Joliet Car Accidents

Motor Vehicle Collision Lawyers Helping Residents of the Joliet Area

Joliet has a population of about 150,000 residents and is traversed by U.S. Highways 6, 30, 45, 52, and 66. Interstate 80 runs through the southern part of the city, while Interstate 55 runs along the western edge. It can be devastating to be injured in a serious car accident. You may wonder about how you will be able to go to work and how you will pay your bills. Catastrophic injuries can take a long time to heal and may require more than simply medical treatment. They may require therapy and rehabilitation. Our Joliet car accident lawyers can help you pursue the compensation that you need to cover these costs and any lost income.

Holding a Careless Driver Accountable for Your Injuries

If you are injured in a car accident in Joliet, you may be able to recover damages by suing the other driver in civil court. Usually, plaintiffs must pursue damages under a theory of negligence. That means that the defendant needed to drive safely, the defendant failed to use the proper care, and the defendant’s distracted or otherwise dangerous driving caused your accident. As the plaintiff, you will bear the burden of proving these elements by a preponderance of the evidence. In other words, you must show that more likely than not, things happened in the way that you say that they did, and the defendant was negligent.

A defendant may breach the duty to use reasonable care on the road in many different ways. Some common examples are when someone speeds, texts while driving, drives while drunk or drugged, races, tailgates, drives aggressively, weaves through traffic, drives while fatigued, or ignores traffic signs and signals.

Often, defendants argue that a plaintiff was negligent, but a car accident attorney in Joliet can help you respond to this argument. Under the doctrine of comparative negligence, your damages will be reduced by an amount equal to your percentage of fault. The jury will assess the evidence and arguments, and it will decide not only the total damages but also the percentage of responsibility of each party alleged to be at fault for the accident. If you are found to be more than 50% responsible, you will be barred from recovering damages. Otherwise, your damages will be reduced by an amount equal to your percentage of fault. For example, if the damages are $100,000, but the jury determines that you are 30% at fault for speeding, and the defendant is 70% at fault for ignoring a yield sign, you can recover $70,000 from the defendant.

Damages may be economic and noneconomic. The amount of damages after a car accident will turn on how severe your injuries were and the harms that the jury believes naturally flow from the types of injuries that you suffered. Our Joliet car accident attorneys can help present evidence of both economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages are tangible losses that you experienced as a result of the accident, and often they are documented. They can include medical bills, out-of-pocket costs, lost wages, and replacement services. For example, if you are paralyzed in a car accident, you may need someone to clean the house for you, and you may need to install a ramp to get in and out of your house in a wheelchair. These are economic losses. Noneconomic losses are intangible losses that are more difficult to quantify. They can include pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment, and loss of consortium. Sometimes popular stereotypes shape the amount of the noneconomic damages that are awarded. For example, a jury may assume that a young woman would be more affected by visible scars and disfigurement than an elderly man would be.

Consult a Dedicated Car Accident Lawyer in the Joliet Area

If you were injured in a serious car crash in the Joliet area, you should know that you have rights to assert and options to consider. At Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca, we are ready to help you fight for the compensation that you deserve. Call us at 312-724-5846 for a free consultation.