The pickup’s driver was then trapped in the pickup, which was crushed into the area under the tanker truck. He was stuck in the vehicle until emergency crews freed him some time later. Workers used an oversized, inflatable air bag to lift the tanker off of the pickup truck. This was possible because the tanker was empty at the time of the accident.

Fortunately, due to the low speed of the crash, the driver was not killed, and was even conscious when the emergency workers freed him. He suffered only several broken bones. The driver of the commercial tanker truck was not injured.

At higher speeds, however, underride accidents are generally far more disastrous, often involving amputations, decapitations and other fatalities. An underride accident is one in which a smaller vehicle moves partway or fully underneath the body of a commercial truck before coming to a stop. Although the most common underride accidents occur when a smaller vehicle rear-ends a truck, on city streets broadside underride accidents occur with reasonable frequency, as well.

Unfortunately, American regulators have failed to implement a simple device which can protect against this type of trucking accident – the underride guard. An underride guard attaches to and extends below the truck, preventing smaller vehicles from moving partially into the space underneath. To date, only a very few types of trucks are required to have underride guards in the U.S., and guards are required only on the rear of the truck, not the sides. And even for those truck types where guards are required, standards are lax.

The underride guard is a simple, relatively inexpensive piece of equipment. While it cannot prevent accidents, it can dramatically decrease the injuries sustained when an accident occurs, and dramatically increase the odds of survival for the drivers and passengers of smaller vehicles.

Our top trucking accident attorneys thus urge our regulators to move to require underride guards on all commercial tractor-trailer and tanker trucks, and to tighten standards on those guards that are used. In comparison to the cost of guards, the cost in damage and human life from the lack of guards is overwhelming.

But until our regulators act, the civil justice system will be there to encourage the trucking industry to take action on its own. If you or someone you love was injured in a trucking accident, and your car or part of your car entered the space under the truck, talk to an experienced trucking accident lawyer. Bringing a legal claim against those who caused your injuries, including those who failed to equip the truck with an underride guard, may force one company or the industry as a whole to take action to correct this dangerous condition. Your courage, and your actions, could save the lives of accident victims who come after you.

For a free consultation with an experienced Chicago trucking accident lawyer at Passen Law Group, call us at (312) 527-4500.

Perchloroethylene is a chemical solvent. It is commonly used across the nation in dry cleaners. For some time, scientists have known that perchloroethylene is a likely human carcinogen. Now, the EPA has provided estimates for human exposure to perchloroethylene over the course of a lifetime, including the risk of cancer and non-cancer health effects.

Not included in the EPA’s assessment is any indication that wearing clothing treated with perchloroethylene in the dry cleaning process creates an exposure level which can cause health problems.

The EPA has already taken steps to address the perchloroethylene problem. For example, dry cleaners are already subject to EPA air standards, and dry cleaners located in residential buildings are required to phase out perchloroethylene use entirely by the end of 2020. Importantly, the EPA has already established permitted levels of perchloroethylene in drinking water, as well as levels for Superfund cleanup across the county – both of which will now be updated to reflect the new IRIS assessment.

Before posting the IRIS, the agency’s assessment underwent a rigorous scientific review, by the agency itself, other federal agencies, a public comment period, and an independent scientific review by the National Research Council. And in a surprising show of governmental efficiency and responsiveness, all the major comments made during the comment period have now been addressed by the agency.

Last week’s new IRIS assessment replaces the existing IRIS health risk assessment for perchloroethylene, issued in 1988. The most important update is a change in perchloroethylene’s reference dose. The IRIS reference does is meant to estimate the maximum level of daily oral exposure which a human can encounter without an “appreciable risk” of health problems over the course of his lifetime. The 1988 IRIS reference dose for perchloroethylene was set at 0.01 mg/kg-day.

The new IRIS reference dose is 0.006 mg/kg-day – a significant downward departure which will result in highly tightened standards and cleanup. This will affect Superfund sites – at hundreds of which perchloroethylene is present, drinking water standards, atmospheric emissions standards, and all areas of future agency rulemaking.

Our Chicago personal injury lawyers applaud the EPA for taking this important step. We also join with others in urging the Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to act on this new data and revise the current allowed perchloroethylene exposure levels in the workplace.
In the meantime, if you or a loved one has developed cancer or another serious medical condition after working at or near a dry cleaner, talk to a personal injury attorney about whether your condition may have been caused by prolonged perchloroethylene exposure. An experience attorney can help you to sort through the possible causes in your case, and to determine whether legal action is warranted.

For a free consultation with an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer at Passen Law Group, call us at (312) 527-4500.

As suggested by their name, traumatic brain injuries arise from trauma: a blow to the head. This blow to the head, in turn, can be caused by any number of circumstances, from trucking accidents and other motor vehicle accidents to falls, diving accidents, and assault. TBI can be mild, such as a concussion or seeing stars, or extremely severe, resulting in permanent disability or death.

TBIs fall into two categories of underlying head injury – open and closed head injuries. As its name implies, open head injuries are those where the trauma penetrates the skull, such as in a gunshot wound. With open head injuries, the damage is typically localized, to the area of the brain which is penetrated, and which immediately surrounds the penetrated area. Depending on the amount of penetration and the location of this injury, however, open head injuries can lead to severe injuries, permanent disability, and death.

Likewise, closed head injuries are caused by a blow to the head which does not penetrate the skull. The blow bruises and tears the tissue of the brain, often in the frontal and temporal lobes. This, in turn, causes injury to the nerves which link brain cells together, which can then spread throughout the brain.

At times, the symptoms of TBI are obvious immediately after the injury – the victim can black out, or become disoriented, for example. But at other times, the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury do not manifest until days, months, or even years after the fact. Symptoms can also be novel to or unrecognized by most observers. When a victim breaks his leg, he is unable to walk, something which everyone can understand. When a victim suffers a traumatic brain injury, however, he may have difficulty reasoning, difficulty speaking, or personality changes – injuries much more difficult to recognize and understand. Experienced professionals, such as the Chicago brain injury attorneys of Passen Law Group, thus often refer to TBI as an “invisible injury.”

Brain injury can also be “invisible” because it can fail to register on diagnostic imaging. Some types of TBI damage appear on CAT scans and MRIs, including tearing and bleeding. But others, such as the damage to nerve cells connecting brain cells, do not show up on these imaging types. Thus, TBI often must be diagnosed by examining the victim’s symptoms.

Symptoms of TBI vary from victim to victim, and can be behavioral, cognitive, or physical. But typical symptoms include reasoning or judgment difficulties, language problems, memory deficiencies, difficulty concentrating, learning disabilities, aggression, impulse control problems, depression and anxiety, difficulty seeing, hearing, tasting, or smelling, headaches, reduced motor function, balance problems, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, seizures, and pain (particularly neck pain).

Moreover, TBI, particularly repeated TBI, can lead to an increased risk of several diseases, including Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s. Researchers have also discovered that Lou Gehrig’s disease, is, in many cases, a misdiagnosed consequence of a traumatic brain injury.

If you or a loved one have suffered a TBI, it is crucial that you speak to an experienced attorney about your condition, its causes, and the symptoms you have suffered. An experienced attorney can help you to determine if another party was responsible for your injuries, and may be legally and financially responsible to compensate you. Our Chicago brain injury attorneys have experience with the various types of TBI, as well as the many forms of symptoms TBI can cause

For a Free Consultation with a top Chicago brain injury lawyer at Passen Law Group, call us today at (312) 527-4500.