After a car accident, like a hit-and-run, sometimes all you have from the driver at fault is their license plate number. You might want their name, address, and phone number so that you can hold them responsible for their actions. But can you get the driver’s personal information based on their plate?

As an average person, in short, the answer is no. You most likely don’t have direct access to the databases that hold information about drivers. Even though you can’t get anything directly, there are legal ways to find out who is responsible for a car crash based on their plate number.

Most drivers in Marion use I-57 on a regular basis. While it may allow some drivers to avoid city traffic and get on a road that’s a straight shot to their destination, there are also additional dangers with taking the interstate. Not only will there be city traffic, other drivers passing through Illinois may take this road, including large vehicles like trucks. When drivers don’t pay attention to the road, they can cause accidents. Since interstates typically have more vehicles traveling at high speeds, innocent drivers can sustain serious injuries. Let’s take a look at some of the accidents that have occurred on I-57.

Uninsured drivers may drive without coverage for many reasons. They may have a lapse in car insurance because of missing a payment or their policy ran out. Some may forget to renew their policy. However, in the state of Illinois, it is illegal to drive without car insurance. If someone without car insurance is in an accident, they may not know what to do next, especially if they weren’t at fault. When these matters become complex, having the expertise of a Prince Law Firm lawyer can help.

While being an uninsured motorist who wasn’t at fault for an accident can be a nerve-wracking situation, it may benefit you to learn more about auto insurance laws in Illinois.

Even though we like to think vehicles are the only things allowed on roadways in North America, there’s usually nothing stopping wildlife from crossing roads, highways, and interstates. In Illinois, you might encounter smaller animals like foxes, raccoons, and skunks that don’t do a lot of damage if you accidentally hit them with your car. But bigger animals like bobcats and deer can be deadly if you collide with them.

Just over a million car crashes a year are caused by animal crossings, as reported by the Insurance Information Institute (III). The Federal Highway Administration further elaborates that up to 10% of collisions with wildlife result in injuries to drivers and passengers, which equals out to about 100,000 injuries per year. Most times these injuries are minimal, but sometimes they are serious or deadly.

Plenty of drivers in Illinois follow the rules and do their best to not break traffic laws. But of course, nobody is perfect. Drivers break the law every day, and some don’t even know that they’re doing something illegal. Or worse—they don’t care.

If you’re a driver and you don’t know every state traffic law, you should read the Illinois Vehicle Code and Illinois traffic offense list to know more about rules you need to follow every time you’re behind the wheel. While there are numerous laws broken by drivers that we could cover, below are the top five traffic laws broken by Illinois drivers.

AAA recently published a study that claims deaths caused by drivers running red lights are at a 10-year high across the country. In 2017 alone, there were 939 deaths from running red lights, which is a 28% increase since 2012, as reported by AAA. Of those deaths, about half were passengers or people in other vehicles, not the driver running the red light.

After a car accident, you may not think that you’ve sustained injuries because you can’t see any bruises, lacerations, or other evidence of bodily harm. However, this doesn’t mean that you’ve avoided injury. It’s entirely possible that you have internal injuries, which can be more difficult to detect. You also may be feeling fine because you’re in shock, which will mask symptoms of injuries. Those who believe they’re uninjured may soon experience more serious symptoms later because the injuries have worsened.

When an injury progresses because it hasn’t been treated, the entire nature of the injury can change. Something that could have been treated and gone on to make a full recovery may now be something that will cause chronic problems for the rest of a person’s life. Injury recovery windows often change depending on how quickly care can be administered– especially when it comes to internal injuries. This is why it’s imperative for you to get to the doctor as soon as possible.

Let’s look into how dangerous internal injuries can be:

When driving to a destination, responsible drivers are always aware of their surroundings and evaluating the conditions of the road. Impaired drivers, whether under the influence of drugs or alcohol, on the other hand, are often unaware of what’s happening around them and have a higher chance of putting others at significant risk for harm by causing a car accident. In order to protect yourself from intoxicated drivers, it’s crucial to understand how substances affect the brain and be able to recognize the telltale signs of impairment.

How Drugs and Alcohol Affect the Brain

While the signs of impairment are often similar if a driver is on drugs or has consumed an excessive amount of alcohol, the ways in which these substances affect the brain differs. The type of drug or the amount of alcohol can worsen impairment symptoms. Understanding how the brain is affected may discourage drivers from operating their vehicles under the influence.

Drugs interfere with the way neurons process, send, and receive signals. While some drugs like heroin or marijuana activate neurons because of their chemical structures and send abnormal messages to the brain, others like cocaine or amphetamine, can interfere with the communication between neurons. In general, the central nervous system and autonomic functions like respiration, blood pressure, and body temperature are impacted.

While you may assume you’ll be able to return to work quickly after a car accident, this isn’t always the case. Depending on your injuries, doctor’s recommendations, and treatment plan, you may have to take more time off than you’d like.

It’s important to understand that going back to work too early has the potential to worsen your condition. Unfortunately, you can’t rush the healing process. In order to feel comfortable about returning to work after a car accident, take these tips into consideration.

Immediately following a car accident, regardless of the severity, it’s imperative to evaluate yourself and the other involved parties for injuries. While in some cases you may just be able to schedule a doctor’s appointment with your primary care physician the next day, this isn’t always the case. You may need to call 9-1-1 to request the assistance of emergency medical responders.

Unfortunately, car accidents occur regularly in Illinois. Just in 2015, there were 313,316 motor vehicle accidents. Of those accidents, 21 percent resulted in injury. Of the crashes resulting in injury, 15.3 percent resulted in incapacitating injuries that prevent the injured individuals from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities they were capable of doing prior to sustaining the injury. Many of those severe injuries included lacerations, broken bones, skull or chest injuries, or abdominal injuries.