The Chicago City Council approved a $10 settlement for a man who falsely confessed to the 1986 murders of an elderly couple after two Chicago police detectives working with police commander Jon Burge threatened and punched him, rupturing his eardrum, as he sat handcuffed in a chair in a south side police station.  The confession was thrown out in 2011 and prosecutors dismissed the indictment after determining that they could not go forward without the tainted confession as evidence.  The victim spent 25 years behind bars for the crimes he did not commit.

Lane & Brown, L.L.C. has handled numerous cases involving police brutality.  If you, a family member or a friend have been the victim of police brutality, you may be able to take action.  We can help!  Please contact the attorneys at Lane & Brown, LLC at (312) 332-1400 or visit our website at lanebrownlaw.com.

Asiana Airlines said on Monday that it would enhance training for pilots seeking to convert to flying new aircraft, part of a series of measures it is undertaking after the fatal crash of an Boeing 777 plane in San Francisco.

Three Chinese teenagers were killed and over 180 people injured when the Asiana flight from Seoul crash-landed at San Francisco’s international airport on July 6.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said although both the pilot and co-pilot were experienced, they had not flown together before.  The pilot in charge of landing was in training on the 777 and the co-pilot was acting as an instructor on his first flight.

“We will bolster our training programme…when a pilot converts to a jet from a different manufacturer,” Asiana said in a presentation to the government, which was shown to reporters.

The new measures will include enhancing training for visual approach and automated flight and conducting flight inspection on airports which are “vulnerable to safety.”

Asiana said it will also seek to improve communications skills among crew members, and introduce a system to manage “fatigue risk.”  Other measures include setting up separate maintenance teams for Boeing and Airbus planes, and enhancing safety management systems.

If you or a loved one have been injured in plane crash, you may be able to take action.  Airplane crashes can result from pilot error, construction or design defects, or other causes of mechanical failure including poor maintenance.  We can help! Please contact the attorneys at Lane Brown, LLC at (312) 332-1400 or visit our website at lanebrownlaw.com.

 

 

Recently, there has been a string of injuries and wrongful deaths caused by the negligence of private bus and limousine companies. This week, one such case has resulted in the filing of a wrongful death suit being filed against a party bus operator. The Kansas City (MO) Star (6/18, Rizzo, 197K) reports, “A wrongful death lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the operators of a party bus from which a young mother fell to her death in May.” The Star notes that “according to the lawsuits filed by Kansas City attorneys Lynn Johnson and David Morantz, after Midnight Express bought the used vehicle in 2010, it made ‘extensive modifications’ that included removal of some of the vehicle’s safety features.” According to the Star, “in late May, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an ‘imminent hazard’ order that prohibited the company from continuing to operate until it addressed what the federal order termed an ‘appalling’ disregard for safety.”

If you or someone you know needs assistance after a bus or limousine accident, please contact The Law Offices of Lane Brown, LLC, or call 312-332-1400 or 1-800-LAWYERS.

What to do If You Are In A Car Accident

1. Try to stay calm:  Auto accidents can be a pretty scary, stressful time, but it is extremely important that you try not to panic and remain calm, especially if there are other passengers in the vehicle.

2.  Immediate Steps After a Car Accident:  There are a few steps you should always follow after an accident. First, put the car in park and put on your emergency lights. Do not leave the scene of the accident. Assess any injuries to yourself and/or passengers, and inspect the car for damages.

3.  Report the Car Accident:  Immediately call 911 and report the accident, giving dispatchers any helpful landmarks or signs that will help them find your location quickly. Let them know how many vehicles are involved, and if you or your passengers have been injured. You should not move your vehicle until the police come and safely guide you to the shoulder or side of the road.

4.  File the Car Accident Report:  Once the police arrive, file an accident report. Do not discuss the accident with anyone except for the police.  When you do talk to the police, be as accurate as possible about any statements that you make, as they will often be stated as either your quotes or statements that are attributed to you in the police report.

5.  You should get as much contact information as possible from the drivers and passengers of other vehicles involved in the accident, as well as contact information from any witnesses. Important information such as name, contact numbers, addresses, car make, model, year, color, license plate number, and VIN (Vehicle Identification Number).

You also need their car insurance name and phone number as well, and any policy numbers they might have.

