Illinois law has long had a law regarding speed limits in school zones. The law requires motor vehicles to operate, on a school day when children are present, at a speed of no more than 20 miles per hour while passing through designated school zones. In February of 2012, Governor Quinn approved Chicago Mayor Emanuel’s […]

Currently in Illinois, repeat speed offenders are oftentimes sentenced to court supervision and fines instead of license suspensions. According to this Chicago-Tribune article, sometimes the supervisory sentence is handed down improperly and the motivation for these types of alternate sentences is to allow the chronic speeder to avoid a license suspension. However, as reported in […]

Many of us fondly recall the Jetsons cartoon from our childhoods. It was a show that still seems incredibly futuristic, and yet many of the inventions envisioned in the Jetsons aren’t yet a part of our reality. But one concept–driver-free cars–is already a possibility in 2012. Search engine leader Google is currently testing driverless cars […]

Last year the Chicago Transportation Authority (CTA) introduced a shiny, brand new fleet of trains for the “L” track. This was the first time, in a number of decades, that the CTA had upgraded Chicago’s public transportation system and for many Chicagoans, the new cars were a welcome relief from the creaky, old trains they […]

Up until very recently, Illinois was 1 of 14 states refusing to allow the use of cameras in courtroom for the purpose of recording court proceedings. But its hold out status changed last week after an announcement from the Illinois Supreme Court. The Court explained that it would test the waters and permit the use […]

We’re all familiar with motor vehicle recalls. They happen all the time. Whether you hear about it in the news or receive a letter from the manufacturer, we’ve owned cars that have been recalled at one point or another. But how exactly does an automobile manufacturer decide whether to issue a recall? And what is […]

The Chicago Tribune recently reported on a lawsuit arising from a bizarre set of circumstances, but which raised an interesting legal issue. The facts in the case, Zokhrabov v. Jeung-Hee Park. (2011 WL 6823803), are decidedly gory and tragic. On September 13, 2008, 18-year-old Hiroyuki Johowas struck by an Amtrak train traveling approximately 70 miles […]

Everyone knows that teen drivers are the most likely to get into car accidents. Their lack of driving experience combined with distracted driving and an inability to appreciate risks all contribute to the greater likelihood that teen drivers will be in more automobile accident than adult drivers. In fact, according to this Chicago Tribune article, […]

Distracted driving is a problem for anyone who drives a car. If you’re not paying attention to the road and are focused on something else, whether it’s your cell phone, the radio, or a GPS device, you’re putting others on the road at risk. Distracted driving is dangerous, no matter who’s doing it. But it’s […]

Last year, Illinois lawmakers passed a comprehensive medical care reform bill that imposed a cap in medical malpractice cases. As explained at the PopTort, when that law was overturned as unconstitutional, a number of other beneficial medical malpractice regulatory laws that were included as part of the reform were scrapped as well due to a […]