If you were injured in a motorcycle accident in Illinois due to a negligent driver, you can seek financial compensation through a personal injury claim. After a motorcycle accident, you could face unexpected medical bills, lost wages, and other costs that you’ll need help covering. You shouldn’t have to bear that financial burden on your own. An Illinois motorcycle accident lawyer can work on your financial recovery while you focus on your physical and emotional recovery.
Motorcycle accidents can be complex, and obtaining payment for your damages involves a series of different steps. Our experienced motorcycle attorneys at Attorneys of Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers serve most of northern Illinois and know how to get results for clients after motorcycle accidents. Call our law office today at (312) 929-2884 to schedule your free consultation.
How Attorneys of Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After a Motorcycle Accident in Illinois
Motorcycle accidents happen suddenly and without warning. In the blink of an eye, you can face devastating injuries and a long path to recovery. With that often comes medical bills, missed work, damage to your motorcycle, and other challenging costs.
An Illinois personal injury attorney will review your accident and take steps to seek fair compensation. Some of these steps can include:
- Meeting with you for a free, no-risk consultation to talk about your accident and what to do next
- Investigating all details of the accident to determine liability and how to recover damages
- Collecting evidence in your case, such as accident reports, physical evidence, medical records, photos, and video
- Negotiating aggressively with insurance companies to fight for the value of your claim
- Filing a personal injury lawsuit when insurers won’t offer what you deserve
- Fighting for you through each step of a personal injury case
- Taking your case to trial to prove the worth of your motorcycle accident claim
At Attorneys of Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers, our Illinois accident attorneys will leave no stone unturned in pursuing your claim and seeking justice. Contact our dedicated motorcycle accident attorneys today to schedule a free consultation.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Lawyer in an Illinois Motorcycle Accident Personal Injury Case?
Personal injury lawyers will normally work on a contingent fee basis in motorcycle accident cases. Contingency agreements allow accident victims to have skilled legal help without paying high upfront fees. Your motorcycle accident lawyer will only collect attorney’s fees if they win your case.
Illinois personal injury lawyers will also advance the costs connected to gathering evidence, hiring experts, filing court documents, and other costs involved with your case. These costs will be paid along with attorney fees after you win a financial award for your claim. Our legal team will answer your questions about how contingent fees work in Illinois motorcycle accident claims.
How Common Are Motorcycle Accidents in Illinois?
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, over 2,000 motorcycle injury crashes happen each year in Illinois. Sadly, Illinois sees over 100 fatal motorcycle accidents each year. Even helmeted motorcyclists riding safely and following the rules of the road can be hit by negligent drivers on Illinois roadways.
Motorcyclists are more vulnerable than drivers of most vehicles due to their exposure. Unlike drivers of cars and trucks, motorcyclists aren’t encased in heavy machinery with state of the art safety features. Motorcyclists are far more likely to be ejected from their vehicles and suffer catastrophic injuries in an accident. The pure physics of heavy vehicles striking motorcycles makes these accidents especially dangerous.
Common causes of motorcycle accidents in Illinois include:
- Distracted driving
- Drunk driving
- Drugged driving
- Excessive speeding
- Failure to follow traffic signals
- Fatigued driving
Motorcycle accidents are a tragically common occurrence everywhere in Illinois. If you or a loved one were injured in a motorcycle accident, talk to our personal injury law group to see what your next steps can be.
What Are Common Injuries In Motorcycle Accidents?
Motorcycle accidents, by their nature, lead to common injuries. Common motorcyclist injuries we see include:
- Bone fractures
- Skull fractures
- Concussions
- Whiplash
- Back injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Internal bleeding
- Soft tissue damage
- Loss of hearing
- Loss of vision
- Loss of limbs
- Paralysis
- Wrongful death
Injuries in a motorcycle crash can cause lasting shock, pain and suffering, reduced quality of life, inability to return to work, and other long-term effects. In motorcycle accident claims, our lawyers aim to address your full range of damages–physical and mental.
