Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Park Forest, IL

The sense of freedom a motorcycle comes with can be neutralized by the injuries careless drivers cause when they do not respect your safety. If another driver injured you in Park Forest, IL, call the motorcycle accident lawyers of Burger Law today at (312) 500-HURT or contact us online for a no-risk, no-obligation consultation.

If you were injured in a motorcycle accident in Park Forest, or anywhere in Illinois, find out how much your claim may be worth by using our free personal injury calculator.

Motorcycles are a great way to get your blood racing. You get a feeling of the open road that is not possible in an enclosed vehicle. Unfortunately, there is a potentially dangerous trade-off. Because motorcycles do not protect riders as well as enclosed vehicles, motorcycle accidents can cause serious injuries. When that happens to you, there are immediate hardships and you need someone to fight for you. You want a law firm that has demonstrated that they can full compensation in motorcycle crash claims in Park Forest, IL.

Our attorneys and paralegals have more than seven decades of combined litigation and trial experience. Our motorcycle accident lawyers will aggressively pursue your claim to ensure you get the medical care and financial recovery that you are owed and that you deserve. Always speak to a lawyer before agreeing to a settlement. The insurance adjuster is out to devalue your recovery. Our firm has a proven track record of successfully fighting the insurance companies and making sure that they treat our Park Forest, IL clients fairly.

To learn more about how our personal injury law firm will defend your rights, speak to an attorney at (312) 500-HURT to go over your motorcycle accident case for free.

How Common Are Motorcycle Accidents in Park Forest, IL?

Even though motorcycles account for only .06 percent of all vehicle miles traveled nationwide, they made up four percent of all injuries and 14 percent of all deaths in traffic-related accidents in 2020, according to the National Safety Council. Nationwide, in 2020 there were 82,500 motorcycle accident injuries and 5,579 deaths. In Illinois, of 3,077 motorcycle wrecks, 2,404 caused injuries and 152 were fatal, according to the Illinois 2020 Crash Facts and Statistics. Sadly, over 50 percent of those crashes came when a passenger car or truck collided with a motorcycle when the biker was driving in a straight line, insinuating that the accidents were often due to a car or truck driver failing to notice motorcyclists. Wrecks happen most frequently in densely populated areas, especially around tolls.

According to data from the Motorcycle Legal Foundation, Illinois is eighth in the nation in terms of both registered motorcycles and motorcycle crash fatalities.

Almost 50 percent of fatal motorcycle accidents occur in the between June and September, and 50 percent occur on the weekends.

What to Do After a Motorcycle Accident in Park Forest, IL

There are a number steps you should take, both immediately following the accident and throughout the process of recovering from your injuries and seeking compensation, to ensure you make both a physical and financial recovery.

At the Accident Site

While any wreck can be surprising and scary, try to stay as calm as possible. Immediately after the crash, you should:

• Get to safety — If you can, move out of the way of other vehicles coming down the street. Leave the bike. It is obviously important to you, but staying with the bike or trying to move it could exacerbate your injuries. If you are seriously injured, it may be best not to move; instead wait for emergency personnel.
• Do not remove your protective gear — Removing your helmet, gloves, boots, jacket and other gear could also make injuries worse. Shock may hide how severe an injury actually is.
• Call 911 — As the injuries caused in a motorcycle wreck can be catastrophic, it may be best to get medical attention at the scene instead of trying to go to an emergency room yourself. Police are trained to determine liability in an accident, and will make a police report.
• Gather evidence — Speak to the other driver and request an insurance card. Take photographs of all vehicles and the crash site from different positions. Take as many pictures as possible. Something that may seem unimportant at first may help a motorcycle accident lawyer in Park Forest, IL prove someone else’s negligence when you make your claim. Get the contact info of any eyewitnesses to the accident.

Finally, if you did not opt to get medical treatment at the scene, do so as quickly as possible.

What to Do Throughout the Claim Process

Once you have gotten medical treatment, inform the insurance company of everybody involved. Then, speak to a motorcycle accident lawyer in Park Forest, IL about your case. If your injuries are significant, you will likely need one to get full compensation. While communicating with your attorney, it is important to:

