nearest law enforcement headquarters or substation.
• Lock up your doors.
• Resist the urge to pick a fight or display a weapon. That will only serve to escalate the situation.

If you have been injured in a Chicago motorcycle accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

A 17-year-old Oakland park girl was struck by a vehicle around 5 on a Friday morning as she was reportedly walking in the roadway while intoxicated.

Our Chicago pedestrian accident lawyers know that in a case like this, the pedestrian would most likely be found at-fault. However, the fact that this teen was intoxicated at all was a primary issue for investigators with the Olympia Fields Police Department.

Reports were that prior to the crash, the teen had been attending a local house party. There, she had been served alcohol provided by the 21-year-old resident. That individual has been arrested on one count of providing liquor to a minor and a second count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

This fact alone may make him liable for her death in a future civil lawsuit, should her family choose to file one.

The driver who reportedly hit the girl stayed on scene afterward. Had he not, he could have faced charges of hit-and-run.

Last year, the City of Chicago released a comprehensive report detailing pedestrian safety concerns, trends and precautionary measures. The analysis looked at all pedestrian-related incidents reported between 2005 and 2009.

Encouragingly, overall pedestrian accidents were down about 20 percent since 2001 and about 9 percent from 2005 to 2009.

But we’re still looking at a number that is troubling. In  2009, there were 3,130 pedestrian crashes in Chicago that year, many of those resulting in serious injury and death. That year, more than 500 people were seriously injured and 34 people were killed in pedestrian crashes, researchers reported.

Those individuals with the highest rate of crashes were between the ages of 15 and 18.

In the Central Business District of the city, taxi cabs accounted for nearly 30 percent of pedestrian accidents.

For the most part, these crashes were occurring at high rates between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., with the second-highest time between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Nearly 80 percent of all pedestrian crashes occurred within about 120 feet of an intersection, while about half happened in the intersection itself.

Pedestrian crashes involving children under the age of 14 were most likely to occur on local streets, while nearly 80 percent of pedestrian crashes overall happened on collector and arterial roadways.

Meanwhile, pedestrians who are older are more likely to be struck in a crosswalk than in other age groups.

One of the most dangerous areas for Chicago pedestrians is several miles that stretch between the Loop and Near North Side on the east all the way to Austin on the west. This area had the most number of fatal and serious pedestrian crashes in the city.

Also, a two-mile corridor along 79th Street is where four of the top 20 pedestrian crash intersections in the city are located.

Disturbingly, Chicago has double the number of hit-and-runs in pedestrian crashes than the national average. Here, 40 percent of pedestrian crashes involve a hit-and-run, while it’s 20 percent nationwide.

Across the city, more than 50 percent of pedestrian accidents happened at intersections equipped with signals. Another 40 percent happened when the vehicle was turning left and 15 percent happened as the vehicle was turning right.

If you have been injured in a Chicago pedestrian accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

On March 9, CBS Chicago reported on a tragic hit-and-run accident that sent a car tumbling down an expressway embankment. The 31-year-old-victim of the hit-and-run was killed at approximately 1 a.m. on Saturday.

Our Chicago accident attorneys know that hit-and-run accidents are far too common in Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S. These accidents leave injured victims and families with questions unanswered, and sometimes leave victims without necessary emergency medical assistance that could save lives. Hit-and-run crashes can also result in family members or victims not being compensated for their injuries and having to cope with financial stress.

The Hit-and-Run Crash in Chicago

According to CBS Chicago, the 31-year-old accident victim was driving a Dodge Stratus, which was pushed through a fence, down an embankment and onto  I-57. The victim was ejected from the car onto the expressway. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

The driver who caused the crash was believed to have been driving a Land Rover with temporary tags. The driver abandoned the SUV, leaving the car running and taking off before witnesses or police could identify or question him.

After the crash, an anonymous telephone call was placed to the niece of the deceased victim. Family members were informed of the crash and told that the driver was dead via this telephone call shortly after the accident. The family went to the scene of the accident and watched for two hours without being able to go and see their loved one, who was lying motionless on the street and covered with a sheet.

