Rockford Distracted Driving Accidents

Experienced Rockford Lawyers for Distracted Driving Accident Victim

Located in Winnebago County, Rockford is the fifth largest city in the state. Its 61.949 square miles are served by Interstate 90, U.S. Route 20, U.S. 20, Interstate 39, U.S. Route 51, Interstate 80, and Interstate 88, along with Illinois Routes 2, 70, and 251. These and other roads are the sites of many crashes—in 2020, there were 4560 crashes and 17 traffic fatalities in the city. Although drivers are tasked with the duty to use reasonably care while driving, they are frequently distracted. Across the nation, distracted driving was the reason for 3522 deaths in 2021. As an accident victim, you may be uncertain of where to turn after getting injured. You may have medical bills and lost wages. You may be in severe pain. If the other driver was distracted, you should be able to hold him or her accountable for the losses you sustained. Call the seasoned Rockford distracted driving lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca for a free consultation.

Rockford Distracted Driving Accidents

Distracted driving is a common contributor to car accidents in Rockford and around Illinois. Sometimes one driver alone is distracted and causes a collision, but in other cases, two or more drivers are distracted and crash into one another. Distracted driving involves any activity that takes a driver’s attention off the road, whether that’s texting, calling on the phone, using a navigation system, eating, engaging in heated conversations with other passengers, applying makeup, or using the radio or other device that plays music and audiobooks.

Liability

To prove that the other driver was engaged in distracted driving and should be held responsible in a personal injury lawsuit, we will need to prove: (1) the other driver owed you a duty of reasonable care, (2) the other driver was distracted such that he failed to live up to that duty, (3) the failure caused your injuries, and (4) damages. If, for example, another driver was calling his grandmother during a car ride, and drifted into your lane causing you injuries, it is likely we would be able to establish negligence.

Often, in car accident cases, the other driver and his insurers and lawyers try to figure out whether an accident victim’s actions contributed to his or her injuries. Under the doctrine of comparative negligence, your damages can be reduced by an amount proportionate to your degree of fault. Additionally, you can be barred from recovering damages at all if you are 50% or more at fault for your own injuries and damages.

Damages

In most cases, if our Rockford attorneys are able to establish liability for distracted driving, we can recover compensatory damages on your behalf. These are damages intended to make up for your losses, which we will also need to establish. Damages can be both economic and noneconomic. Economic damages could include lost wages, medical bills, replacement services, and out-of-pocket costs. These damages cannot be awarded if they are too speculative. So, for example, if you were in a crash caused by another driver’s texting and suffered catastrophic injuries such that we wanted to establish future wage loss, this could require us to retain an expert to project and establish the amount of those losses with a reasonable degree of certainty.

If you were on the job or became disabled, it would also be worth exploring the benefits available to you through workers’ compensation and SSDI It is important to choose an attorney that understands the potentially complex subrogation rights that would apply.

Seek Representation from a Rockford Distracted Driving Lawyer

If you were injured in an accident caused by another’s inattention to road conditions, you should call the seasoned Rockford distracted driving lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. We put 60 years of experience to work advocating for accident victims like you in court. We also handle SSDI and disability claims to make sure our clients get all the relief to which they are entitled.