If you are involved in a traffic accident in the Chicago area, receiving immediate medical attention is your first priority. If you are pregnant, immediate medical attention is doubly important. Even when an expectant mother isn’t herself injured in the accident, the possibility of injury to the developing child must be considered too. Only after receiving treatment for your injury – or your child’s – should you then seek the advice of experienced Chicago personal injury attorney Joseph Dooley.
The sudden yanking and stopping motion in an accident – the same kind of motion that causes whiplash in the upper body – can toss a pregnant woman violently enough to injure the baby.
An expectant mother doesn’t need to sustain a direct blow to the abdomen for a baby to be injured; even a low-speed or minor crash can cause harm to the child. Trauma suffered in traffic collisions can lead to complications that may include miscarriage, premature birth, cesarean section, hemorrhaging, and detachment of the placenta from the womb (abruption). Late in a pregnancy, an expectant mother in a serious accident may be an immediate candidate for cesarean section.
The risk of injury to a developing child increases after the twelfth week of pregnancy because the fetus is no longer protected by the mother’s pelvis. If you are in a serious accident in the early weeks of pregnancy, you’ll have to tell paramedics and doctors to check on your baby. And if you have any of these symptoms after a traffic collision, even if you’ve already been seen by a doctor, go to an emergency room at once: dizziness, swelling, headaches, fever, chills, unusual discharge, bleeding, prolonged pain, and nausea not related to morning sickness.
If another driver’s negligence is responsible for the accident – and thus for your injury or your child’s – find a good personal injury lawyer. You may have grounds to file a personal injury claim and receive compensation for medical expenses and other costs related to your injury or your child’s. In the Chicago area, if you’re pregnant and you’re injured in a car accident – now or in the future – protect yourself and your child. Seek the advice and service of experienced Chicago personal injury attorney Joseph Dooley promptly.
Five Car Seat Mistakes
Pregnant women aren’t the only ones who have to worry about car accidents–all moms do. Every child is different; so is every child-safety seat. Surveys tell us that more than half of the car seats now in use for children are either too small or too large, or they’re improperly installed. If your child is injured in a traffic accident in the Chicago area, speak at once regarding your legal rights and options – including the possibility of a personal injury lawsuit – with experienced Chicago personal injury attorney Joseph M. Dooley. If a negligent driver or a defective safety seat is at fault for your child’s injury, you may be able to recover your medical costs and related expenses. Here are five of the most common car seat errors that even the best parents make. Avoiding these mistakes will enhance your child’s survival and safety prospects in a traffic collision:
- Not reading the instructions: You really must study the instructions for the particular seat you’ve purchased because you need to know about every part and feature.
- Changing seats too quickly: Your child is safer in the back seat, facing the rear. Yes, it’s inconvenient. But leave your child in a rear-facing seat as long as possible. Rear-facing seats offer maximum protection to the spine, neck, and head.
- Not strapping children into the seat securely: In a crash, a child’s body will move until restrained by the harness. Keep the harness tight to minimize the child’s movement.
- Buying “knockoff” seats: If you get a great deal on a seat, it might not be approved for sale in the U.S. Car seats are “knocked off” just like DVDs and designer purses. Buy from reputable retailers only, and do not buy a seat without a black-and-white label that says, “This child seat system conforms to all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS 213).”
- Disregarding the expiration date: Car seats get baked by the sun. Over time, their plastic deteriorates. You need a seat to evenly distribute crash forces, and if the plastic in a seat has deteriorated, eventually the seat will not protect your child adequately.
When you’ve done everything you can to protect your child, and you or your child suffers a crash injury because of another driver’s negligence, contact Chicago personal injury attorney Joseph Dooley at once.
Seat Belts for Safety
Every driver has the responsibility to drive safely. Even though there may always be accidents and negligent drivers, responsible drivers feel obligated to do everything possible to protect ourselves and our loved ones from being injured in traffic accidents. Whenever a driver is reckless and causes injury to others, that driver can be held legally accountable through a personal injury lawsuit. If you are injured in the greater Chicago area, now or in the future, by the negligent action (or negligent inaction) of another driver, it’s important to seek legal assistance at once from experienced Chicago personal injury attorney Joseph Dooley.
The routine use of seat belts is – by far – the most effective way to protect ourselves and our passengers from the negligence of other drivers and the injuries they cause. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, (NHTSA) using a seat belt reduces the risk of injury in a collision by 50 percent. NHTSA also reports that from 2004 to 2008, seat belts saved approximately 75,000 lives. In 2007, 42 percent of the fatalities in traffic accidents were not wearing seat belts during those accidents. NHTSA projects that if seat belt compliance reached 90 percent nationwide, 1,600 lives could be saved and 22,000 injuries could be avoided annually.
The District of Columbia and 49 of the states have mandatory seat belt laws. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, every driver and front seat passenger in Illinois must wear a seat belt. If despite your best efforts, you – or a loved one – are injured in a traffic accident with a negligent driver, a good Chicago injury lawyer may be able to help you recover compensation for medical expenditures, lost income, and sometimes more. If you’ve been hurt, don’t wait; your health and your future are your top priorities. Call experienced Chicago personal injury attorney Joseph Dooley at once and take a step toward the justice you deserve.