Police are still investigating the accident and attempting to find the driver responsible. The deceased victim left behind two daughters, who were nine and eleven years old, in addition to his parents and other family members.

Chicago Hit-and-Run Accidents

Unfortunately, Chicago hit-and-run accidents create many problems. First and foremost, when a driver hits and runs, he doesn’t make sure the victim of the crash gets medical aid. In situations where there are no witnesses or when no one gets involved, a person might die as a result when he or she could have been saved if emergency responders had been called.

If the driver involved in the hit-and-run accident is never identified, then the accident victims and their families are also left without any type of closure.  When someone injures you or kills a person you love, you likely want to know who they are and why the accident happened. Law enforcement will investigate, since hit-and-runs are illegal, but there is no guarantee that drivers will be found.

Finally, when a driver hits and runs, it becomes impossible to take legal action against the driver unless/until he is found. Car accident victims or family members of people killed are supposed to be compensated for economic and non-economic losses by the driver whose negligence was a cause of the accident. Without knowing who the driver is, this cannot happen and medical bills and other losses may become burdensome.

Underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage can, however, provide a solution in some cases by allowing injured victims to have their financial losses covered through their own insurance policy. Uninsured/underinsured policies mean your insurer steps in if you get into a crash with a hit-and-run driver or with a driver with no insurance or insufficient insurance. Your insurer pays, up to the policy limits, what the driver who caused the crash should have paid.

If you have been injured in a car accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-HURTLINE.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has been sponsoring research since 2006 intended to better understand the culture of traffic safety. These efforts are important because auto accidents remain a top cause of death in America. AAA has released its most recent survey on cultural attitudes towards traffic safety and on how those attitudes impact people’s behavior. The study is called the 2012 Traffic Safety Culture Index.

Our Alabama auto accident attorneys know the findings are somewhat surprising because they reveal that many drivers routinely engage in behaviors behind the wheel that they are fully aware present a danger. Unfortunately, when drivers do risky things, they put themselves in harm’s way and also up the chances of innocent victims becoming involved in a car wreck.

Drivers Knowingly Do Dangerous Things

AAA looked at some of the most dangerous driving behaviors that are contributing factors to auto accidents. The data revealed that:

• 14 percent of drivers may have driven drunk at least once in their lives, or at least driven when they felt like they were over the limit. 2.1 percent said they may have driven drunk in the month before answering AAA’s survey questions. Yet, almost every single driver who answered the survey said drinking and driving was a serious threat and culturally stigmatized.
• More than 66 percent of drivers had spoken to someone on a cell phone at least one time while driving in the month before answering the survey. However, almost all drivers viewed this as dangerous with 66.5 percent supporting restrictions on cell use and 48.6 percent expressing their approval of a complete cell-phone ban even if a hands-free device was employed.
• 26.6 percent of drivers had, in the month before being surveyed, typed an email or typed or read a text message while driving. Yet, almost every single surveyed driver indicated this was a serious threat and most supported laws restricting or banning the behavior.
• Speeding was viewed as worse in a residential neighborhood than on a highway. 89.1 percent reported a feeling that society disapproved of going 15 MPH over limit on a highway and 72.5 percent perceived disapproval of going 10 MPH over limit in a residential community. Yet 49.3 percent sped on a highway and 46.8 percent sped through a residential neighborhood in the month before answering AAA’s questions.
• 38.4 percent of drivers disregarded a red light even though a safe stop was possible and drove through the light instead. Yet, almost all agreed this was such a serious threat that the behavior was unacceptable.
• Around 33 percent of drivers admitted to driving as they struggled not to fall asleep at some point in the month before answering AAA’s survey. 45.9 percent said that at least one time over the course of their life, they had fallen asleep driving. Yet, the majority of drivers also viewed drowsy driving as a serious threat.