• Keep Going to Your Medical Appointments — This is obviously the best thing for your health, but aids your financial recovery as well. In order to prove your damages, you need to be able to point to medical records which detail all of the costs and treatments directly associated with the accident. The more medical expenses you have, the higher your ultimate compensation will be as well. Go to every follow up, chiropractic or physical therapy appointment your doctor prescribes.
• Keep Detailed Records — You also deserve compensation for lost wages from time spent recovering, and any out-of-pocket expenses due to your injuries, such as parking or gas money for going to medical appointments or hiring someone to help with housework. Keep all of your receipts and explanations for why those charges were due to your injury. You can also write down your every day experiences showing how your injuries have affected you physically and emotionally for a record of your pain and suffering.
• Leave the Insurance Company up to Your Attorney — Once you have notified the insurance company about your accident and enlisted the services of a motorcycle accident lawyer, let your attorney handle documentation and negotiation. Insurance adjusters try to employ a lot of tricks to devalue claims, and it is better to leave communication up to a lawyer who knows how to combat them.
• Resist Social Media — It is commonplace to want to share what is going on with your life with others. However, posting too much on social media can hurt your claim. If you say your injuries are debilitating, and the insurance sees pictures of you at a bar, they will use it to attempt to devalue your claim.

From your initial consultation, we will keep you updated throughout your claim until we attain a successful resolution. Let us deal with the investigation, documentation, negotiation and litigation so you can focus on your medical treatment.

Do I Need a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Park Forest, IL For My Claim?

For minor and clear-cut accidents, where there is no discrepancy about who is at fault and your medical bills are no more than an appointment with your primary care physician, you may be able to get compensation on your own. Give the insurance company your records and expenses, and see if they will throw some extra money on top for inconvenience. In a smaller settlement where their policyholder is clearly liable, the insurance company is not going to want to waste their time.

However, more likely than not you will need a motorcycle accident attorney for your injury claim. While it would be nice if insurance companies fulfilled their obligations when someone is injured under their coverage, it usually takes a fair amount of fighting to get them to be fair. Situations where you will need a motorcycle accident lawyer in Park Forest, IL include:

• Your injuries are significant — The more your medical expenses and lost wages, the more the insurance company will be resistant to reimbursing you for it. If your injuries require future medical treatment or prevent you from earning a living as you used to, you will absolutely need an attorney to convince the insurance company to pay for future damages as well.
• Your damages and the insurance company’s offer are way too far apart — If your damages are starting to creep up into the tens of thousands, and the insurance adjuster is only offering a few thousand, they are trying convince you that you do not know how what fair compensation means in your case. If there is a lawyer on the case, the insurance company will know that you will not back down without a fight. In a recent case, Burger Law was able to turn a $3,900 offer into a $100,000 settlement.
• There are multiple parties at fault — With some accidents, especially wrecks involving more than one vehicle, there may be more than one liable party. For example, a driver may cut your off because they did not see you, causing you to swerve and hit a road hazard that a governmental agency should have fixed. An experienced Park Forest, IL motorcycle accident lawyer will conduct a full investigation into the accident and determine all liable parties. Identifying everyone who is liable is imperative if you are owed more compensation than the at-fault driver’s policy limits.
• The insurance adjuster is trying to blame you for the accident — Trying to say your injuries are your own fault is a frequent move insurance adjusters use to avoid paying you. When this happens, an attorney will fight back conclusively demonstrate that is not the case. If you were indeed partially at fault, you can still receive some compensation under Missouri’s comparative negligence rule. However, a lawyer is likely necessary to get you the best possible results.

Your Park Forest, IL motorcycle accident lawyer at Burger Law knows how to fight back against tricks insurance adjusters use. We have been doing it for more than 30 years. We offer an initial conversation and investigation at no charge, so call us at (312) 500-HURT to see what we can do for your claim. We start working from the moment you hire us, and do not give up until you get all of compensation you deserve.

Recent Burger Law Park Forest, IL Motorcycle Accident Victories

With any type of legal claim, results matter. You want to know that you are giving your case to the best possible lawyer, and that they are going to fight hard to make sure you get 100 percent of the recovery and compensation you deserve. A motorcycle accident lawyer saying they are the best is one thing, but a lawyer with client testimonials and results to prove it is another thing. Here are several of our most recent victories as well as client testimonials:

• $495,000 Uninsured Motorcycle Accident Verdict
• $327,000 Motorcycle Accident Settlement
• $250,000 Policy Limits Settlement
• $100,000 Motorcycle Liability Claim
• Maximum Recovery Obtained for Motorcycle Accident

Do I Have a Motorcycle Accident Claim in Park Forest, IL?

