Champaign Car Accidents

Champaign Lawyers Representing Victims Hurt in Vehicle Collisions

Champaign is located in Champaign County, which is in central Illinois. It is 135 miles south of Chicago, and is home to 87,432 people as well as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Champaign is a vibrant city with busy roads, which unfortunately see their fair share of accidents. Common injuries suffered in a car accident include broken bones, fractures, lacerations, spinal cord damage or paralysis, head trauma, internal bleeding, and organ damage. Most people do not have enough money saved in case they are seriously injured or have a loved one killed in a car crash. An experienced Champaign car accident attorney can help you recover damages if another party was at fault. The injury lawyers at Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca can review the facts of your case and help you determine the extent of compensation you may be entitled to.

Champaign Car Accidents

In an injury lawsuit following a car accident, you will generally need to show by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care, (2) breach of the duty of reasonable care, (3) actual and proximate causation and (4) actual damages. A defendant may breach the duty of reasonable care in many different ways. For example, there may be a breach where a defendant speeds, going 100 mph in a 55 mph zone. If the defendant is unable to stop in time because of the speeding and rear-ends you, a jury may find him negligent. Similarly, if the defendant was drunk driving and weaving through traffic and accidently wove right into your car, a jury could find that he was negligent. A Champaign lawyer experienced in car accident cases can assess whether the facts of your case are likely to meet these elements.

Assigning Liability to Multiple Parties

Many defendants argue that there was comparative negligence, or that you were partially or fully to blame for the car accident. Illinois has adopted the doctrine of modified comparative negligence. This means the jury will examine the evidence and arguments, determine the damages and assign each person a percentage of fault. Your damages are then reduced by an amount equal to your percentage of fault. For example, if you weave in and out of traffic, and you crash into a driver who is speeding, the jury might assign you 40% fault and the other driver 60% fault. Assuming the damages are $100,000, you can recover $60,000 from the other driver. However, you can’t get any damages if the jury finds you were over 50% at fault for the accident.

Sometimes many drivers contribute to an accident. Tortfeasors are jointly and severally liable for medical expenses. However, if a tortfeasor’s fault is determined to be less than 25% of the total fault attributable to the plaintiff, will only be severally liable for the non-medical damages. A knowledgeable Champaign car accident lawyer can help you navigate these issues if they come up in your case.

Available Damages

Damages that you may be able to obtain can compensate you for both economic and noneconomic items. Economic damages include wage loss, medical bills, costs, and household services. For example, if you need to hire someone to clean your house, a task you previously did yourself, because you are paralyzed, you may be able to recover those expenses. You can also recover for noneconomic, subjective losses such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of activities, mental anguish, and loss of consortium. For example, if you used to play basketball in your down time but because your leg had to be amputated after crushing injuries in a car accident, you can no longer play basketball, you might ask the jury to assign a value to the loss of enjoyment of life you experience as a result of your inability to play basketball.

Car Accident Attorneys Serving Champaign Residents

If you have been injured or a loved on has been killed in a car crash in Champaign, an experienced personal injury attorney may be able to help you seek compensation. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, we can assess your case and determine whether you may have a claim for damages. Please call us at 312-724-5846 for a free consultation.