Peoria Illinois Personal Injury Law Blog

Many car accidents in the Peoria area result in serious injuries or even death. In addition to dealing with their emotional pain, families often are forced to deal with the financial struggles that come with losing a loved one. The family of a 35-year-old Illinois woman who was killed in a hit-and-run accident is now filing a wrongful death lawsuit to recover damages from the driver responsible for the collision.

The 19-year-old driver allegedly struck the woman with the front end of his vehicle as she walked to a gas station near a friend's house at around midnight. The driver then apparently failed to seek emergency help and failed to offer assistance himself, and instead fled the scene of the crash. The woman reportedly died from her injuries and was found a few hours later.

Every day, Peoria residents step onto property owned by others for a variety of reasons. They may be visiting a friend at an apartment complex, shopping at the grocery store or even just walking on a local sidewalk. Property owners, store owners, landlords and even the government may be responsible for ensuring that their property is reasonably safe for invitees. If an invitee slips and falls on someone else's property due to a dangerous condition, one or more of these parties may be held liable for the invitee's injuries.

Slip and falls on a commercial property may be caused by a spill on the floor, uneven or worn-down flooring or a slippery surface. Generally, if a slip and fall occurs at a restaurant, store or other business property, the owner of the business may be held legally responsible for any injuries that occur on the property. To hold the business liable, victims must prove that the property owner knew or should have known of the dangerous condition, but failed to take reasonable action to remedy it. In other words, the case may depend on whether a reasonable person in charge of the property would have been aware of the dangerous condition and repaired it. Additionally, if an employee of the business was negligent, the business itself and/or the business owner may be held vicariously liable for the employee's negligence under the doctrine of "respondeat superior."

Truck accidents in Illinois can occur for a number of different reasons. In some cases, a truck driver's negligent or passenger vehicle driver's negligent actions cause the accident. In other cases, the trucking company that owns the truck and employs the driver is responsible for the accident by failing to adhere to state and federal trucking regulations. In fact, many truck accidents are caused by both negligent drivers and negligent trucking companies. Victims of truck accidents can file lawsuits against these negligent parties and recover damages for their medical expenses and other accident-related costs.

Non-truck drivers may be responsible for accidents involving commercial trucks. These drivers may drive their vehicles in the truck driver's blind spot, change lanes or pass a truck in an unsafe manner, or improperly merging into traffic, thereby forcing a truck driver to swerve or brake suddenly. However, many accidents are caused by the negligence of the truck drivers themselves. Driving at an excessive speed, falling asleep behind the wheel, and overloading a truck are all forms of truck driver negligence.

Semitrailer truck are common sights on the nation's highways. They provide an efficient means of moving freight, but they can also become a destructive hazard if their drivers lose control or fail to pay attention to traffic conditions. The recent failure of a semitrailer driver to reduce his speed caused a serious chain reaction car-truck accident in Southern Illinois.

The truck was heading west on Interstate 24 near Metropolis, Illinois when it came upon a line of cars and other vehicles that were stopped, apparently due to traffic conditions. According to police, the truck driver failed to slow down. His truck crashed into the line of cars, damaging seven of them. Three people died in the collision, and six others were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. Police stated that the driver, a 57-year-old driver from Mississippi, failed to reduce speed as he approached the line of cars.