Chicago Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

You have two years to file an Illinois motorcycle accident lawsuit. In Illinois, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the time that your cause of action arose. In most cases, the cause of action arises at the time of your accident since that is when you were injured.

However, in certain limited circumstances, the statute of limitations begins to run from the time that you knew or should have known that you were injured. In wrongful death cases, the family of the deceased also has two years to file a claim.

While two years may seem like a long time, we caution you to consider talking with an attorney sooner than later. As time goes on, evidence related to your case becomes more difficult to obtain and witnesses may move or lose interest in assisting. Therefore, we invite you to speak to our law firm anytime for a free case evaluation.

Most Chicago motorcycle injury cases will settle out of court. Trials are expensive and uncertain, and an insurance company runs the risk that a jury would be sympathetic to your case, leaving the company on the hook for a large damages award. However, an initial settlement offer is likely to be less than your case is worth when a lawsuit is filed.

Since your personal injury attorney has done this many times before, they will know what your claim is worth and will be able to advise you whether the settlement offer makes sense for you or if they may be able to get you more money by taking your case to trial.

While your lawyer will give you feedback and opinions as to how to resolve your case, the ultimate decision to settle will be made by you. Ultimately, we respect the decision of each client to make decisions regarding their case given their unique circumstance.

Yes. Illinois is one of three U.S. states that does not require motorcyclists to wear a helmet, which means you still have a case even though you were not wearing a helmet when your accident occurred.

Moreover, courts have generally held that the lack of a motorcycle helmet is inadmissible from court.

If you are involved in a motorcycle accident with a driver who did not have liability insurance or who left the scene of the accident, you may file an uninsured motorist claim (UM) with your own insurance. In these situations, our attorneys will file a claim with your own insurance carrier for your damages.

Similarly, if the driver that hit you did not have adequate insurance coverage to compensate you for your injuries, you may have an under-insured motorist claim (UIM) where you pursue the balance of your damages from your own carrier after the negligent driver's insurance policy limits have been collected.

Example: Suppose your claim has a fair value of $150,000. If the driver who hit you only carried $100,000 in liability coverage, you will essentially be limited in a recovery from them for their policy limits (most people don't have sizable liquid assets). However, if you have under-insured motorist coverage limits of more than $100,ooo, you can pursue the balance of the value of your claim from your own insurance company.

In either respect, our Chicago motorcycle accident attorneys are capable of reading your insurance policy to determine the best course of action for you and explain your legal rights. If you have more questions about insurance coverage with your case, contact our team today for a free consultation.

Passengers injured in motorcycle accidents are rarely the cause of the accident, and may claim damages for their injuries from the driver of the motorbike, the driver of another vehicle involved, or both. A motorcycle passenger may also claim damages from the motorcycle manufacturer if the accident was caused by defective parts.

Each Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer in our office knows the difficult situation an injured motorcycle passenger faces when it comes to pursuing a claim against a friend or family member who was operating the bike at the time of the crash.

Consequently, we are always respectful of your wishes to resolve a claim at any point to avoid airing your injury claim in court. Contact a motorcycle accident lawyer in our office today to learn more about your legal rights as an injured passenger

If you are taking legal action after a Chicago, Illinois motorcycle collision, you need to prove that you have a case. Persuading a jury that a negligent driver actually caused your injuries requires that you prove four different things:

• The other driver owed you a duty of care. In general, this is an easy element to prove because all drivers owe a duty of care to everyone else on the road.
• The driver breached this duty of care. While a driver is not held to a standard of absolute perfection when they are on the road, they must act as a reasonable driver would. This means that they cannot do things such as speeding or make illegal turns, because an ordinary reasonable driver would not do such things.
• You must have suffered some sort of injury.
• Your injury would not have happened if not for the actions of the other driver.
  

While the above sounds relatively basic, there are many aspects to motorcycle accident cases that can complicate things quickly.

Having a motorcycle accident lawyer on your side can help you navigate through this process.

Yes, you may be able to pursue a motorcycle accident claim even if you are partially responsible for the accident. Illinois applies the comparative fault doctrine to motor vehicle accident cases, where the injured party (plaintiff) can pursue a claim and obtain a recovery, even if they were partially responsible for causing the accident.

The catch to the comparative fault doctrine is that you must be less than 50% at fault in order to recover compensation,

The second catch to the comparative fault doctrine is that your damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault.

As an example: Suppose your motorcycle accident case is worth $100,000 and a court deems you to be 25% responsible for causing the collision. In this situation, your case would be worth $75,000.

Similarly, if a court finds you to be 51% at fault for the collision you will be barred from a recovery.

Consequently, it is very important to establish liability in each motorcycle accident case. Your Chicago motorcycle accident lawyer can address any concerns about liability and comparative fault during your free consultation.