Lemont, IL — Two people were hospitalized following a single-vehicle car accident in Lemont, IL, on Tuesday, January 13, 2015. The accident took place in the 500 block of State Street, around 4:30 in the morning.
According to local officials, a car carrying a man and a woman crashed into a utility pole. Emergency workers arriving at the scene had to work for about 30 minutes to extricate one of the passengers from the vehicle. They were taken to Loyola University Medical Center. The second passenger was taken to Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital. Their names and ages were not released.
No one else was injured in the accident, and no other vehicles were involved.
Local authorities are continuing to investigate the crash. What caused the accident is not clear at this point.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
I don’t know exactly why this accident happened, so I can’t speak to it specifically. But I’ve seen similar accidents in the past, and so can speak a bit about those generally. If the accident happened because there was some sort of mechanical defect in the car, then that means that liability for the accident could fall back on the auto manufacturer. If the accident occurred because of unsafe practices the driver was engaged in, then he could be found liable for his passenger’s injuries. Drivers owe a duty of care to their passengers, and are legally obligated to create and maintain a safe environment while they’re being driven. If a driver fails to live up to that obligation, and a passenger is injured because of something he did, then the law would view him the same way it would view another driver who crashed into the passenger’s vehicle, making him responsible for the injuries that were sustained.
— Grossman Law Offices
