Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Tinley Park, IL

The sense of freedom a motorcycle comes with can be made moot by the injuries negligent drivers cause when they do not respect your safety. If you were injured in a motorcycle accident in Tinley Park, IL, call the motorcycle accident lawyers of Burger Law immediately at (312) 500-HURT or contact us online for a no-risk, no-obligation case evaluation.

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

Motorcycles are an ideal way to enjoy the road and relax. You get a feeling of the open road that a car just cannot emulate. Unfortunately, this freedom also comes with a high price. Because motorcycles do not protect their occupants as well as enclosed vehicles, the consequences of a motorcycle accident can be devastating. When you are injured, it carries financial, physical and mental consequences and you need someone to fight for you. You want an attorney that has demonstrated that they can get great results in motorcycle collision lawsuits in Tinley Park, IL.

Our attorneys and paralegals have more than 30 years of experience getting maximum compensation for those injured through the negligence of another. Our motorcycle accident lawyers will fight until you recover all of your damages and there is nothing left to fight. Do not talk to your insurance or the other side’s insurance without speaking to an attorney first. The insurance adjuster wants to minimize your recovery. Our firm has a proven track record of successfully fighting the insurance companies and making sure that they give 100 percent of what they owe our Tinley Park, IL clients.

To find out more about how our personal injury law firm will defend your rights, call an attorney at (312) 500-HURT to discuss your motorcycle accident case for free.

How Common Are Motorcycle Accidents in Tinley Park, IL?

Fourteen percent of motor vehicle fatalities and four percent of injuries were sustained by motorcyclists, despite only less than one percent of vehicle traffic being motorcycles, according to the National Safety Council. In the United States, in 2020 there were 82,500 motorcycle accident injuries and 5,579 fatalities. In Illinois, there were 3,077 motorcycle wrecks which resulted in 2,404 injuries and 152 fatalities, according to the Illinois 2020 Crash Facts and Statistics. Unfortunately, over half 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 another driver failing to notice motorcyclists. Most of the crashes occurred in urban areas, especially around tolls.

According to the Motorcycle Legal Foundation, Illinois is eighth in the country with close to 300,000 registered motorcycles, and proportionately was eighth in the country in fatalities in 2017.

Nearly 50 percent of deadly motorcycle collisions occur in the summer months, and half happen on the weekends.

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

There are a number steps you should take, both in the immediate wake of an accident and in the days and weeks that follow, to make sure your recover from your injuries both physically and financially.

At the Accident Site

While any wreck can be jarring, it is vital to think rationally. At the accident site, you should:

• Get to safety — If possible, move out of the way of oncoming traffic. Leave the bike. It is obviously important to you, but staying with the bike or trying to move it could put you at risk of further harm. If you believe your injuries may be catastrophic, it may be best not to move; instead wait for emergency personnel.
• Keep your gear on — Removing your helmet, gloves, boots, jacket and other gear could also exacerbate your injuries. Because of adrenaline, a serious injury may not always hurt as much at first.
• Call 911 — As the injuries caused in a motorcycle wreck can be catastrophic, it is probably best to get medical attention there instead of trying to go to an emergency room yourself. Police are trained to assign liability in an accident, and will make a police report.
• Gather evidence — Talk to any other drivers involved and ask for an insurance card. Take photographs of the accident, including damage to all vehicles involved and the surrounding areas. Take more photos than you think you need. Something that may seem unimportant at first may be useful to a motorcycle accident lawyer in Tinley Park, IL when trying to prove someone else’s negligence when you make your claim. Get the contact info of any eyewitnesses to the accident.

Lastly, if you did not seek medical treatment at the scene, do so immediately.

