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It’s a summer night! Instead of hoping in a car or cab, you decide to get some exercise and walk around town. You also think this might have the added bonus of saving some money by not wasting gas on the car while getting out and about. Unfortunately, rather than reaching your destination- be it either a movie, restaurant, or other attraction- you might actually walk right into trouble.
This situation is more common than you think: you could accidentally slip in a poorly marked or guarded construction zone, the limb of a tree overhanging the sidewalk could crack and call upon you, a car could lose control and slide right into you!
This is not meant to scare you. Quite to the contrary, these are very common scenarios that Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers has encountered after representing many pedestrian victims of accidents in Chicago and across Illinois. While the circumstances of your injury might be rare, your wants and desires following the incident will not be. You will inevitably need to extract justice from the legal system-like many other people.
You might have medical bills that are getting out of control; you might have missed work and lost wages because of the accident; or you might ongoing pain and suffering. This is what the law is for-to compensate you for another person’s wrong. We can come in during this critical hour to fight for your rights like we have for countless other victims of pedestrian accidents across Illinois.
However, the first step in any journey is knowledge. Therefore, the next section focuses on the law surrounding your incident. It is very important that you read this and contact us if you have any questions because you need to be informed about the law governing your potential recovery.
The Law Around Illinois Pedestrian Accidents
In many if not all of pedestrian accident situations, the victim that becomes a plaintiff pursues a lawsuit in negligence. The essence of negligence is that some person or entity did not act as another similar situated and reasonable actor would have. It says that they fell below a standard of conduct to be expected of everyone in a particular situation. Of course, context matters and lawyers spend a lot of time making a case for what the specific standard should be.
However, here are the crucial elements of any negligence claim that you should not forget: first, the other party must owe you a legal duty; second, that party must breach that legal duty; third, that breach must directly and proximately cause you injuries; fourth; those injuries must result in legally recognizable damages. Here are some situations where a pedestrian accident might result in a successful negligence action:
- You are walking by a construction zone and step in a hole because there was no sign to warn you. You break your leg from the fall. The construction company had a duty to reasonably warn others of the construction and any dangers; they broke that duty by not posting a sign or otherwise guarding you from the holes; your fall resulted in the injury of a broken leg and personal injuries are legally acceptable damages.
- You are walking to work and a tree limb breaks and falls on your head. You suffer a concussion and have to miss several weeks of work to recuperate. The owner of the property where the tree fell has a reasonable duty to take care of the trees and ensure they do not harm others or their property. The owner did not do this and you had personal injuries and income losses because of that, both constitute damages in a court of law.
- You are walking over to a friend’s house on a Friday night. A car blows a red light and hits you right in the crosswalk. You sustain significant injuries and enormous medical bills. Clearly, the driver is legally at fault and owes you for the care and treatment required to correct the harms that the crash caused you.
Average Pedestrian Accident Case Awards In Illinois
Obviously, knowing the laws implicated in your accident is important, but it is probably also not the most important thing on your mind. You want to know how much your pedestrian case is worth. Naturally, every case is dependent upon its own specific facts and circumstances.
One pedestrian accident award might not be indicative of what you could recover, for better or worse. However, statistics are helpful as a starting point for analyzing what your pedestrian accident lawsuit may be worth. Thus, here are some things to keep in mind:
- The state average for pedestrian accidents is approximately one-half of a million dollars.
- State median returns for pedestrian accidents ranges roughly between $35,000 and $45,000.
- 66% of all cases recovered under $100,000 and 14% of all cases recovered more than $1,000,000.
- 58% of all cases in Cook County recovered under $100,000 and 21% of all cases in Cook County recovered more than $1,000,000.
Get In Touch With Us Today To Discuss Your Case With An Experienced Illinois Pedestrian Accident Law Firm
All of these numbers and legal doctrines are important but they are just considerations. Your case is different from every other case before it. Call Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers today to hear about how these laws and others affect your chances at recovery for your pedestrian accident case. Also, we can instruct on what to do before, during, and after trial to ensure that your recovery is protected and maximized. Do not wait; call us today!
Past Illinois Pedestrian Accident Jury Awards & Out-Of-Court Settlements
How much is your pedestrian accident case worth? This is probably the single-most recurring concern you will have after an incident. To begin to answer this question, we compiled the following case summaries from similar accidents. These should help give you a sense of what was possible before for other plaintiffs. They are grouped by injury type to help you further narrow your focus.
