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(314) 500-HURTDrunk Driving Accident Lawyers in Bensenville, IL. If you or a loved one was injured because someone else did not respect your safety and got behind the wheel drunk, call the Bensenville, IL drunk driving accident lawyers immediately at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online for a free case evaluation. We serve the injured and vulnerable in Bensenville and throughout Illinois by standing up to bullies and getting them the financial recovery they deserve.
You can follow all the rules of the road, but reckless drivers can still put you in harm’s way and unfairly injure you. Whether you were coming back to town after a long weekend or lazily driving around on a Sunday, all of a sudden your entire life was completely disrupted when you did nothing wrong. The Bensenville, IL drunk driving accident lawyers at Burger Law have devoted their careers to helping individuals and families like you get peace and great compensation when they may be feeling like no one could help them. We know the medical bills are piling up, you may not be able to work because of your injuries and your life is not the same as it before your accident. This burden is not yours to bear alone. With the compassions, knowledge and forceful legal representation of our drunk driving accident lawyers, this too shall pass.
In our more than 30 years of experience, we have won more than $175 million in verdicts and settlements for our Bensenville, IL clients. Our initial consultation and investigation is free, and you do not owe us a thing until you get the great compensation you deserve.
If you were harmed by an irresponsible drunk driver, find out how much your claim may be worth by using our free personal injury calculator.
The criminal justice system will likely file charges against the drunk driver who caused the accident. However, only a personal injury lawyer can get you the monetary reimbursement you are owed. Talented, seasoned and tenacious drunk driving accident lawyers can ensure you get justice by:
At Burger Law, we know the ins-and-outs of every type of auto accident claim and know how to get great compensation.
The only way to know when to hire a personal injury lawyer is by having a professional examine the details of your claim. If the driver accepts liability and your injuries are minor and only require an appointment with your primary care physician, you may very well be able to get a fair settlement offer from the insurance company. However, many other circumstances require an attorney for the best results:
At Burger Law, our consultations and initial investigations are free. Reach out to us now at (314) 500-HURT to speak for a candid conversation with a drunk driving accident lawyer familiar with Illinois laws who will be direct with you about whether the insurance company is offering a fair settlement.
Understanding just how bad the problem of drinking and driving can be quite sobering. Every day 28 people are killed in accidents caused by drunk drivers, which is approximately one fatality in just under an hour. While drunk driving accidents and fatalities have steadily become less common in the last 40 years, drunk drivers are still responsible for 29 percent of all auto related fatalities. While safe driving campaigns and harsh punishments for drunk driving have definitely helped, some selfish Bensenville, IL residents still choose to jeopardize others’ safety just so they party and avoid paying for an Uber. When that happens and you or a loved one are injured, you deserve to be justly compensated with a maximum recovery and the careless driver needs to pay for breaking the rules. The Bensenville, IL drunk driving accident lawyers at Burger Law will make sure both of those things come true.
The Illinois 2020 Crash Facts found that almost one-fifth of the 1,088 fatal crashes in the state involved alcohol. Alcohol was found in the symptoms of over a third of 448 deceased drivers who were tested.
While it is only illegal to drink and drive if your blood alcohol concentration is more than .008 percent, a level of only .02 percent is enough to greatly impede someone’s ability to drive. At .02 percent blood alcohol concentration you experience a decline in sight, inability to perform two tasks at the same time, exaggerated confidence and poor judgment. At .05 percent – the product of about three drinks – a person experiences lowered coordination, reduced ability to track moving objects, difficulty using the steering wheel and not being able to respond in enough time to unexpected things on the road. It is imperative to follow proper road safety and have a back up plan if you are not in the best condition to drive. Unfortunately, sometimes you can follow all the rules ourselves and still experience the horrible and unfair consequences of a reckless Bensenville, IL motorist disregarding your safety, getting behind the wheel while intoxicated and injuring you or a family member. Just knowing the harsh penalties that come with a DWI conviction is not enough. Trust in the savvy and aggressive Bensenville, IL drunk driving accident lawyers of Burger law to to see things made right. Call Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT to go over your case and start on the road to recovery.
