Premise accidents can happen anywhere. From a friends’ home to the grocery store, if a person is injured while on the property of another, they can file for a personal injury claim. The most common premise accidents are slips and falls, but a person may also have a case after a dog bite, fire, or swimming pool injury. There are many reasons why a person may fall, but the key to a personal injury lawsuit is proving negligence.

What Is Negligence?

Although a property owner may not purposely cause harm to a person, if an accident could have been prevented, they may be considered negligent. Negligence is having the opportunity to fix an issue, such as a broken stair, but not following through. If a property owner is aware of an issue, they have the minimum obligation to put a warning up. For example, a wet floor sign is considered an adequate warning if surfaces are slippery inside a store after a rainstorm. If a person falls due to a medical condition, such as fainting, they would not likely be able to sue the property owner because there was no negligence involved on their part.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20% of all falls lead to serious injuries. Even tripping over an exposed wire could lead to a broken bone or head injury. That being said, most falls do not end with an injury that requires hospitalization. However, the ones that do can cause stress like not being able to go to work and getting expensive medical bills. This can negatively affect not only the individual victim but their family too.

For people who do not own a car or have limited access to public transportation, getting around can be challenging. Rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft created a more reliable and transparent service available at our fingertips. Taxis are more prevalent in large cities, but with rideshare companies, a car will come right to you, and the distribution is growing rapidly. Rideshare companies allow drivers flexible income, but what happens when one of those drivers gets into an accident?

In most states, not having car liability insurance is against the law, but it is a requirement for all rideshare drivers. A personal insurance plan may not cover work as a driver, so Uber provides their drivers with additional coverage. This additional coverage only applies when a driver is actively working and the app is on - otherwise the driver’s insurance will cover them. If a driver’s coverage does not cover driving for rideshare, then Uber provides the following when a driver is waiting for a request:

• $25,000 in property damage
• $50,000 in bodily injury per person
• $100,000 in bodily injury

When a driver is en route or has a passenger in the car, Uber will offer up to $1 million in third-party liability coverage.

For an able-bodied person full-time in the workforce, becoming disabled may be an uncomfortable thought. Although many disabled people live happy and healthy lives, becoming disabled is an adjustment. In some cases, a newly disabled person may need modifications to their home, lifestyle, and working conditions. Luckily if an accident or incident that caused a permanent disability occurred at work, employees have certain protections under workers’ compensation.

What Is Workers’ Compensation?

When an employer in Illinois starts a business, they are most likely required to have a workers' compensation insurance for their employees. No matter how small a business is, or how many employees they have, it is required by law. This insurance protects workers in the event of an injury that prevents them from working long or short term. When a claim is accepted, workers’ compensation covers lost wages from time away from work and medical expenses.

When a person is injured and cannot return to work, it is determined if they have a permanent or temporary disability. This is after the said employee has a medical evaluation and a doctor determines the prognosis of an injury. A temporary disability is something that a worker can either fully recover from, or recover enough to return to work in eventual time. A good example of temporary disability is a broken leg. When a person is deemed permanently disabled, they will not be able to recover from the injury, and may not be able to return to the workforce.

A child’s only responsibility is to grow up and become a successful adult. However, sometimes a traumatic experience can happen to a child that disrupts that development. Any kind of trauma will affect a person for life, but when a child is sexually abused, it can have lasting psychological and emotional effects. When children are endangered, their abusers should be held accountable.

Before they reach the age of 18, 25% of girls and 16% of boys are sexually abused. According to the Crimes Against Children Research Center, young girls are the largest targets to sexual abuse and men are the most likely perpetrators. Victims of child sexual abuse are more likely to come from low-income households and may have been victims of other crimes as well. Ninety percent of child sexual abuse is done by a person that a child trusts. Sexual abuse often comes from an adult that a child knows well, such as a family friend or acquaintance. The next likely perpetrators are family, then strangers.

The sexual abuse of a child can take many forms and constitutes as any sexual relations with a child. The age of consent in Illinois is 18 years old. Children cannot consent to sexual acts or manipulation. Sexual abuse is often thought of as intercourse, but it can also include:

Driving gets us to where we need to be, but that does not stop the world around us. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 3,000 people died as result of car accidents involving distracted driving in 2017. There are many distractions that a driver can face while on the road, and most are preventable.

Distracted driving is anything that diverts your attention from focusing on operating a car. This includes changing the radio station and speaking to others in the car, which may come naturally to us. However, one of the most dangerous instances of distracted driving has to do with mobile devices. Because of this, it is illegal in Illinois to use a cell phone while operating a car. This includes the use of tablets or personal digital assistants. No matter if you are talking on the phone, or using it to check the time, you are breaking the law. Exceptions include pulling over to the shoulder, using a “hands-free” device, or if it is an emergency.

It is difficult to avoid what is going on around us while in the car. However, it is in your best interest, your passengers, and the surrounding people, to focus your attention on driving. Consider these tips for cutting down on distracted driving: