Urbana Distracted Driving Accident

Experienced Attorneys for Urbana Distracted Driving Accidents

Urbana is the 38th most populous city in the state of Illinois, and the county seat of Champaign County. Most of Urbana is located south of I-74, but its downtown area lies southwest of United States 150, also called University Avenue, and United States 45, also called Vine Street-Cunningham Avenue. The three exits of I-74 that serve the city are Lincoln, Cunningham, and University. A railroad line and airport also serve the city. If you were injured on the road through the inattentiveness of another, you should call the seasoned Urbana distracted driving accident lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca.

Establishing Fault in an Urbana Distracted Driving Accident

All Urbana drivers owe a duty of care to avoid injuring others with whom they share the road. When a driver’s negligence or misconduct causes harm to another, our attorneys may be able to hold the driver accountable in a personal injury lawsuit. In order to establish a distracted driver’s negligence, we will need to show by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the driver’s distraction was a breach in the duty of care, (2) the breach of the duty caused injuries, and (3) actual damages.

The circumstances determine what the duty of care is, and whether it was breached. Drivers may breach the duty of care by failing to abide by traffic signs and signals, speeding, tailgating, weaving, drunk driving, driving aggressively, and driving while distracted. A driver could be distracted by any of the following:

• texting,
• calling,
• using a complicated navigation system,
• a heated argument within the car,
• eating,
• adjusting makeup,
• searching for an object in the car,
• adjusting the radio,
• or a myriad of other reasons.

In some cases, a driver will deny that his or her distraction caused the accident. When, for instance, a driver is distracted due to texting or calling on the phone, there may be a record of that, and our lawyers can try to obtain those records, which show use of a phone just before an accident, as evidence of distracted driving.

It’s important to be aware that your damages can be reduced by an amount equal to your degree of fault. The jury will look at the facts of your case, and determine the damages, but it will also look at your level of culpability for the accident and assign each person involved a percentage of fault for the accident. If it determines that you were 50% or more responsible for the crash, you could be barred from recovering damages under Illinois’ modified comparative negligence rule.

Legal Representation to Recover Damages

Damages our lawyers may be able to recover when we are able to establish negligence or other fault include compensation for items of loss such as:

• medical bills,
• lost wages,
• lost earning capacity,
• pain and suffering,
• mental distress,
• emotional anguish,
• loss of enjoyment of life,
• and loss of consortium.

The nature and extent of your injuries will determine the amount of damages in your case.

Often the noneconomic losses you recover as a plaintiff are determined by the jury evaluating what would reasonably be suffered as a result of the kinds of concrete injuries you experienced. For example, a jury is likely to value the emotional losses arising from catastrophic injuries such as paralysis, spinal cord damage, or brain injury, which change the quality of your life and the recreational activities you can pursue, on top of what you lose from your ability to do your job, more highly than soft tissue injuries that have little impact on your particular loss. As such, the composition of the jury matters, and your attorneys’ ability to persuasively present the full range of losses you went through in connection with your injuries can have an impact on what you recover.

Consult a Seasoned Urbana Lawyer About a Distracted Driving Crash

Distracted driving is a significant factor in many car accidents. If you were injured or a loved one died, you should call the seasoned Urbana distracted driving accident lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. We’ve fought for compensation for car accident victims for more than 60 years and examine cases closely to determine whether clients also have a claim for SSDI benefits or workers’ compensation benefits. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.