Chicago Car Accident Lawyers

Types of Auto Accidents, Injuries & Damages

Motor vehicle crashes occur for many reasons and often result in severe injuries. Sometimes establishing responsibility is obvious. Other times, it takes an investigation to determine if a driver was distracted, impaired, or negligent.

We Handle a Wide Range of Auto Accidents in Chicago

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, more than half of all car accidents in the state occurred in Cook County. Our experienced Chicago car accident lawyers have been helping people recover physically and financially for over 20 years. In that time, we’ve secured millions and gained incredible insight into how to handle virtually any car accident scenario.

If you or a loved one have been injured in any of the following car accident, contact us:

• Head-On Collisions
• Car vs Truck Accidents
• Rear-End Crashes
• Pedestrians Accidents
• Fatal Car Accidents
• Side Impact (T-Bone) Collisions
• SUV Rollover Crashes
• Accidents Involving Bicycles
• Drunk Driving
• Distracted Driving or Texting While Driving
• Dangerous and Defective Roads
• Speeding
• Reckless Driving
• Aggressive Driving
• Work Zones
• Uber or Lyft Accidents
• Teen Driver Accidents
• Car vs. Public Transpiration
• Accidents Involving Trains
• Injured Car Accident Passengers

Common Chicago Car Accident Injuries

The severity of your car accident injuries significantly impacts the value of your claim. It’s important to keep up with medical treatment and document your recovery. This includes medical bills, treatment documents, and insurance info.

Here are some of the most common injuries we see after auto collisions:

• Head and Brain Injuries —concussions or other traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding, skull fractures, or lacerations that require plastic surgery.
• Neck and Back Injuries —Whiplash, herniated discs, spinal cord damage, sprains, or strains.
• Burn Injuries — Burns can run the spectrum from minor to fatal. Serious burns may require skin grafts and result in scarring.
• Soft Tissue Injuries — When muscles, tendons, or ligaments are stretched or torn in an accident, the pain can be significant and lingering.
• Broken Bones — Broken bones can be extremely painful, may require surgery to fix, and can take a very long time to heal.
• Spinal Injuries – When the spinal cord is damaged, and the severity of the injury, a loss of movement or sensation in the lower extremities may result.

Compensation for Damages & Losses in Car Accident Cases

When someone else is responsible for your injuries, you have the right to be compensated. A full car accident settlement should consider how your life has been affected. It should include both your economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages can easily be proven with documentation such as pay stubs, bank statements, and other financial records. Economic car accident damages include:

• Lost wages
• Diminished earning capacity
• Childcare expenses
• Household maintenance fees
• Medical expenses

Non-economic damages are harder to value, but should be considered, nonetheless.

• Loss of consortium
• Diminished quality of life
• Physical pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Reputational damage
• Disfigurement and scarring

Punitive damages are also available in car accident cases, but only is egregious situations. Reckless and drunk driving are common examples.

Determining the Cost of Your Car Accident Claim

Accident attorney Jared Staver explains how insurance companies try to avoid paying you compensation for your injuries, and the elements of a tort that your car accident lawyer will have to prove in order to receive compensation.

Negligence, Fault, & Liability after a Car Accident in Chicago

Most car accident cases are based on negligence. This means that another driver or some other party acted unreasonably or failed to act and caused you else harm.

Car Accident Evidence & Documentation

While proving someone’s negligence caused a car accident sounds easy, especially if you believe they were speeding, distracted, or intoxicated, the reality is much different.

The burden of proof is based on a preponderance of the evidence – you need enough evidence to demonstrate that the other party is more than likely responsible for your injuries. This includes photos, medical records, and other documentation.

Liability & Fault in a Chicago Car Accident

An injury alone isn’t enough. Someone needs to be held responsible for the harm you suffered. This means physical and financial harm. In legal terms, this is the ‘liability.’ To determine liability, you must typically identify who’s responsible and how they ignored their duty to act responsibly, thereby causing your injury and various losses.

Illinois follows the traditional at-fault approach to liability in a car accident. In most cases, you will file a third-party claim with the responsible driver’s insurance company or their employer if they were working at the time.

But because insurers are businesses, they are reluctant to pay when their policyholders cause accidents. Thus, it’s wise to retain a car accident lawyer to represent your interests.

Time Limits, Car Insurance Claims & Defenses

A car accident claim can get complicated fast. Insurance companies and their lawyers will quickly diminish your injuries, suggest that you’re to blame, and use stall tactics so you give up and accept less than you deserve.

Illinois Car Accident Statute of Limitations

You need to act quickly if you or a loved one were hurt in a car accident in Chicago. In Illinois, you have two years to file for a car accident and many other personal injury cases. However, if the plaintiff is a child or another variable exists, the time limit permitted to file a case may differ.

This sounds like plenty of time, but memories and evidence fade quickly after a car wreck. The longer you wait, the harder it’ll be to recover compensation.

Illinois Car Insurance Laws and Requirements

In Illinois, all vehicles must be covered by what’s called 25/50/20 coverage:

• Minimum of $25,000 for injury or death of one person
• $50,000 for injury or death of two or more people
• $20,000 for property damage

If you are in a car crash with someone from another state, their minimum amount of insurance may turn out to be higher or lower.

Other Car Insurance Polices and Claims

It’s important to check each relevant party’s insurance coverage. More than one policy may apply, or your own coverage may let you recover if the other driver doesn’t have sufficient insurance.

Some common insurance issues our car accident lawyers near you can help with include:

• First Party Claims
• Third-Party Claims
• Poor Communication with Carriers
• Insurance Company Imposed Time Limits
• Arbitration
• Subrogation
• Bad Faith

Disputed Liability & Car Accident Defenses

Aside from using the statute of limitations against you, the other party and their insurer will want to protect themselves and their profits. They do this by refuting your claims and using various defense strategies to reduce or deny your claim.

• The other side may raise certain procedural defenses based on existing law or failure to comply with a statutory rule.
• Factual defenses to car accident liability usually revolve around you being wholly or partially to blame for the accident, or that you inflated the severity of your injuries.