Unfortunately, the AAA study shows that drivers know that these driving behaviors are dangerous and bad behaviors that boost the chance of a crash but that this knowledge does not have a substantive effect on changing behavior. Until every driver stops doing things he or she knows are risky, auto accidents are tragically likely to continue being a top cause of U.S. deaths.

If you have been injured in a car accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-HURTLINE.

When you hear the term “never event,” you likely think of something that does not occur. This is an accurate definition, and it explains why the term is used to describe medical mistakes that should never, ever happen. For example, a doctor operating on the wrong patient is something that should never happen. A doctor operating on the wrong surgical site should not ever occur. A doctor leaving a sponge or surgical instrument inside of a patient should not ever happen.

Unfortunately, a recent study shows that these “never events” actually aren’t never events at all. Instead, they are far too common and happen thousands of times per year. Our Washington, D.C. personal injury attorneys want to warn everyone seeking any type of medical care about the new study showing the prevalence of never events. We urge patients to review the reputations of their surgeons and hospitals very carefully before undergoing any medical treatment in order to avoid becoming the victim of an unthinkable medical mistake.

New Study Shows “Never Events” Are Common Events

The new study was conducted by Johns Hopkins University using a review of past medical malpractice claims and judgments over the past twenty years. Based on the information available to researchers, estimates were arrived at regarding how often “never events” occur. The never events were defined as operating on the wrong patient or the wrong site or leaving something inside of a patient.

The data revealed that:

• Around 80,000 never events happened between 1990 and 2010 at hospitals throughout the United States.
• Never events happen at least 4,000 times annually throughout the U.S. The estimates may be low because sometimes a patient doesn’t find out for weeks, months, years or ever that a surgical instrument has been left inside.
• Approximately 39 times each week, a surgical towel, surgical tool or other medical device is left inside of a patient who has undergone a surgical procedure.
• Approximately 20 times each week, a patient wakes up to find that a doctor performed the wrong surgical procedure on him or her.
• Approximately 20 times every week, a patient undergoes surgery on the incorrect body part.

These figures are shocking and tragic. When a doctor makes a mistake of this type and this severity, patients suffer greatly. In some cases, patients may never recover 100 percent or get back their full health because of what the doctor has done to them. In especially tragic cases, a patient may die as a result of the mistake the physician made. For example, a patient with a surgical instrument left inside could develop an unexplained infection and could be killed as a result before anyone gets to the bottom of what occurred.

When these never events occur, doctors must be held accountable for making a mistake that should never be made. The doctors who make these types of mistakes are very obviously negligent, and patients can thus file medical malpractice claims in order to obtain payment of medical costs and other compensation for their resulting injuries and losses.

If you have been injured by medical malpractice, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-HURTLINE.

When you are driving to work, to run errands or out to see a friend, you have the right to expect the drivers around you to behave in a reasonably cautious way so they don’t hurt you. At a bare minimum, you’d think it would be reasonable to expect that the drivers around you would at least be awake. Unfortunately, a new study shows that a good percentage of them may not be.

Our Chicago accident attorneys believe that drowsy driving is one of the most dangerous behaviors that people engage in behind the wheel today. We urge everyone to pay attention to the new study and to be aware that there may be people on the road who are not only failing to pay attention but who are literally asleep at the wheel.

The Dangers of Drowsy Drivers

Studies have confirmed time and again that people who are too tired do not drive very well. In fact, most experts indicate that a drowsy driver is every bit as impaired by his fatigue as a drunk driver is by the six-pack he drinks before getting into his car. Both a drowsy and a drunk driver are much more likely to get into a crash, and both are making a bad decision that not only endangers themselves but that unfortunately makes the commute riskier for everyone else as well.

Despite this information, many people are driving drowsy. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided to find out just how many people were falling asleep at the wheel. The CDC conducted a very large study – the largest of its kind – by interviewing 147,000 people in 20 different locations across the US (D.C. plus 19 states).

The CDC found that:

• Of all drivers surveyed, a total of 4.2 percent had fallen asleep driving in the 30 days before answering the telephone questions.
• Of all drivers surveyed in Illinois, 2.9 percent had fallen asleep in the prior 30 days.
• Of all drivers surveyed in Washington, D.C., 2.6 percent had fallen asleep in the prior 30 days.