In order to file any Park Forest, IL injury claim, you must have sustained an injury that was caused by someone else’s negligence. There are five elements to proving negligence in a personal injury claim:

1. Duty of care — Did the other person have an obligation to protect you from unreasonable harm? 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 states that “every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care,” so other drivers always owe you a duty of care.
2. Breach of duty — Did they fail in that duty and did that breach lead to an accident? Was the other driver speeding, texting and driving, drunk driving or otherwise not following proper procedure behind the wheel?
3. Cause in fact — Did the accident cause your injuries?
4. Proximate cause — Did the person’s negligence cause the accident? If the other driver’s brakes were malfunctioning, the liable party may be a manufacturer and not the driver?.
5. Damages — Did your injuries lead to losses, such as medical expenses and emotional distress? If your accident caused a few bruises or scrapes, but it was not serious enough to seek medical treatment, it would be hard for you to file a claim.

If you were injured because of another’s negligence, you have an injury claim. Speak to a motorcycle accident attorney today at (312) 500-HURT if you are unsure if you have a claim.

How Much is My Park Forest, IL Motorcycle Accident Claim Worth?

Your compensation will be a combination of:

• Economic damages, such as lost wages, medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses
• Non-economic damages, such as emotional distress, disfigurement and pain and suffering
• In some rare cases, you can receive punitive damages if the liable party’s behavior was especially egregious, such as if they were drunk driving

Factors that might make your recovery higher or lower include:

• The severity of your injuries; more significant injuries typically lead to higher medical bills and more pain and suffering
• Whether or not you contributed to the accident
• If the accident led to permanent disfigurement or disability
• How your life has changed because of your injuries

At Burger Law, we are experts at calculating the full value of someone’s injury claim and insisting the insurance company takes responsibility for all of it. If your injuries lead to future economic damages like lost earning capacity or future surgeries, we will ensure you also get money to pay for that, including calculating for inflation.

How Long Do I Have to File a Motorcycle Accident Claim in Park Forest, IL?

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, the statute of limitations for motorcycle accident injuries in Park Forest, IL is two years. That means you only have two years from the date the accident occurred to file a claim. There are some exceptions:

• If you or your loved one was under the age of 18 when the injuries occurred, they have until two years after their 18th birthday
• If you or a loved one was under a legal disability at the time of accident, they have until two years after the disability ended
• If the person responsible for your injuries is outside of the state of Illinois for a time, that time does not account against the two years

While two years does not sound like it should give you a sense of urgency, investigating and developing a legal strategy for your claim takes time. Do not wait to reach out to a motorcycle accident lawyer after you have been injured in Park Forest, IL. Call us immediately at (312) 500-HURT.

What Are Common Causes of Motorcycle Accidents in Park Forest, IL?

Motorcycles are harder for passenger car drivers to see, do not take up as much space on the road. As a result of something called “inattentional blindness,” it is harder for drivers to see a motorcycle — even if they are doing their best to be careful. This is because most drivers have programmed their brains to look for other cars, but not for motorcycles. Inattentional blindness contributes to many motorcycle accidents in Park Forest, IL.

Most motorcycle accidents occur because of:

• Left-hand turns — According to the Motorcycle Legal Foundation, over 40 percent of all fatal motorcycle crashes involve a car turning left while the motorcycle was going straight. These crashes can be due to a motorist’s drunkenness, reckless driving or simple inattention.
• Other collisions — Head on collisions also occur frequently between motorcycles and passenger cars. A car may also to fail to see a motorcyclist when turning in front of them. Motorcycles also collide with fixed objects more than any other type of driver, which may be due to a negligent construction company or governmental entity.
• Road hazards — Cracked pavement, potholes, dead animals, wet or icy roadways or other debris on our streets often do not have much of an impact on a car. However, motorcycles are less stable and these hazards can cause a motorcyclist to fall.
• Defective components — Dozens of motorcycles are recalled every year, either by the manufacturer or by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. When dangerous bikes and components are not recalled, it can lead to motorcycle crashes.

Who is Liable for My Motorcycle Accident Injuries in Park Forest, IL?

Ninety-four percent of all auto accidents are caused by human error. So, most likely, you will make a claim against another driver. However, depending on the specifics of your case, you may also be able to make a claim against:

• A governmental entity or contracting company for road hazards
• A vehicle designer, manufacturer or vendor for a defective product
• A company if their employee injured you while driving, such as in a commercial truck accident

Can I Sue For My Park Forest, IL Motorcycle Accident if it Did Not Involve Another Vehicle?

Governmental entities are supposed to keep their roadways safe for citizens to travel on, and when there are road hazards that cause an accident, the agency responsible for the neglect may have to compensate you for your injuries. However, suing a government entity in Illinois has added complications. Our motorcycle accident lawyers in Park Forest, IL can take on your claim and guide you through the complexities of local and state laws to secure you the compensation you deserve.

