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In Need of a Bicycle Accident Attorney?

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A bicycle accident in Chicago can leave you with serious injuries. Depending on the severity of your injuries, the consequences of a Chicago bicycle crash can range from costly medical bills to long-term physical pain.

Getting hurt in a bike accidents or a bicycle wreck, someone else caused is a traumatic and frustrating experience. However, you should know help is available now.

You may be eligible to receive compensation for your serious medical expenses, bills, and related losses. Contact a Chicago bicycle accident attorney at Wallace Miller for more information. Our compassionate team of Chicago bicycle accident lawyers is prepared to offer the representation you deserve.

Common Causes of Chicago Bicycle Crashes

It’s not uncommon for bicyclists to get hurt in wrecks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 130,000 people annually sustain injuries in U.S. bicycle crashes. Unfortunately for cyclists, nearly a thousand lost their lives.

Bicycle crashes have many potential causes. They often result from carelessness on the part of motor vehicle drivers sharing the road with bicyclists. Negligent drivers can cause serious bicycle accidents and wrecks by:

Speeding
Driving while drunk or on drugs
Ignoring traffic signals
Not checking for blind spots
Not respecting bike lanes
Driving aggressively
Not paying attention to their surroundings

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports failure to yield the right of way is the most significant factor in bicycle wrecks. Per NHTSA data, fatal bicycle crashes are most common in urban areas, and they occur at the highest rates during the summer months.

Dennis’s Law: What It Means for Chicago Bicycle Accident Victims

Dennis Jurs was riding his bicycle in Hampshire Township, Illinois, on May 18, 2015, when an SUV struck and killed him. The driver of the vehicle initially received a ticket for failing to yield the right-of-way.

The judge dismissed the ticket when the driver challenged it in court. The judge found that a bicycle didn’t meet the definition of a vehicle under the Illinois Vehicle Code at that time. Thus, right-of-way laws didn’t apply to a bicyclist. It is crucial to understand the value and timeline for settling a bicycle accident case, and the importance of hiring an experienced attorney for representation.

Jurs’s family pushed for a change. The result was Dennis’s Law, ensuring bicyclists have the same right-of-way privileges as motorists in Illinois.

Common Bicycle Wreck Injuries

A crash is often a devastating experience for a bicycle accident victim. Unlike enclosed motor vehicles, a bicycle doesn’t offer much protection from harm when a collision happens. A collision may even throw a bicyclist from their own motor vehicle too.

Common bicycle wreck injuries include:

Lacerations
Fractures
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
Spinal cord injuries
Disfigurement
Internal organ injuries
Loss of vision, hearing, etc.
Amputations
Death

Physical injuries don’t represent the only type of harm a bicycle crash can cause. Bicycle accidents are common in personal injury cases, and a crash can also cause significant mental and even emotional distress and trauma.

Compensation for a Cyclist Who is Hit by a Car in Chicago

Losses resulting from bicycle accident cases may fall into one of these two categories:

Economic – An economic loss is a loss with a dollar value. Your medical bills and lost wages are common examples of economic losses for which you may seek compensation. You might also be able to receive compensation for future economic losses, such as the cost of ongoing medical care after your settlement.
Non-economic – Non-economic losses don’t have objective dollar values. For example, you might endure significant emotional, mental, and physical pain while recovering from bicycle wreck injuries. Your injuries may even permanently detract from your quality of life. By applying specialized formulas, you or your lawyer can assign a dollar value to these types of losses when filing a claim.

Ensure you’re thoroughly familiar with the types of compensation you may be eligible for. An insurance company may hope you’ll accept a low settlement offer. Convincing you to accept less compensation than you deserve could be easier for an insurer if you don’t know what types of losses are and aren’t compensable.

Potentially Liable Parties in a Chicago Bicycle Wreck Case

You must determine who caused the wreck to file a claim in a Chicago bike accident. The liable party in a bicycle accident claim a cyclist accident case is typically a careless motorist.

