The personal injury attorneys of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. have been helping car accident victims in Illinois receive the fair compensation they deserve. We understand that if you have been in a car accident, or are the family member of a victim, you may be overwhelmed by all that has happened – perhaps suffering from emotional, physical and financial injury and loss. While monetary compensation cannot change what happened, it can help with medical bills, employment, rehabilitation and your future.
In 2004, there were more than 6 million reported motor vehicle crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While the majority of accidents involved only damage to property, 38,000 people died and almost 2 million people were injured. Even minor accidents can produce injuries that are disproportionate to the event and symptoms may not arise until well after the original accident.
In 2005 in Illinois, there were approximately 1,400 fatal vehicle accidents, with passenger cars claiming nearly twice as many lives than light trucks.
If you have been seriously injured in a car accident, you will need to prove that either a person negligently operated a vehicle that caused the accident, or some defect involving the vehicle or the roadway caused the accident. Many factors can result in a traffic accident, and sometimes multiple causes contribute to a single accident. Traffic accident factors include the following:
- Driver distraction, including fiddling with technical devices, talking with passengers, eating or grooming in the car, dealing with children or pets in the back seat, or attempting to retrieve dropped items.
- Driver impairment by tiredness, illness, alcohol or other drugs, both legal and illegal.
- Mechanical failure, including flat tires or tires blowing out, brake failure, axle failure, steering mechanism failure.
- Road conditions, including foreign obstacles or substances on the road surface; rain, ice, or snow making the roads slick; road damage including pot holes.
- Speed exceeding safe conditions, such as the speed for which the road was designed, the road condition, the weather, and the speed of surrounding motorists.
- Road design and layout. Some roads are notorious for being accident "black spots" for a variety of reasons, including alignment, visibility, surface conditions, road markings, etc.
If you have been involved in an automobile accident, you may be able to file a claim against the negligent driver to recover damages for lost wages, property damage, medical costs, future losses and pain and suffering. It is advisable for you to consult with an experienced accident lawyer before proceeding with a claim for negligence. Should you choose not to be represented by a qualified attorney, you will face the considerable resources of a powerful company alone, especially their insurance company. Insurance companies are anxious to quickly settle a claim and have a ready team of adjusters, investigators and attorneys whose focus is to minimize the amount of money paid to innocent accident victims.
Another reason to seek legal counsel is that insurance companies, on average, pay almost triple the amount of money in cases where the victim is represented by a lawyer. As you are recuperating from the accident, the perpetrators of your injury may have already notified their insurance company who, in turn, are busy trying to minimize their payout.
Because of the complexities involved in automobile accident cases, it is important that you act quickly and contact an attorney with any questions or issues. Proving negligence takes an investment of time, experience, and resources – advantages that only a qualified attorney can provide.
Protect yourself and your loved ones by calling for a free and confidential consultation. Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard has extensive experience providing our clients with the best possible legal representation for car accident cases
in Illinois and Wisconsin. Please call us today at (866) 997-2584
or contact us via email.
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