The CDC also found that there were certain people and certain age groups that were more likely to fall asleep at the wheel. For example, only around 1 percent of those drivers who were retired said they’d dozed as they drove compared to almost 5 percent of drivers in the 18-44 age group. Men were far more likely to be drowsy drivers than women, and people who snored or who got 6 hours of sleep or less were also falling asleep in greater proportions.  Educational attainment, however, did not have an impact on whether a person was likely to be dozing as they drove.

Being Aware of the Dangers of Drowsy Driving

Unfortunately, the study shows that a lot of drowsy people are out there in their cars at any given time. You don’t want to be one of them. You do want to be on the lookout for them so you can avoid them and stay safe.

If you have been injured in a car accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-HURTLINE.

Electric cars and hybrid vehicles have grown in popularity due to rising gas prices and a more widespread interest in “going green.” While these cars have many benefits, they also present an unfortunate and unintentional risk to pedestrians. The problem: the cars are too quiet at low speeds.

To tackle this issue, the United States Department of Transportation has proposed new minimum sound requirements for hybrid and electric vehicles. Our Washington, D.C. auto accident attorneys believe that these new requirements can help to reduce pedestrian accidents in D.C. and throughout the United States and can make the roads safer for the many people in the District who enjoy walking around the city.

Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Endanger Pedestrians

Because electric and hybrid cars do not use traditional engines, they are much quieter. Unfortunately, pedestrians often rely on a vehicle’s sound to alert them to a car approaching. Pedestrians, believing that no cars are coming, might step out into the street, might start to cross or might fail to move out of the way of oncoming traffic.

This is creating a major problem because pedestrians are at increased risk of becoming involved in an accident with one of these hybrid or electric cars. Bicycle riders, who also share the road with cars and who are expected to obey driving rules and yield the right of way when required, are also at increased risk of a crash when they do not hear a hybrid or electric vehicle coming.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is now tackling this problem. They announced their proposed safety requirements in a press release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Their press release indicated that their new proposal was required in light of the 2010 bipartisan Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act.

The terms of the proposal specify that the electric and hybrid vehicles emit an audible sound when traveling at low speeds so that pedestrians and bike riders can hear them coming.  Manufacturers have a range of different choices regarding the sound that the vehicle must make but the sounds must meet basic requirements and must be detectable over normal street noises and background noises.  The sound must also be the same for all cars of the same make and model.

The sounds are only required to be added when the vehicles are going 18 miles per hour or less because NHTSA indicates that the electric and hybrid cars make enough noise to be detectable if they are going over 18 miles per hour.

In their proposal, NHTSA indicates that implementation of the new sound requirements would prevent as many as 2,800 pedestrian and bicycle rider injuries over the life of each model year of hybrid vehicles.  This is a lot of lives that could be saved and a lot of people who could avoid serious injury just by adding a sound to a car.

Of course, regardless of whether the NHTSA proposal is accepted or not, it remains the responsibility of drivers, pedestrians and bicycle riders to exercise reasonable caution and to be alert for others on the roads.

If you have been injured in a D.C. accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

Over the holidays, spending time at the mall, the grocery store or other retail establishments is a given for most people. Getting gifts for friends, picking up food for entertaining and picking up decorations are all on the holiday to-do list for most people. With so much to buy, it is no surprise that the festive season is the time of year when retail stores make the most money and when people may spend more of their time shopping than at any other time of the year.

As you visit shopping malls and retail stores this winter season, our Chicago accident attorneys urge you to exercise caution and to be aware of some of the key shopping dangers. Going to stores over the holiday season can be risky and you don’t want your shopping excursion to turn into a disaster.