However, there are exceptions. Consider the following potential scenarios:

You’re sticking to bike lanes when a pedestrian carelessly steps in front of you without looking. You swerve to avoid colliding with them. Doing so causes you to run off the road, strike a fixed object, or otherwise be hurt. The pedestrian may be the liable party in these circumstances.
You get hurt while riding a bicycle because a truck driver, bus driver, or other such professional driver causes a wreck. Technically, the motorist might have caused the crash. However, if they’re driving for work, their employer (such as a trucking company) might be liable.
Mechanical failure could cause a bicycle crash. If it does, a manufacturer or designer might be liable. You might also have grounds to file a product liability claim or lawsuit if your injuries were more severe than they should have been because a helmet or other piece of protective gear failed.
Some bicycle crashes happen because government agencies don’t fulfill their duties. For instance, perhaps a government agency doesn’t address a hazardous road condition in a timely manner. Or a government agency may fail to install/maintain proper signage, bike lanes, etc.

Insurance companies often prioritize finding reasons to deny claims if they can do so. When determining who caused your wreck, it’s essential that you gather and save evidence. Submitting evidence of liability is a critical component of filing an injury claim.

How a Chicago Bicycle Accident Law Firm Can Help

Seeking compensation after a Chicago bicycle wreck involves filing an insurance claim with the liable party’s insurer. If they don’t have insurance, you could file a lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit is also an option to keep in mind if the insurance company’s settlement offers for bike accidents are too low.

Experienced Chicago bicycle accident attorneys can help in many ways when you’re seeking compensation. Examples include:

Determining liability – You might have to investigate a crash to determine the exact cause. A lawyer can investigate for you. Even after a hit and run, an attorney may be able to coordinate with police to identify the driver who struck you. A lawyer can also request a police report and other forms of evidence to help with their investigation.
Documenting liability and losses – An attorney can help you gather two forms of documentation that you must include when submitting a claim: evidence of liability, and documentation of the losses for which you’re seeking compensation.
Calculating compensation – A lawyer can never promise that you’ll receive a specific amount of compensation when they agree to take on your case. That said, they can add up your losses, estimate the cost of future losses, and use specialized formulas to assign dollar values to non-economic losses, helping you better understand how much compensation you might deserve.
Negotiating – A lawyer may review the insurance company’s initial settlement offer and determine if it’s too low. They can negotiate for a better settlement if the first offer is unreasonable.

Hiring a Chicago bicycle accident attorney also doesn’t require taking a financial risk. A personal injury lawyer will usually enter into a contingency fee agreement when taking on a new client.

A contingency fee agreement establishes a lawyer’s fee as a percentage of the compensation their client receives. If you don’t receive compensation, you don’t have to pay for your attorney’s legal services.

This type of arrangement is ideal for several reasons. You benefit right away by not having to pay upfront legal fees (and never having to pay if you don’t win your case). In addition, the amount of money your lawyer earns from your case depends entirely on how much compensation they secure for you. The contingency fee arrangement thus provides a strong incentive for your lawyer to pursue maximum compensation.

You’re also under no obligation to hire a lawyer after a free consultation. Meeting with an attorney is a low-pressure way to find out more about your case’s merits.

The Deadline for Filing a Bicycle Accident Lawsuit in Illinois

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Negotiating a fair settlement is usually a lawyer’s goal when representing a bicycle crash victim. That said, the insurance company won’t always make a fair offer.

If you have to file a lawsuit to pursue damages, the statute of limitations in Illinois requires you to do so within two years of the crash. You’ll waive your right to sue someone if you miss the deadline. Avoid this by speaking with an attorney sooner rather than later.

Our Personal Injury Lawyers Also Focus on the Following Areas:

Contact a Chicago Bicycle Accident Lawyer

Your life after a Chicago bicycle wreck may be very different from your life before the crash. Finding ways to unburden yourself as you recover is vital.

One way to improve your circumstances may involve hiring an attorney to pursue compensation on your behalf. At Wallace Miller, we want you to enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing qualified Chicago personal injury lawyers are handling your case. Learn more about how we can help you seek what you’re owed by contacting us online today or calling us at (312) 261-6193 for a free case review.

Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Chicago