Peoria Illinois Personal Injury Law Blog

Many Peoria area residents work at the Caterpillar plant or another manufacturing plant. Manufacturing jobs are usually good jobs that offer good pay and benefits. Although they can require hard work, it is often done in a safe environment. Unfortunately, accidents do happen, and an injured employee may wonder about workers' compensation.

A recent article in the Journal Star highlighted the safety history of Caterpillar. After having no deaths in their plants in 2017, a recent accident occurred in a Wisconsin facility which resulted in a worker's death. It was the second death at that plant in 7 years. The employee was a welder at the plant and was struck by a steel plate in the welding shop that crushed him. The employee had worked at the plant for 23 years and died at a local hospital. OSHA is investigating the accident. Caterpillar reports their injuries have been reduced by over 90% for hours worked in 2017.

As a pedestrian, you realize that you could be part of an accident with a motor vehicle at some point. Of course, you don't want to think about this often as you realize just how dangerous it can be.

The more knowledge you have of pedestrian accidents, the easier it is to avoid trouble. Here are some of the top causes of accidents:

• Reckless driving, including speeding
• Distracted driving, such as talking on the phone or texting
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Drowsy driving
• Failure to use turn signals
• Failure to obey all traffic signals and signs
• Failure to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks

Despite long having been fodder for physical human and slapstick entertainment, slip-and-fall incidents are actually quite serious. They happen every day across the country, both to people while they work and to others who visit public spaces, like retail stores. Sometimes, the person involved in a slip-and-fall walks away with little more than a strong sense of embarrassment and a few bruises. Other times, however, the potential for serious injuries arises.

More than a million people each year seek treatment in emergency rooms across the country due to slip-and-fall accidents. People over the age of 65 may be at increased risk for severe injuries (such as broken hips), but anyone can sustain life-altering injuries when they slip somewhere and end up falling.

Saturday night, after the Highland Community College basketball team took on North Dakota State College of Science, they were returning to Freeport when their bus was involved in an accident injuring nine players. The accident occurred around 6:45 p.m., in Wright County on Interstate 94.

They were traveling east in a Coach bus when apparently the driver experienced a medical issue. Crashing into the median, the bus continued hitting trees and a freeway sign for another quarter of a mile or so. Finally, swerving back onto the road and then into the ditch, the bus came to a halt.