Chicago is a motorcycle-friendly city for residents and a destination state for bikers, with popular routes, such as Wabash Avenue in the South Loop. Unfortunately, motorcyclists are exposed to direct contact with the road, other vehicles, and obstacles in accidents, leaving motorcycle riders vulnerable to severe or catastrophic injuries in Chicago motorcycle crashes.
Despite motorcycles making up less than 1% of total traffic accidents in Illinois, they account for an alarming 14.6% of fatal crashes.
If you or a close family member suffered a serious injury in a Chicago auto accident, contact Smith LaCien LLP to learn more about your rights under the state’s fault-based injury laws.
A motorcycle accident is traumatic and painful, often impacting the entire family with repercussions on finances, family life, and an injury victim’s ability to return to work and accomplish routine tasks. In the worst cases, a motorcycle accident ends in life-altering, catastrophic injury or death.
When an accident claim really matters, you can expect the following from the legal team at Smith LaCien LLP:
Smith LaCien LLP does not charge upfront fees to injury victims. Instead, you’ll have a free initial consultation before your attorney goes to work at no cost to you until after obtaining compensation for your losses through a settlement or court award.
Motorcyclists must comply with traffic laws and remain alert and vigilant while riding, especially in busy urban areas like Chicago. Unfortunately, even a careful, experienced rider can suffer grave injuries when a driver fails to take reasonable care while sharing the road with a motorcycle. The most common driver actions resulting in motorcycle accidents in Chicago include the following:
Less commonly, motorcycle accidents result from hazards such as potholes, uneven lanes, lack of guardrails, or inadequate signage. Some motorcycle accident claims become product liability cases filed against the manufacturer of a defective motorcycle part.
Motorcyclists often suffer multiple blunt force traumas in a crash, resulting in severe injury.
According to data from the National Safety Council (NSC), motorcycle helmets are 37% effective in preventing motorcycle operator deaths in accidents and 41% effective in preventing passenger deaths.
Unfortunately, a helmet doesn’t protect the remainder of the body and can’t prevent all brain injuries, because the brain may bump or twist against the inside of the skull during a powerful jolt or impact.
Common injuries listed in Chicago motorcycle accident claims include the following:
In the worst cases, motorcycle accidents cause fatal injuries, leaving a family grieving a lost loved one. When a motorcycle accident was preventable if only a careless, reckless, or wrongful driver had taken reasonable precautions, it’s even more distressing for the loved ones left behind.
Insurance companies are in business to make profits, and they often do so at the expense of paying out fairly on claims. Many insurers exhibit bias against motorcyclists, which can lead them to deny or undervalue a claim, assign an unfair share of fault to the rider, or shift liability to the motorcyclist under the Illinois modified comparative negligence law.
Under this law, a motorcyclist cannot recover compensation if the insurance company finds them more than 50% at fault for the accident. If the insurer finds them more than 51% at fault, it shifts liability to the motorcyclist, which may unfairly leave them liable for a driver’s property damage and personal injury costs.
An experienced motorcycle accident lawyer assertively defends against these and other insurance company tactics by doing the following:
About 93% of motorcycle accident personal injury claims end with a settlement, but a trial-ready attorney from Smith LaCien LLP will present your case in court within the state’s two-year statute of limitations if required to achieve the favorable result you deserve.
A motorcycle accident claim requires substantial evidence of the at-fault party’s negligence to prove them liable for the injury victim’s property damages, like medical expenses, lost income, and compensation for pain and suffering. For a successful claim, the evidence must demonstrate the following legal standards of liability:
Damages in motorcycle accidents add up quickly when the injury causes temporary or permanent disability.
Immediately after an accident, most motorcyclists focus on surviving their injuries, undergoing medical procedures, and dealing with a painful recovery process. Soon, however, medical bills begin piling up at the same time that serious injuries temporarily or permanently prevent a return to work. Before filing a claim or speaking to the at-fault party’s insurance company, it’s to your advantage to hire an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer to investigate the accident, compile evidence, and provide legal representation throughout the claim process.
Often, insurance companies reach out quickly to injured motorcyclists with lowball settlement offers, intentionally made before the injury victim knows the full extent of their future damages. Accepting an early settlement requires signing away the right to a lawsuit. Instead, reach out to a Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer as soon as you are physically well enough to call, or have a trusted family member help you obtain legal counsel.
The aftermath of a motorcycle accident is often a particularly traumatic and chaotic scene, due to a rider’s direct contact with the road or a vehicle in a crash.
A motorcyclist may be incapacitated and unable to take any purposeful action, but if a crash victim can use their phone, or have someone else use it for them, they can begin physically and financially protecting themself immediately after the accident by doing the following:
Eyewitness testimony can be crucial to a motorcycle accident claim when a collision occurs in an area without traffic cameras or nearby security cameras to capture the scene. Unfortunately, eyewitnesses sometimes leave the scene without providing their contact information to the police.
After a motorcycle accident, go directly to the hospital for emergency treatment and request a complete medical assessment to diagnose every injury, including those that may have delayed symptom presentation. Ask the provider for a detailed medical report listing every injury, their recommended treatment, and your prognosis for recovery.
This report becomes essential evidence in your Chicago motorcycle accident claim.
During the months after the accident, be sure to follow your doctor’s instructions carefully, attend every appointment, and fill all prescriptions. Avoid posting on social media until after your claim has been resolved.
Under Chicago’s fault-based insurance system for accidents, it matters who is responsible. Typically, this is a negligent driver, but other parties can also cause or contribute to a motorcycle accident. For instance, when a negligent road maintenance agency fails to address a significant hazard, such as repairing a deep pothole or removing foliage that obstructs a traffic sign.
Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, the Illinois modified comparative negligence rule states the following:
“The plaintiff shall not be barred from recovering damages if the trier of fact finds that the contributory fault on the part of the plaintiff is not more than 50% of the proximate cause of the injury or damage for which recovery is sought, but any damages allowed shall be diminished in the proportion to the amount of fault attributable to the plaintiff.”
In other words, if an insurance adjuster assigns you 25% fault for your motorcycle accident, you can still recover a portion of your damages because you are less than 50% responsible, but they can reduce a $100,000 claim to a $75.000 payout. This system may benefit a motorcyclist who contributed to their accident, but it also provides a strong incentive for an insurance company to assign undue fault to a motorcyclist.
For example, suppose a pickup truck driver makes an unsafe lane change into a motorcycle’s path. You would presume that the pickup truck driver is 100% at fault for the accident. But what if an insurance company assigns the motorcyclist 30% fault for not having their headlight on in the early morning?
Even if the sun was shining when the accident occurred, it may be difficult to disprove an insurance company’s findings without skilled legal representation.
Damages in motorcycle accident claims range from a single emergency room bill and a few days of lost pay for road rash and a sprain, to catastrophic permanent injury or wrongful death costs. Common damages recovered in motorcycle accident claims in Chicago include the following:
Wrongful death benefits may be available to the closest surviving family member of a fatally injured Chicago motorcycle accident victim.
Motorcycle accident claims are often challenging legal matters, given the common bias among insurance companies that portrays motorcyclists as reckless. An experienced Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer is the strong partner you need to achieve a favorable outcome in your claim.
Contact us at Smith LaCien LLP for a legal ally who will assertively argue for your best interests through every step of the process, from meticulously filing your claim to obtaining compensation for you through a settlement or court award for your damages.
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