Car accidents can disrupt your life. If you are involved in a vehicle accident, make sure to call the police, and have a police report written up at the scene. Because people’s memories and road conditions fade or change, a police report may be credible evidence at trial or settlement discussions. It documents what occurred a few moments after an accident. The closer a recording is to an accident, the more reliable.

At the scene, the police may give you a number to obtain the report from the police station. Make sure to get a copy and read it carefully. If you have insurance, send a copy to the insurance company. The police report may even assist in assigning liability if the police officer specifies a party violated the vehicle code. Even if there is no citation issued for a violation, the officer indicates that the accident occurred because of the carelessness of one side.

If after the accident, you see that the officer made a negative comment in a police report about you or did not include something, find the officer and ask the officer to say for sure who was at fault, or state that the officer cannot tell clearly who was at fault if that is the case. If you find the officer, s/he will most likely go by what is in the report because s/he writes so many reports s/he may be unable to remember one accident from another. Note the date and time you speak with the officer so if the other party claims you are liable for the accident because of an officer’s negative comment, you can say you already asked the officer about it and the officer declined to state specifically who was at fault.

The police report will include all the parties involved in the accident and any witnesses at the scene. You do not need to determine who was at fault. Let a Chicago attorney handle the investigations. Give a copy of the police report to an experienced Chicago personal injury attorney who will notify anyone who might be at fault. Do not speak to the other parties in the accident. You just need to find out their addresses, full names, employers, and insurance details. You do not need to give a statement on your take about the accident. A Chicago personal injury attorney can help you let responsible parties know there was an accident on a particular date and time, that you were injured, and you intend to file a claim. Giving notice prevents unfair surprise when file a claim.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a car accident, contact us today to pursue your claims.

2THEADVOCATE.COM reported that on November 29, 2009, a 2000 GMC Safari Minivan carrying 15 people went out of control and rolled on a highway, striking a delivery truck, and then leaving the driver and 5 children dead, and 10 other people critically injured.

If you are involved in a car accident in Chicago, you may be entitled to recover damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, medical, loss of earnings, and property damage if (1) your injury is a direct result of the car accident, (2) the accident was caused by another person’s carelessness, and not your own.

Engage an experienced Chicago personal injury attorney to help you evaluate the worth of your claim when your injuries are long term, the legal rules are complex, or liability is disputed.

The severity of injuries is measured by the amount of medical bills, length of time to recover, and types of injuries. Soft tissue injuries are difficult to prove. They are not permanent. There is discomfort to the muscles or nerves, but you cannot pinpoint them like broken bones that cause life disruptions. Diagnosis of the injury may run up the medical bills with tests and exams, but bills relating to treatment determine the seriousness. Medical bills from doctors, hospitals, clinics are given more weight than physical therapy and chiropractors. Physical therapy under a doctor’s referral and control is more likely lumped as part of medical specials than physical therapy that was not recommended. If a doctor prescribes medication, convince the responsible party the injuries are serious depending on how strong and how long the medication is prescribed. Taking prescription drugs indicates a doctor viewed an injury as painful.

Claims where the legal rules are complex include toxic exposures. Exposures to contaminants to air, water, or soil require expert scientific data to prove. Liability may be disputed when an insurance company or government entity refuses to make a fair settlement.

If you are a survivor of a parent, spouse, or child who died in a car accident, you may have claims for loss of consortium, including loss of companionship, sexual relations, financial losses, and pain and suffering. You need to establish (1) the death was caused by the careless actions of the defendant, and (2) happened as a result of the car accident.

When injured in a car accident in Chicago, obtain the following information from the other driver: name, address, phone numbers, name of liability insurance company. Read up on statute of limitations for car accident cases. The injured party is allowed to file suit from one day after the accident against a careless party until the statute of limitations expires after the accident.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a car accident, contact us today to help you get the ruling you deserve.

With people driving above the legal blood alcohol content limit and not paying attention to traffic laws, accidents occur everyday on Chicago streets. After an accident, write down what you were doing at the time of the accident, where you were going, the people you were with, the time and weather, shocks to your body, anything anyone said. Take notes of conversations with insurance adjusters, witnesses, and medical personnel. These notes will be invaluable to a Chicago injury attorney when obtaining the maximum monetary compensation for your property damages and bodily injuries.

When injured in an accident, following release from the hospital, make daily notes of your pain and activities. If you do not record your pain, you will forget them once you recover and the injury marks on your body clear away. Take photos of injuries to later prove they existed immediately. Scars heal over time, making it difficult to establish you were ever hurt.

For economic loss, document days taken off from work, job opportunities missed, classes absent from if going to school, social gatherings not attended.

If an accident is with a truck, the following parties may be responsible for a plaintiff’s injuries: truck driver, truck owner, vehicle manufacturer, truck cargo shipper. Each Chicago injury lawyer diligently investigates the relationships between the responsible parties to make sure truck drivers who do not have many assets or trucking companies that try to avoid liability by arguing the drivers are independent contractors do not leave an injured person with little recovery.

