Driving Tips For Upcoming Winter Storm

Chicago is currently undergoing a winter storm that will last throughout the day into tomorrow morning. Some parts of the Chicagoland region will get up to eight inches of snow. We are expected to be hit with another storm again on Saturday. If you can stay home and stay off the roads, please do so. The Illinois Department of Transportation (“IDOT”) and the Illinois State Police provided the following winter weather driving tips just in case you do have to drive the next couple days:

  • Check the forecast and ensure someone knows your travel route and schedule.
  • Fill up your tank or fully charge your vehicle and pack winter weather essentials, such as a cellphone charger, traction materials, warm clothes, blankets, food, water, first-aid kit, washer fluid and ice scraper.
  • Use extra caution in areas susceptible to icing, including ramps, bridges, curves and shaded areas. Watch for black ice. A road may appear clear but can be extremely slippery.
  • Give them distance. Obey the Move Over law by slowing down and changing lanes when approaching ANY stopped vehicle.
  • Always wear a seat belt. It’s the law and your best protection in the event of a crash.
  • Drop it and drive. Put down the mobile devices. This, too, is the law.
  • If you are involved in a crash, remain inside your vehicle. Exiting your vehicle near a busy road can have fatal consequences.

Please be careful if you need to drive in this winter weather. If you or a loved one are involved in a Chicago car crash or Chicago truck accident, please call the Chicago accident attorneys at The Bryant Law Group, LLC, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or go to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.

New Illinois Traffic Technology Will Warn Drivers Of Traffic Risks

The llinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology announced last month that they are introducing a GPS technology that will warn drivers of emergency vehicles on the road. The technology is aimed to promote Scott’s Law or the “Move Over Law” which requires Illinois drivers to o slow down and change lanes when approaching stationary emergency vehicles, including law enforcement, highway maintenance vehicles with flashing lights in use and any other stationary vehicle with its hazard lights activated.

The GPS technology called, HAAS Alert, will allow Illinois state police to send safety alerts to some Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz, RAM and Volkswagen vehicles. The alerts will notify drivers of the vehicles of state police activity ahead of them on the road and that hey need to slow down and move over. The digital alerts are delivered via navigation apps and vehicle infotainment systems.

The partnership with HAAS Alert builds on a state police partnership with Google Public Sector and Move Over crash alerts in Waze and Google Maps, expanding real-time, GPS-based alerts to more drivers, according to state police. Through the alert system, Illinois State Police compiles information about a crash or other potential traffic hazard and sends it to HAAS Alert, which distributes it to select vehicles via Safety Cloud. Drivers approaching the noted location will see a police icon and an alert to slow down and move over, according to state police.

This is an impressive technological development by the Illinois State Police. We have seen over the last 10 to 15 years how technology, specifically smart phones, can distract drivers and lead to traffic accidents. Here, the state police are using technology to their advantage and giving drivers fair warning that there are issues on the road ahead of them. It will provide them the opportunity to slow down and pull over to the other lane. This will hopefully lead to less traffic accident, but also protect first responders from the dangers of oncoming traffic. This was the whole purpose of Scott’s law.

If you or a lvoed one has been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago traffic accident, then call Illinois accident attorneys at the Bryant Law Group for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076 or go to the firm’s website at www.blgchicago.com.