Levinson and Stefani Sponsors 2nd Annual Pillars of Freedom Foundation Golf Event

September 14, 2018 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

Pillars of Freedom Foundation held its second annual golf event Tuesday, September 11th, and Levinson and Stefani was proud to be a sponsor. The event, held at Boone Creek Golf Club in Bull Valley, Illinois, raised money for the foundation’s efforts.

Pillars of Freedom recognizes and supports veterans of the armed services and first responders by setting up flag displays, hosting “Welcome Home” events and memorial services, providing financial support to veterans, sponsoring Honor Flights, and various other services.

Golfers enjoyed perfect weather for the round, after which everyone was treated to dinner on the clubhouse patio. Raffle tickets were sold for chances to win numerous prizes, including autographed Chicago sports memorabilia, golf clubs, and other items.

“It’s a really great organization,” said managing partner, Jay Stefani, who represented the firm at the outing. “We love giving back to our communities, but Pillars of Freedom Foundation is a particularly worthy cause. Especially on September 11th, we want to show our respect and appreciation for our armed services and first responders.”

Prizes were given to the lowest scoring group, the longest drive, and closest to the pin. In addition to a hole-in-one contest, foursomes competed in a “yellow ball” game. Every team was provided one marked yellow golf ball. Each hole, one player had to use the yellow ball for each shot. The goal was to still have the yellow ball at the end of the round — not easy considering the abundance of water hazards and wooded fields on and along the course. (There may be truth to the rumor Jay lost his foursome’s yellow ball for the second consecutive year.)

Show your support by following Pillars of Freedom on Facebook, and keep up on other great fundraising events as well as various service projects. Even better, please consider a donation or volunteering your time or talents.

The foundation is already planning its third annual golf event for next year, and hopes to keep increasing participation. Levinson and Stefani is certainly looking forward to continuing its support of this fine group, and Jay is always looking for golfers to join him on the course!

Trucker Hats Can Save Lives?

November 29, 2017 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

Trucker hats went from being a stereotype for truckers to a trendy accessory for the fashion-forward. But now they’re becoming futuristic life-saving technology thanks to the work of Ford and GTB, a Brazilian-based company. Ford’s SafeCap uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to recognize when a trucker might be falling asleep (literally nodding off). When the hat senses this, it triggers vibrations and lights within the hat to alert the driver.

The hat is still being tested and marketed in Brazil, but the hope is to develop it for sales and use in other countries. Driver fatigue is a huge problem when it comes to traffic safety. It’s estimated that 1 in 25 drivers have fallen asleep while driving, with drowsy driving being “responsible for 72,000 crashes, 44,000 injuries, and 800 deaths in 2013” per the NHTSA. As it relates to trucking, fatigue was listed as an “associated factor” in roughly 18,000 truck crashes resulting in injury or death that were studied by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Hats off to Ford for developing a potentially life-saving piece of technology that truckers are likely to wear and use.

Distracted Driving Is About More Than Just Cell Phones

November 28, 2017 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

Man texting while driving.

Distracted driving is a problem. Excellent organizations, like EndDD.org, are working hard to raise awareness, including sending people to high school driver’e education classes to tell new teen drivers about the dangers of using their cell phones while driving. I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to several high school classes, and I can say it has been a rewarding and eye-opening experience. I came away impressed by the overwhelming recognition that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous — and many of these teenagers see their own parents doing it on a regular basis. But one significant distraction is being ignored: passengers.

Maureen Salamon recently wrote a great article, “Help distracted teens keep focused on the road,” that shines a light on the top distraction for teen drivers. According to a 2016 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study, passengers, not cell phones, were the top distraction for teen drivers. Being a chauffeur-parent, it might be difficult to remember, but there was a time when it was exciting to be able to drive your friends around town. I have many great memories of shuttling friends to movies, games, each other’s houses, all the while laughing and discussing the “important” issues of the day. But an honest recollection of those days also involves moments of near misses due to focus on friends as opposed to the roads and traffic. In fact, many states (including Illinois) limit the number of passengers a teenaged driver can have in the car.

I’ve been helping victims of car crashes for over a dozen years now, and I’ve taken the depositions of over one hundred drivers who injured my clients. In every one of those depositions, I ask if there were passengers in the car. It’s not always a sign of careless driving, sure, but as the studies show, it might be. When we take our cars out on the roads, be sure to focus on avoiding all the potential distractions. This isn’t to say don’t drive with passengers. Be cognizant that your friends or family can pull your attention from the task at hand. And please be sure to monitor any young drivers in your household. Make sure they understand when they are driving, driving safely is the focus.

Should cyclists consider facemasks to prevent injuries?

August 25, 2017 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

Recently during my evening commute home, I was distracted by a cyclist wearing a bicycle helmet outfitted with crossbars, like something akin to a college hockey mask. And it wasn’t the first time.

A theme keeps popping up downtown and on the 606, and it presents a question that I’ve often thought about prior to my encounter with Mr. Blackhawk: Should cyclists and helmet manufacturers start engineering the type of gear that’s normally reserved for professional athletes?

We know that the NFL is facing a litany of scrutiny for things like CTE and long term brain damage. And because of it, companies that manufacture helmets have come up with tons of designs to curtail the kind of debilitating head trauma seen in sports like football and even soccer. They do so by incorporating science-based research into nearly every piece of new equipment, down to the fibers of the plastic.

