Residents in Chicago rely on walking to reach destinations within their communities, but this also puts them in harm’s way when drivers don’t follow traffic laws and fail to take reasonable precautions. Unfortunately, pedestrians are vulnerable to severe or catastrophic injuries in accidents with moving vehicles, which weigh an average of 4,000 pounds.
If you or a close family member suffered serious injuries in a pedestrian accident, contact our Chicago personal injury lawyers at Smith LaCien Trial Lawyers, LLP, for experienced legal representation.
A pedestrian accident happens in an instant, but the results can be long-term or permanent harm. A successful compensation claim after a Chicago pedestrian accident doesn’t erase the injury, but it opens doors to the best possible medical care, relieves financial hardship, and brings a sense of justice. With Smith LaCien Trial Lawyers, LLP, you can expect the following:
After a free consultation, we go to work at no upfront cost to you. Instead, we only get paid after we recover compensation for you through a settlement or court award. We are dedicated legal advocates, and contingency-based payment is a further incentive to recover the maximum compensation available to you.
Under Chicago Municipal Code Chapter 9-24 & 9-60, pedestrians have a duty to follow pedestrian traffic laws, such as using available crosswalks and traffic signals, and not crossing streets between intersections. Unfortunately, even the most careful and law-abiding pedestrian is at risk of severe injuries in traffic-related accidents when drivers act carelessly or recklessly behind the wheel.
The most common causes of pedestrian accidents in Chicago include the following negligent driver actions:
In some cases, entities other than drivers can cause or contribute to pedestrian accidents. For example, the manufacturer of defective brakes on a driver’s car, or a city road planning agency that designed an intersection with an obstructed view, or failed to install adequate street lighting, could be liable. Reach out to our auto accident lawyers in Chicago if you were hit by a vehicle as a pedestrian.
Under the comparative negligence law in Illinois, all parties responsible or partly responsible for an injury are liable for the injury victim’s damages. This rule also allows a pedestrian who is partly at fault for their injuries to recover a portion of their damages, provided they are less than 50% at fault. The insurance company involved then deducts the pedestrian’s percentage of fault from the amount it pays on the claim.
The City of Chicago reported that an alarming 23,167 pedestrians and cyclists suffered injuries and fatalities in traffic-related accidents between 2016 and 2022. Injuries in these accidents range from mild, fully recoverable injuries to life-altering disability or death. Common injuries reported in Chicago pedestrian accidents include the following:
After a pedestrian accident in Chicago, the damages add up quickly. Especially when injuries prevent a return to work at the same time that medical bills accumulate. A successful claim against the at-fault party provides the compensation a pedestrian accident victim deserves when they are injured through no fault of their own.
A serious accident with severe or catastrophic injuries could leave an injury victim unconscious or incapacitated at the scene and unable to take any purposeful action for themselves. However, a cell phone becomes a powerful tool for preserving evidence if the injury victim or an uninjured companion or bystander can use a phone at the scene to do the following:
Going straight to a hospital not only ensures that you receive the necessary emergency care you need but also provides clear evidence that the injury occurred in the pedestrian accident, which can benefit a claim for damages.
At the hospital, ask for a complete medical evaluation as well as treatment for obvious emergency injuries. This helps to identify and promptly treat any injuries with delayed symptoms, such as some types of traumatic brain injuries, internal injuries, and whiplash.
Ask for a detailed medical report listing your injuries, the doctor’s treatment recommendations, and your prognosis for recovery. Then save all medical bills and receipts, request a copy of the police report, and contact an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer.
Most pedestrian accident claims are resolved through a settlement from a negligent driver’s auto insurance. Unfortunately, insurance companies are not on your side, even if they sound compassionate when they reach out to you after an accident. An insurance adjuster’s job is to protect the company’s profits at your expense whenever possible. By hiring a Chicago pedestrian accident lawyer from Smith LaCien Trial Lawyers, LLP, your lawyer does the following:
Fortunately, only about 4% of personal injury claims, like pedestrian accident cases, go to court. Still, your attorney from Smith LaCien Trial Lawyers will prepare your case as though for court throughout the process, not only to be prepared for a trial should one become necessary, but also to ensure we present a compelling claim.
Damages in a pedestrian accident can be as little as an emergency room bill and a few days of lost pay for a sprained ankle to lifelong disability, impairment, or wrongful death. If someone else was at fault, you don’t have to be left responsible for the financial impacts while you are also living with the physical ones. Instead, a successful claim recovers common pedestrian accident damages such as:
If you lost a loved one in a Chicago pedestrian accident, your family could recover compensation and give your loved one a voice for justice through a pedestrian accident wrongful death claim.
Insurance companies promise compassion and integrity, but they often protect their profits at the injury victim’s expense. Some common insurance company tactics that an attorney helps to safeguard their client against include the following:
Insurance companies hire adjusters to look for reasons to deny claims, often targeting injury victims who don’t have legal representation.
Illinois imposes a time limit on the amount of time after an injury the claimant has to file a lawsuit, including for injured pedestrians in Chicago. The statute of limitations for personal injury cases, such as pedestrian accidents, is two years from the date the injury occurred.
A court will not hear a case filed beyond the statute of limitations. Insurance companies won’t pay out on a claim filed after the statute of limitations expires because they understand that the claimant cannot take them to court. In fact, insurers sometimes delay progress on claims to push the case close to the time limit in the expectation that the claimant may accept a lowball settlement offer.
Illinois courts extend (toll) the statute of limitations for pedestrian accident claims only under limited circumstances. For instance, if an injury victim is a minor when the accident occurs, they have up to two years after their 18th birthday to file a claim.
There is also a “delayed discovery rule” that allows the statute of limitations to begin on the date an injury is discovered rather than the accident date if an injury victim learns about the injury later. For example, if an injury victim experiences increasing back pain for weeks after a pedestrian accident and a doctor diagnoses the pain as a compression fracture from the earlier accident, the statute of limitations begins on the date of the discovery.
Another extension sometimes occurs for a victim who is comatose or incapacitated for a significant period. In these cases, the clock begins ticking on the date they recover their cognitive abilities.
Finally, if the pedestrian accident was a hit-and-run, the court may begin the statute of limitations on the date the hit-and-run driver is apprehended or identified.
A pedestrian accident lawyer from Smith LaCien Trial Lawyers, LLP, can tell you more about how the statute of limitations impacts your case based on your unique circumstances.
If you’ve sustained substantial injuries in a pedestrian accident, you may be facing a painful recovery process. You deserve financial accountability. Instead of taking on the anxiety of a complex legal process alone against an insurance company that is not on your side, contact Smith LaCien Trial Lawyers LLP today to learn more about your legal right to file a claim for compensation.
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