Peoria Illinois Personal Injury Law Blog

Most canine pets are loyal, kind members of Illinois residents' families. Whether they are big or small, active or peaceful, dogs can enrich the lives of the people who own them. When dog owners act responsibly and take proper care to manage and train their pets, those pets can interact without incident with others. However, some pets are not given the support they need by their owners and can lash out when they are startled, provoked, or otherwise confronted with strangers.

After suffering a dog bite or related attack, it is important that a victim is seen by a medical professional. While the passage of diseases from dogs to humans is rare, it is possible for rabid dogs to transmit rabies to individuals through their saliva. Rabies can be fatal to humans and requires medical treatment to cure and therefore consulting with a doctor after one's attack is a necessary and critical step in their recovery.

Seeking damages after an auto accident can be an important step toward recovery for a Peoria resident. When a victim is confident that they know the cause of their harm, then they may be ready to begin their first steps toward litigation. A case often begins by proving that another driver was negligent.

Negligence is a legal term that applies when a person does not meet the standard of care expected of them given their circumstances. Drivers on Illinois streets and highways owe each other a duty to act reasonably and follow the rules of the road. It is next to impossible for a driver to meet that duty if they are distracted.

Vehicle collisions on Illinois highways can be deadly and can change the course of Peoria residents' lives. They may deprive individuals of their loved ones, cause serious physical injuries, and inflict emotional trauma and pain and those who survive their ordeals. When a collision occurs between a personal vehicle and a large commercial truck, the damages imparted on the victims can be even more significant due to the massive size of the truck.

Trucks take longer to stop than smaller vehicles, are harder to move around on the roads, and require extra licensing to legally drive. Their more challenging operations and inherent dangers can make them difficult to control and prone to accidents when in the hands of drivers who are not prepared to maintain them.

Just as most people choose to stay up to date on their vaccinations, so too do most pet owners take care of their animals' required shots. In Illinois, domestic dogs are required to have rabies vaccinations to prevent them from developing the dangerous and life-threatening disease. Unlike some illnesses that canines carry, rabies can be transmitted from dogs to humans through saliva and bites.

Rabies is a virus that affects the nervous systems of its victims. A person who contracts rabies may not know they have it, but, according to WebMD, more than 99 percent of people left untreated who experience symptoms of rabies will die.