Recently, the Seattle-based manufacturing company Vicis, co-founded by neurosurgeon Sam Browd, unveiled the ZERO1, a pliable, impact-absorbing helmet shell that cushions against violent collisions. Per the company, the helmet is based on the principle that “layers work together to slow impact forces.” Of three major helmet manufacturers, Vicis topped the popular helmets produced by companies like Riddell. A report from CBS Sports also cited Inc.com, which reported that 25 NFL teams have purchased the ZERO1 for this coming season.

People will be quick to point out that a football helmet and a cycling helmet are different. But I would argue that cycling helmets have, for many riders, acted more like an ornament rather than a protective piece of equipment. They may be sleek but they could be even more effective.

I often wonder what might happen if cyclists took the helmet issues as seriously as organizations like the NFL. What if cyclists began outfitting their helmets with facemasks, or mouth guards, or skull caps with layer-incorporated shells, helping to absorb the shock waves of violent impact? Would it make a difference?

I would even go as far as to argue that something as simplistic as a facemask would go a long way to prevent damage to the face and mouth, no less impactful than, say, a hit to the crown of the head. At the very least, you’re saving your teeth.

I look at the people commuting to work on their bikes every day—some of whom don’t wear helmets at all—and I think about the inherent danger of winding through busy streets, vulnerable to fast cars. Professional athletes seem to know that they’re vulnerable; many have taken proactive steps to change that. Cyclists should do so too.

City Council moves forward with side guard ordinance

July 26, 2017 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

Money talks. And it talks loudly. Yesterday’s agreement put forth by the City Council Budget Committee to pump $5 million into retrofitting all city-owned and city-contracted trucks with protective side guards is yet another encouraging sign that the city is taking safety seriously. And it’s about to get even more serious.

Later today, the entire City Council is expected to take up a full vote, which, if passed, would mark another progressive step toward the city’s Vision Zero plan that aims to eliminate all traffic-related deaths by the year 2026. Side guards are a great step to achieving that goal, if only because they one of the few proven solutions to preventing serious injuries and deaths from occurring at the hands of large trucks.

We wrote about the beginnings of the side guard mandate a couple weeks ago. Back then, it was simply introduced to the Budget Committee and expected to pass as a matter of formality. But now that the vote is taking place, there’s a sense of optimism knowing that a full-fledged legislative commitment is finally taking shape.

These are the types of laws that are both beneficial in the short-term and the long-term, both for pedestrians and for operators of large trucks. We can’t say it enough: side guards are practical and effective. And for a major city like Chicago, they are necessary.

Regarding yesterday’s budget approval, the Sun-Times pointed out that the Budget Committee moved forward after Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld recounted a 2015 crash that killed a mother and her two young children. In that situation, a truck was making a left-hand turn when the mother and her kids were swept underneath the truck’s back tires, a truly horrific scenario. But perhaps worse than the outcome itself is the fact that the crash was, in theory, preventable.

There’s certainly room for improvements when it comes to side guards and especially for their perceived added cost, which has been a sore point for trucking businesses and even local government. But with today’s vote, there can be no denying that the point of all this isn’t about the money—it’s about protecting people each day.

Nonprofit launches petition for dedicated bike lane on Milwaukee Avenue

June 26, 2017 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

Milwaukee Ave. needs a change

The Active Transportation Alliance has launched an online petition to encourage city officials to consider “low cost, near term improvements” on Milwaukee Avenue, including a dedicated bike lane, according to the Tribune.

“Bold actions are needed to immediately improve the safety of Milwaukee Avenue and begin the street’s long overdue transition to a walking, biking, and transit oriented corridor,” reads the petition.

“This public process is a unique opportunity to advance a shared vision for truly transforming one of Chicago’s most iconic streets and one of the busiest streets for biking in the whole country. We are heartened by many of the exciting ideas already floated by local leaders and city officials, including reducing vehicle speeds and closing off unnecessary slip lanes.”

Among the proposals included in the petition are:

New bikeways that eliminate risk of doorings and other common crashes
Vehicle speeds of 20 mph or lower
Easy and accessible access to transit
More space for people walking and biking at intersections, including closed slip lanes, curb bump outs, and bike boxes

A few weeks ago, we made a few speculations about what the city might do with regard to the reconfiguration of North/Milwaukee/Damen. As it relates to Milwaukee Ave., the Active Transportation Alliance seems bent on forcing the issue by soliciting public support to make it more likely that one of Wicker Park’s busiest intersections and roads is made safer.

As we’ve said, a dedicated bike lane on Milwaukee Avenue would significantly improve the safety and security of cyclists who ride in the neighborhood. On one recent trip to Wicker Park, I noticed a throng of traffic that posed severe risks to two Divvy riders, who had just ventured into the left-turn lane of North/Milwaukee/Damen. No one seemed to care that they were not wearing helmets and that they were vulnerable because of a lack of adequate lanes directing cyclists to safer areas. Worse, the cyclists seemed to assume that drivers would accommodate them by virtue of the fact that they were on bikes.

It doesn’t stop there. Once the couple turned on Milwaukee, they were nearly clipped by a parked car that had opened its passenger door from the driver’s side, all while cars behind them dodged between lanes.

The problem here is two-fold: Cyclists need a designated bike lane on Milwaukee Ave, but the city needs to find a way to account for traffic that is consistent and unrelenting. One proposal from the neighborhood meeting I mentioned above suggested eliminating parking on one side if Milwaukee Ave., opening the possibility for cyclists to ride on safer, wider streets, though it’ll cost the city parking in a premium shopping and dining district. There’s a compromise somewhere, but based on the petition from Active Transportation Alliance, it seems people are tired of waiting.

Click here to read the petition and voice your support.