6.  It is extremely helpful to try to preserve evidence.  If you have a camera or cell phone which has a built-in camera, take  photographs of the cars’ damages and the scene of the accident, as well as any visible signs of injury. In photographing the vehicles, take pictures that show all of the damage on all vehicles  as well as damage to the surrounding scene that would illustrate what happened and how the accident occurred.  If you can, take pictures of the resting positions of the vehicles immediately after the impact, and before they have been moved. If any of the vehicles have already been moved from their resting position, take photos that show the location where each vehicle came to a stop after the collision.  Photograph any debris from the vehicles, skid marks and anything else which would help to explain what happened. It is smart and safe practice to either keep a camera in your car, or to use the camera capabilities on cell phones.

7.  Contact Your Car Insurance Company:  Call your insurance company as soon as possible. Most insurance companies provide you with a wallet-sized reference card with a 1-800 emergency phone number. You can also refer to the copy of your insurance policy (which you should keep in your glove compartment). Be sure to give the insurance company as much information as possible.

8.  Whether or not you are able to take photographs after an accident, as soon after the accident as possible, write down everything that happened in the time leading up to the collision, what happened during the accident and what happened immediately following the accident. If you or others in your vehicle have been injured, you should seek immediate medical care, even if you don’t belive that the injuries are serious at the time.  It is not unusual for serious injuries to be “hidden” by the trauma of an accident, and many serious injuries can be avoided by prompt medical attention. On the other hand, many serious injuries can turn into tragedies if they are not detected as early as possible.
Auto accidents are never pleasant, but being able follow these steps will ensure that dealing with the aftermath will be a lot less painful.

If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in a car accident, you may be able to take action. Please contact the attorneys of Lane Brown, LLC, or call us at 312-332-1400 to speak with us about your options. We can help. To learn more about Lane Brown, please visit our website at lanebrownlaw.com.

We found this video on a hospital website. We thought it was well done and will be adding it to our website. Considering that strokes kill almost 130,000 Americans a year (1 in every 19 deaths) and that strokes affect 795,000 people in the US every year….we thought it would be worthy of sharing. Not only will it be informative for the lay person, but it has a catchy tune.

If you or a family member suffers stroke-like symptoms….Remember to act FAST!

If you or a loved one has suffered serious injuries as a result of an improperly managed stroke, we may be able to help. Contact the attorneys at Lane Brown, LLC now.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board voted to recommend to states that they lower the blood-alcohol content that constitutes drunk driving.

Currently, all 50 states have set a BAC level of .08, reflecting the percentage of alcohol, by volume, in the blood. If a driver is found to have a BAC level of .08 or above, he or she is subject to arrest and prosecution.

The NTSB recommends dropping that to a BAC level of .05.

Each year, nearly 10,000 people die in alcohol-related traffic accidents and 170,000 are injured, according to the NTSB. While that’s a big improvement from the 20,000 who died in alcohol-related accidents 30 years ago, it remains a consistent threat to public safety. Studies show that each year, roughly 4 million people admit to driving while under the influence of alcohol.

The recommendation prompted immediate criticism from restaurant trade groups. “This recommendation is ludicrous,” said Sarah Longwell, managing director of American Beverage Institute. “Moving from 0.08 to 0.05 would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior. Other comments included: “Further restricting the moderate consumption of alcohol by responsible adults prior to driving does nothing to stop hardcore drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.”

The United States, Canada and Iraq are among a small handful of countries that have set the BAC level at .08. Most countries in Europe, including Russia, most of South America and Australia, have set BAC levels at .05 to constitute drunken driving. The lowering of blood-alcohol levels to .05 has worked where it’s been tried. When Australia dropped its BAC level from .08 to .05, provinces reported a 5-18 percent drop in traffic fatalities.

Even the lowered levels have been shown to cause drivers’ impairment.  The NTSB reports that at .05 BAC, some drivers begin having difficulties with depth perception and other visual functions.  At .07, cognitive abilities become impaired. At .05 BAC, the risk of having an accident increases by 39 percent. At .08 BAC, the risk of having an accident increases by more than 100 percent.

The NTSB believes that if all 50 states changed their standard to .05, nearly 1,000 lives could be saved each year.  It is also considering other steps to help bring down the death rates on America’s roads.

The NTSB is an investigative agency that advocates on behalf of safety issues.  It has no legal authority to order any change to state or federal law. It would be up to individual states whether to accept the NTSB’s recommendation, and up to the Department of Transportation whether to endorse the recommendations.

The last move from .10 to .08 BAC levels took 21 years for each state to implement.

If you or someone you know was injured in an alcohol or drug-related accident, the lawyers at Lane Brown, LLC will work with you as a team help you recover.  Please contact us by calling Lane Brown at 312-332-1400, or on our website, at lanebrownlaw.com.  We can help!

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