According to 625 ILCS 5/11-501 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, driving while drunk on under the influence of drugs is a Class A Misdemeanor. However, a drunk driving becomes “aggravated driving under the influence” and a Class 4 Felony if:
Other instances in which the class of felony increases are:
There are five elements needed in order to prove negligence in a personal injury claim:
There are two aspects that set drunk driving accidents apart from most other personal injury claims. Firstly, 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 dictates that drivers have an obligation to “exercise due care to avoid colliding” with other cars, pedestrians and bicyclists. Meaning a driver automatically owed you a duty of care. Secondly, the legal philosophy of negligence per se states that anyone who breaks the law automatically did not act in a reasonable manner to avoid injuring you. Therefore, in drunk driving cases the first two elements are granted automatically under the condition that you have evidence that the driver was inebriated. All your drunk driving accident lawyers will need to show is that the driver caused the accident and that that is how you sustained your injuries.
While it may seem like that makes a drunk driving case a slam-dunk, the insurance company will still be motivated to pay you as little as possible. That is why it is imperative to have committed and talented Bensenville, IL drunk driving accident lawyers to stand up to bullies and get the best results in your claim.
The driver is clearly liable for their reckless decision making, but drunk driving accident lawyers familiar with Illinois law will be able to conduct a full investigation and determine if anyone else is at fault:
Dram shop rules allow you to sue a licensed alcohol vendor after a drunk driving accident if you sustained damages. Illinois’ dram shop laws are explained in 235 ILCS 5/6-15 of the Illinois Liquor Control Act. Illinois’ dram shop law is different from many other states’ in that your drunk driving accident lawyers do not have to prove the vendor did anything wrong, such as sell alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. You just have to show:
You can only sue a social host — meaning someone who supplies their private guests with alcohol — if the person who caused your accident was not of legal age to drink and became inebriated at the private residence.
Annually, the Illinois Comptroller sets dram shop liability limits on the maximum amount of money a person or organization can be required to pay in a dram shop claim. As of Jan. 20, 2022, those limits are $77,787.30 for each person incurring damages, or $95,073.37 if the accident resulted in loss of support or loss of society a family member’s wrongful death.
If the driver was driving someone else’s car, the owner may be liable for some of your damages. According to the practice of negligent entrustment, someone may owe you damages if they permit someone else to engage in an activity which is under the control of the actor if it would not be safe to do so. In a drunk driving accident suit in Bensenville, IL, that means that you must show that the owner of the vehicle purposely allowed the other driver to use their car, and that the owner knew or should have known that the driver was in no condition to operate a vehicle.
If your accident was caused by a commercial driver, such as in a truck accident, bus accident or rideshare accident, the driver’s employer may also owe you damages. Negligence that could result in liability could include:
Experienced Bensenville, IL drunk driving accident lawyers like those at Burger Law have experience with all of these types of cases and know how to get results in them. When you hire us, we start investigating your claim immediately to determine everyone who is responsible for your injuries.
Personal injury claims in the United States are based on the principle of making one whole. The idea behind the doctrine is that when someone injures you, you should receive a financial recovery that is equal to the economic loss and physical pain their negligence put you through. In many car accident claims, for example a a low-speed crash in a parking lot, that might mean paying for lost wages, follow-up doctors’ appointments and the pain that is a result of rehabilitating from a lower back injury for a relatively short period of time. In the most destructive cases, for example if you or a loved one has permanent disability, no financial recovery can be expected to make you whole, but the financial recovery should be great enough to provide a least some sense of justice.
There are three categories of damages in a personal injury claim:
If your injuries result in future medical bills or lost earning potential, drunk driving accident lawyers will make sure the compensation adjusts for inflation as well.
In addition, our Bensenville, IL attorneys have decades of experience winning cases in:
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We hate bullies, including selfish drivers do not value other people’s safety and resistant insurance companies focus more on money than morals. For that reason, each of our Bensenville-based drunk driving accident lawyers in Illinois has committed their careers to defending the rights of the injured and vulnerable. You will not see us on TV or billboards. When we are not investigating and litigating cases, our drunk driving accident lawyers are regularly fine-tuning our negotiation and trial skills to deliver maximum compensation for our clients in Bensenville and throughout Illinois. We know you did nothing to become injured; someone else’s dangerous decisions did. For knowledgeable, empathetic and relentless representation, call the Bensenville, IL drunk driving accident lawyers of Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form.
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