Holiday Shopping Risks

There are a lot of different holiday shopping risks that customers might encounter as they do their purchasing over the season of celebration. For example, some of the hazards awaiting shoppers include:

• Unruly crowds. You’re especially likely to encounter large mobs on the most popular shopping days like Christmas Eve.
• Crowded aisles. Even when the stores aren’t completely packed with people, they may have a ton of inventory stacked up and around to try to meet the holiday demand. People may also not put items back in their place, resulting in even more congested store aisles.
• Unsafe shelves. Stores may overload shelving space to try to fit in all of the products they want to sell, and customers may place items back on shelves without making sure that the items are secure. With too much stuff on shelves and items precariously placed, there’s a very real chance that something could fall off of a shelf and onto you.
• Slippery floors. It is inevitable that other shoppers are going to track snow into stores when they come in from outside if there is snow on the ground. Between snow, slush and other bad winter weather, floors may become slippery very quickly. A slippery floor can also result from store staff trying to clean up the floors after crowds of shoppers come.
• Dishonest thieves. Prime shopping days tend to bring out people who want to steal from other shoppers.
• Dangerous escalators and elevators. Each year, people are caught in escalators and are seriously hurt. Elevator accidents, while not as common, can also be dangerous or deadly as a shopper could fall down an elevator shaft or be crushed in the doors.

These are just a few of the many hazards you may encounter when shopping for the holidays. In almost every case, the store may be considered to be responsible for causing your injury and/or negligently failing to protect you as a customer. This can be true even in cases where you were robbed by a third party if the store was considered to be negligent in providing security. If the stores’ negligence or carelessness led in any way to your injury, you may be able to file a premises liability claim against the store.

If you have been injured in a Chicago accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.

The first snow of the season, along with a deceiving layer of black ice, was reportedly responsible for a “ton” of crashes in Chicago in a single night, according to police.

The Chicago Tribune reported a total of 17 crashes on toll roads in Cook County, including one fatal crash on the expressway, just west of Gary Avenue.

Our Chicago car accident lawyers know that as we head into the holiday season, with more travelers and worse weather, we can expect more of the same.

In fact, it was so bad on a recent day that parts of the expressway had to be shut down because of the ice. Troopers wanted to get the word out to people to slow down, particularly when they are passing accidents or when there are vehicles parked or disabled on the side of the road.

Even police officers and troopers – with their emergency lights flashing – said multiple times, they were put at risk by passing vehicles.

Winter holidays are some of the most dangerous times to drive. Part of it has to do with the fact that more people are on the road, traveling to see loved ones. People also may be drinking at parties and driving. But another major factor is that the road conditions can be terrible this time of year – and you can’t always count on troopers to shut down every road that poses a danger.

Most Chicagoans are familiar with driving in wintry weather, but just in case, here are a few things to keep in mind if you encounter cold, snowy or icy conditions:

• Make sure you have adequate traction on your tires. That means a tread of at least 6/32 inches. Most new passenger car tires are 10/32 inches. That’s even better. Realize that even ultra-high performance “summer” tires often have little or no grip at all in snow.
• Make certain that you can see. Replace your windshield wiper blades if needed and make sure you have enough washer fluid and anti-icing fluid. Apply a coat of water-shedding material, like Rain-X, to the outside of your windows and mirrors.
• Run the air conditioner in order to help remove condensation and frost from the interior of your windows. Select the fresh air option. A lot of cars do this automatically, but keep this in mind in case yours does not.
• Watch out for “black ice.” This was at the root of the fatal crash. Black ice will look as if the road is simply slick, but it’s actually ice, which can be far more treacherous. Test your traction on the surface with a smooth brake application and a slight turn of your wheel.
• Understand that bridges, overpasses or any area near bodies of water are more prone to develop a layer of ice first.
• Give yourself plenty of time – and space. When you’re on ice, it’s going to take longer to brake, so you want to make sure to give yourself plenty of space from cars both in front of you and next to you. Additionally, allow yourself more time to get to wherever you are going. And if you are a few minutes late, accept that it’s better than never getting there at all.

If you have been injured in a Chicago car accident, contact the Mike Slocumb Law Firm at 1-800-WIN-WIN-1.