Compensation after a Chicago Car Accident

 Posted on February 08, 2018 in Blog Post

When it comes to shouldering responsibility, car accidents may be more complicated than they might initially seem. Complexities may emerge in either the sequence of events leading up to the moment of collision and personal injuries that follow or in the capacities of each driver (and in some cases pedestrians) involved. Your job as a car accident injury victim is not to play detective. Recovering from the harms you have suffered and adjusting your work and other schedules accordingly are your proper focus. Recording every detail of the facts at issue is the territory of law enforcement, and in apportioning blame and imposing liability, the province of an attorney.

Multi-Party Auto Accidents and the Question of Fault

As a Chicago area resident, you are already familiar with the complexity of the city’s system of roads and highways. Take, for example, the frequent site of road construction area where lanes narrow and traffic snarls. Now, factor in winter weather. You are on your way to work as driving lanes on both sides of a median or temporary traffic divider are halved by red cones and a squad of city workers. You adjust accordingly, slowing to the reduced speed limit.

The driver behind you, however, glancing at his or her phone, is slow to observe the presence of construction, narrowing lanes, and substantially decreased speed limit. The driver hits the breaks, but with snow falling and already on the ground, a collision cannot be avoided. Fault is clear, but turning to the issue of liability, let us add an additional fact: the other driver works for a ride-sharing service such as Uber or Lyft.

Vicarious Liability for Work-Related Auto Accidents

The issue of whether the other driver is on-the-job or not is most relevant in matters of liability. The driver’s employer, attempting to avoid vicarious liability for the driver’s negligence, may argue that the driver is a freelancer rather than an employee, or was not carrying a passenger and thus not working at the time of a collision, or that he or she was on a “frolic” from work (and thus not working) at the time of the accident. In situations like these – in obtaining the compensation you need for your personal injuries – legal expertise matters.

Advocating for Your Legal Rights

An experienced Park Ridge personal injury attorney will fight for your legal rights, no matter how complex the facts at issue, imposing responsibility however broadly or narrowly it rests. To seek compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost income due to missed work, contact the Quinn Law Group, LLC today.

Source:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=073500050K13-202