What Is My Motorcycle Accident Case Worth?
Motorcycle accident claims typically involve economic damages and non-economic damages. Punitive damages might be available in cases where another driver was particularly reckless.
Economic damages involve actual financial losses such as:
- Medical costs
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Therapy, rehab, and skilled nursing costs
- Lost wages due to missed work
- Lowered future income due to long-term limitations on your work abilities.
Your Illinois motorcycle accident lawyer will carefully assemble information about all financial impacts of your accident and what you are entitled to payment for.
Non-economic damages are the non-numeric losses involved in an accident. They might include compensation for:
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Disability
- Disfigurement
- Loss of companionship
The particular facts and complexities of your case will influence how non-economic damages are calculated.
The overall worth of your motorcycle accident claim, then, will be based on the severity of your accident, the costs involved, and the long-term effects of your injuries. An experienced Illinois personal injury lawyer can estimate what your claim could be worth.
What Is Negligence in a Motorcycle Accident Case?
Motorcycle accident cases are usually based on the legal theory of negligence. Negligence is when someone fails to use reasonable care and caution in a certain situation. For example, a speeding or intoxicated driver on the roadway is not acting as a reasonable driver should–therefore creating a risk of harm to others. To collect financially in your personal injury claim, you will first need to prove negligence.
Negligence does not have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, as in a criminal case. The burden of proof for negligence is “preponderance of the evidence.” The preponderance standard means you’ll need to show the other driver was more than 50% at fault for the crash.
In a motorcycle accident case based on negligence, you’ll need to prove four elements:
- Duty: Someone owed you a certain duty of care under the circumstances. Duty of care can be based on traffic laws, ordinary customs, or a “reasonable person” standard.
- Breach of duty: The at-fault driver breached their duty of care. That is, they failed to act as a reasonable driver should have.
- Causation: You must prove a causal connection between the defendant’s breach of duty and your injuries suffered.
- Damages: Medical bills, lost pay, vehicle damage, and other losses can help prove damages.
Your motorcycle accident lawyer will rely on evidence to prove your claim, such as:
- Medical reports
- Police reports
- Photos from the crash site
- Video surveillance
- Witness testimony
- Expert witnesses
- Accident reconstruction experts
The Illinois motorcycle accident attorneys at Attorneys of Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers will fight aggressively for you, using all evidence available.
Do I Still Have a Claim if I Was Partly to Blame for a Motorcycle Accident?
Even if you shared fault for an accident, you can still file a personal injury lawsuit in Illinois. Under the modified comparative negligence standard followed in Illinois, you can collect damages as long as you are not more than 50% at fault for an accident.
However, your payout in a financial settlement would be reduced in proportion to your degree of fault for the crash. So, if you were 30% responsible, you can still collect since you were under 51%. An insurance company might reduce your settlement payment accordingly, giving you only 70% of the claim’s total worth. If you are more than 50% responsible, you cannot recover at all.
Experienced Illinois motorcycle accident lawyers know how this system works and will work to reduce your share of liability. Remember: even if you think you were partially at fault for an accident, you could still have legal rights, and a personal injury lawyer can help.
What Is the Deadline to File In Illinois for a Motorcycle Accident Case?
The Illinois statute of limitations for a personal injury case is two years from the date of the accident in most cases. The two-year deadline typically starts running on the date of the accident. A skilled Illinois motorcycle accident lawyer will help you understand the legal process and know when to file your lawsuit. Your lawyer will also know when it is most advantageous to file your suit to collect damages.
Contact an Illinois Motorcycle Accident Lawyer For a Free Consultation
You can seek payment for your damages if you were injured in a motorcycle accident in Illinois due to a negligent driver. The dedicated Illinois motorcycle accident lawyers at Attorneys of Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers can help you pursue the financial recovery you deserve after a serious accident. Call our law office to schedule your free consultation and get started.