With truck accidents, driver errors are likely to be the cause of accidents more so than other factors like weather, road conditions, or vehicle performance. Federal regulations require trucking companies to test drivers for substance abuse. Besides alcohol impairment, sleep deprivation or prescriptions drugs may impair a driver.

Federal regulations have rules on hours of service to ensure drivers obtain needed rest to drive safely. To prove sleep deprivation, a Chicago injury lawyer investigates the truck driver’s logs. Drivers are required by federal laws to record their driving information. Discovery will be made of driver trip tickets for deliveries including stamps that expose the time a driver picks up a load.

Often the legal aspects of vehicle accidents require urgent action. Contact us today to obtain the maximum monetary compensation for vehicle accident losses.

In Skinner v. Poston, 71 So. 2d 702 (1954), the Court of Appeal decided on March 24, 1954 that the plaintiff was at fault by driving in an unsafe speed when he got into a truck accident with the defendant.

This case illustrated the facts a court reviewed in resolving vehicle accident cases. Vehicle accident cases are actions in negligence, requiring a showing that a defendant owed a plaintiff a legal duty, that the defendant breached the duty, and that the breach was a proximate or legal cause of the injuries plaintiff suffered. The disposition of vehicle accident cases are usually based on the facts surrounding the location of vehicles, the speed of drivers, and the witness’ credibility.

Skinner may be persuasive precedent for a personal injury case in Chicago. In Skinner, the plaintiff was driving a gasoline delivery truck. The defendant engaged a surveyor who prepared an exhibit for trial on the highway where the accident occurred. What was special about the survey was that the surveyor completed it when the gasoline delivery truck tire imprints were still visible. The physical facts also showed the plaintiff did not use his brakes at the time of the accident because there were no skid marks. Without skid marks, the speed of the gasoline delivery truck could not be determined, but the trial court found the speed for the road conditions, was not safe.

When reconstructing an accident in Chicago, the fresher the testimony or evidence gathered to the time of the incident, the more believable the evidence. At trial, in Skinner, the exhibit the surveyor prepared showed accurately where the truck tires were, road elevation, and highway curve. The exhibit spoke for itself, bringing the highway to life. The defendant no doubt knew the psychology of visuals. Effective visuals address responsibility, blame, and victimization. For instance, for personal responsibility, which means not blaming others for life’s challenges, visuals break down each separate, negligent act to show the plaintiff made choices.

In an accident, getting an independent witness to testify may tilt the weight of evidence to one side. In Skinner, the witnesses testified on the weather, road surface, and speed. The defendant had a helper and other witnesses who corroborated the defendant’s story, but the court found the witnesses’ testimonies to be cumulative to the physical facts from the exhibit.

In March 2011, the Chicago Tribune reported in “Man drives wrong way on road, and more” that a 24-year-old man, of George Avenue, was charged with driving under the influence, driving the wrong way on a one-way street, improper turn signal and operating an uninsured motor vehicle on March 6, 2011.

A 45-year-old man, of Banford Circle, Lake in the Hills, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content level of more than .08 percent, resisting a peace officer and improper lane usage on March 12, 2011.

A 33-year-old man, of Northlane, Cary, was arrested March 12, 2011 for an outstanding warrant out of McHenry County for failure to appear in court on a charge of driving on a revoked license.

A 24-year-old man, of Shore Drive, McHenry, was arrested March 10, 2011 for an outstanding warrant out of McHenry County for driving while license revoked. A 26-year-old man, of W. Woodstock Street, was arrested March 11, 2011 for an outstanding warrant out of Kane County for failure to appear on an aggravated driving under the influence charge. He was also charged with leaving the traffic crash scene, improper lane usage, driving while license revoked and failure to notify the police of a traffic crash.

Sadly, with congested traffic, and people drinking while driving or driving on a revoked license, vehicle accidents are bound to occur. Auto accidents are a category of personal injuries that disrupt the lives of people every day, causing not only physical and emotional damage, but also financial stress from medical expenses and lost earnings. Contact a Chicago accident attorney for when injured in a car accident.

Generally, car accidents occur when a driver departs from the conduct expected of a reasonably prudent person acting under similar circumstances. The plaintiff proves four elements:

• defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff;
• defendant breached its duty;
• plaintiff was injured;
• defendant’s breach caused the plaintiff’s injury

Whether there is a duty to a plaintiff may come from traffic laws. Police reports sometimes cite violations of vehicle codes, evidencing a duty breach. When involved in an accident, write down the details of the accident to remember the incident accurately. These notes are invaluable when a Chicago injury lawyer assists a client in putting together a compensation demand.

In a car accident, types of damages the injured person may recover include:

• medical care for brain injury or spinal cord injury;
• loss of earnings;
• pain and suffering from chronic back and neck pain;
• emotional distress;
• psychological counseling

Often the legal aspects of vehicle accidents require urgent action. Contact us today to obtain the maximum monetary compensation for car accident losses.