Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer

Statute of Limitations To File a Chicago Truck Accident Lawsuit

Illinois’ statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years. So if you’ve been hurt by a large commercial vehicle, you have two years to file a truck accident claim. If your truck accident claim only relates to property damage, you’ll have five years to file. Your deadline starts from the date of the accident.

Although this sounds like plenty of time, memories and evidence can fade quickly. The longer you wait after a truck accident, the harder it’ll be for you to recover compensation.

Truck Insurance Requirements in Illinois

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds to have at least $750,000 of insurance coverage. This increases to $5 million if the truck carries hazardous materials.

Because trucks typically have much higher insurance limits than passenger vehicles, payouts tend to be higher. That also means carriers have more incentive to avoid a settlement.

Compensation for Damages & Losses in Chicago Truck Accident Cases

Under Illinois personal injury laws, you can seek compensation when someone’s negligent behavior hurts you. You can seek monetary and non-monetary damages after a truck accident. Calculating your truck accident claim’s value takes careful consideration.

Your monetary damages can be found relatively easily. You can prove these losses with the right documentation. They can include:

• Lost wages
• Medical expenses
• Diminished earning capacity

Non-monetary damages are more challenging to calculate. These conceptual losses can include:

• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Loss of consortium
• Diminished quality of life
• Disfigurement and scarring

When someone has been especially negligent, punitive damages may apply. These are typically ordered in extreme situations, like if the driver was reckless or driving drunk.

Proving Negligence in a Truck Accident Case

In personal injury law, someone is negligent when they fail to behave in a way that a reasonable person would have in the same situation. Either they behaved recklessly, or they failed to act, and someone was hurt because of that.

To win your truck accident claim, you’ll need to prove the defendant was negligent by showing:

• Duty of care: the defendant had a responsibility to act safely.
• Breach of care: the defendant failed their responsibility and acted recklessly.
• Harm to the plaintiff: this breach caused your truck accident.
• The Defendant knew they could cause harm: you must prove that the defendant should have known they could injure you.
• The Defendant directly caused you harm: you must show the jury that your truck accident wouldn’t have happened if not for the defendant’s actions.

People agree to drive safely whenever they get behind the wheel. If the defendant chooses to drive unsafely, they are breaching that duty. You’ll need to prove they should have known that their breach of duty could have catastrophic effects, and that their actions led to your semi-truck accident.

What Kind of Evidence Helps My Truck Accident Claim?

You should be keeping an accurate record of everything dealing with your truck accident. Useful evidence includes receipts, your insurance policy, police reports, photos or videos of the scene, and the contact information for the at-fault driver or eyewitnesses.

An accident with a truck could be recorded by a black box. These devices resemble those found in airplanes. The FMCSA requires many drivers to have electronic log devices installed in their vehicles to record service hours and other information. We can help you secure the information gathered by an ELD, which can support your claim.

The burden of proof for a civil lawsuit is based on a preponderance of the evidence, which means that enough evidence exists to prove that the other party is more likely than not to have caused your injuries. Photos, eyewitness testimonies, and other forms of evidence could be used to prove fault.