A Loved One Was Killed in a Motorcycle Crash in Park Forest, IL. What Are My Legal Options?

Motorcyclists are not only at increased risk of a serious injury, but are more likely to be in a fatal accident. If your worst nightmare came true and a loved one passed away in a motorcycle crash, you can make a wrongful death claim. While no settlement or verdict can bring back your loved one, it can help provide some sense closure and ease some of the difficulties associated with their passing. 740 ILCS 180/, the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, details the laws surrounding wrongful death claims:

• A wrongful death claim can be made when some is killed by another’s negligence or wrongdoing.
• The Illinois statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years from the date of your loved one’s death, not the date that they were first injured.
• Three groups of people related to the deceased can file a wrongful death claim in Illinois. Beginning with who has priority, they are:
  1. Immediate family members, such as a spouse, children, grandchildren and grandparents
  2. If there are no immediate family members, siblings and siblings’ descendants can bring a suit
  3. If no family remains, a judge can designate a plaintiff ad litem to bring a suit
• Your compensation will include:
  • Under 755 ILCS 5/27-6, the Illinois Survival Act, the personal injury damages incurred by the deceased before their death, for example their medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering
  • Funeral expenses
  • Loss of financial support from your loved one, including any work-related benefits
  • Loss of consortium
  • Loss of instruction, guidance and moral training the deceased would have provided
  • Survivors’ grief, sorrow and mental suffering

Burger Law’s Park Forest, IL wrongful death attorneys are not just experts at getting our clients full recoveries. We are compassionate and have helped many families get through the sorrow, anger and confusion that accompanies a fatal auto accident.

In addition to motorcycle accidents, other personal injury claims we we have had great success with in Park Forest, IL include:

• Truck Crash Lawyers in Illinois
• Wrongful Death Lawyers in Illinois
• Semi-Truck Accident Lawyer in Illinois
• Car Accident Attorney in Illinois

HIRE BURGER LAW

Speak to a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Park Forest, IL Today

Our Park Forest, IL motorcycle accident lawyers will fight until you get the maximum compensation you are owed; we promise. You are owed a recovery for your motorcycle accident. You do not have to pay for someone else’s mistakes. To learn more about how our Park Forest, IL personal injury law firm will fight for your rights, call our team at (312) 500-HURT or contact us online for a complimentary consultation.

Client Reviews

What our clients are saying about us

Juanita Matthews

Year of 2023

This law firm is absolutely amazing. They took on my case, when nobody else would! They fought hard for me when it seemed there was no hope. They kept me informed and always asked for my input before making decisions on my case. Gary puts himself into every case unlike most law firm owners. Gary and his team really care about every one of their clients, and fights hard to get you a fair settlement. They actually won my case out of court, and then reduced my fees to make sure I could get my car fixed and be able to get back to some normality. I would recommend Burger Law over and above any other firm! If you go somewhere else you aren’t getting the best!

Shaunda S.

7 months ago

I am very happy with the staff at Burger Law. I mostly worked with Michael Sheldon, and he did an amazing job. I trusted him completely with my case, and he did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this team if your ever in need of good attorneys.

Emelia M.

3 months ago

Burger Law Firm is fantastic. Laura and Genevieve were so amazing and helpful throughout the entire process. They helped me with my personal injury case every step of the way and succeeded at getting me the results I desired.

Helen L.

a year ago

We had a great experience with Burger Law for representing us after a serious car accident. Truly impressed by how professional and supportive the entire team is. And, many thanks to Genavieve and Laura – you are amazing!

Judy M.

a year ago

They did an amazing job on my case! Communication with them was great!!! Kept me informed and in the loop with everything that was going on!!! Will definitely be the 1st ones I’ll call if ever I’m in another accident!!! Thank you very much!!!

Chelsea C.

5 months ago

Let me tell you something about Burger Law.. they are so attentive and kind. Jennifer is my savior!! I love the whole team!!! They are truly a miracle team!! I appreciate their business and would recommend it to others.

David D.

2 months ago

Absolutely the best law firm in the St. Louis area. No matter the size of your case you are treated as if you are the only client on the roster. Will explain anything thoroughly and they work around your availability. Very impressed and appreciative of the service.

Lisa B.

11 months ago

Gary and Casey took great care of me for 2.5 years as my lawsuit was finally settled. I feel he helped me achieve justice for me and my 4 children after their father died from medical malpractice and neglect. Thanks to Gary, my kids now have a great start to their college and adult lives. Thank you Gary and Casey, for fighting for us so hard at our most trying and difficult time in our lives thus far. Love and God bless from my family to yours!

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