What to Do in the Ensuing Weeks and Months

After you first seek medical care, inform both your insurance company and the other driver’s. Then, speak to a motorcycle accident lawyer in Tinley Park, 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:

• Continue Medical Treatment — This is obviously the best thing for your health, but aids your financial recovery as well. You need to prove that you sustained financial losses, and to do that you need to be able to point to medical records which show all of the treatments and related expenses directly associated with the accident. The the higher your financial loss, the higher your ultimate compensation will be as well. Go to every every treatment and use all of the equipment and medication your doctor prescribes.
• Keep Detailed Records — You are also owed a financial recovery for lost wages from time spent recovering, and any out-of-pocket expenses you incur, such as transportation to and from medical appointments or hiring someone to help with household chores. Manage a file with all of your receipts and explanations for why you needed to pay those expenses. You can also keep a daily journal showing how your injuries have affected you physically and emotionally for a record of your pain and suffering.
• Do Not Talk to the Insurance Company — Once you have filed your claim and enlisted the services of a motorcycle accident lawyer, your attorney will will now be intermediary between you and the insurance. Insurance adjusters use a lot of ploys to minimize claims, and it is better to leave communication up to an attorney who knows how to combat them.
• Stay off Social Media — In this day and age, many of us want to share details about our life on the Internet. However, posting too much on social media can do damage to your chances of being fully compensated. If you say your injuries are debilitating, and the insurance sees pictures of you going out on the weekends, they will use it to attempt to devalue your claim.

From the moment you hire us, we will keep you updated throughout your claim until you get the full financial recovery you are owed. Let us deal with the legal aspect of your case so you can focus on your physical and emotional recovery.

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

For some minor claims, where fault is clearly established and your medical bills are no more than an appointment with your primary care physician, a lawyer may not be able to add much value to your claim. Give the insurance company proof of your financial losses, and see if they will throw some extra money on top for inconvenience. In a a settlement for a relatively small sum of money where their policyholder is clearly liable, the adjuster is not going to want to waste their time.

However, in most cases, 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, they usually have to be convinced to. Situations where you will need a motorcycle accident lawyer in Tinley Park, IL include:

• Your injuries require ongoing treatment — The higher your damages, the more the insurance company will try to avoid their responsibility. If your injuries require ongoing treatment, you will always 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 in the tens or hundreds 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 you enlist the services of an attorney, the insurance company will know that you mean business. Burger Law has added hundreds of thousands of dollars to claims, including turning a $3,900 offer into a $100,000 settlement.
• There is more than liable party — With some accidents, especially multi-vehicle accidents, there may be more than one liable party. For example, a driver may merge into your line because they did not see you, causing you to swerve and hit a road hazard that a governmental agency should have fixed. An aggressive Tinley Park, IL motorcycle accident lawyer will conduct a full investigation into the crash and assign a portion of the damages to each liable party. Finding other people who are liable is essential if you are owed more compensation than the at-fault driver’s policy limits.
• The insurance adjuster is trying to blame you for your injuries — Blaming you for your injuries is a classic trick insurance adjusters use to avoid paying you. If the insurance company say your accident was your own doing, an attorney use their investigate skills and network of experts to conclusively demonstrate how the other party was negligent. If it is true that you were partially at fault, you can still receive some compensation under Missouri’s comparative negligence doctrine. However, you will need an attorney to apply the rule of law and get you that compensation.

Your Tinley Park, IL motorcycle accident lawyer at Burger Law knows how to fight back against tactics insurance adjusters use. We have been doing it for over 30 years. Our consultations are free, so speak to an attorney now at (312) 500-HURT to see if we can add value to your claim. We start developing our legal strategy from the second you hire us, and do not give up until you get all of compensation you deserve.

Recent Burger Law Tinley Park, IL Motorcycle Accident Victories

With any type of legal claim, results matter. You want to know that you are putting your case in the hands of 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. Any motorcycle accident lawyer can say they are the best, but a lawyer whose former clients will recommend them and who has the 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 Tinley Park, IL?

If you want to file any Tinley Park, 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 liable party have a responsibility to keep you safe? 625 ILCS 5/11-1003.1 stipulates that “every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care,” so anyone else on the road automatically owes you that duty.
2. Breach of duty — Did they fail in that duty and cause an accident? Was another driver speeding, texting and driving, drunk driving or otherwise not following proper procedure behind the wheel?
3. Cause in fact — Were your injuries the direct result of the accident?
4. Proximate cause — Did the person’s breach of duty cause the accident? If the other driver’s brakes were not working, the person who needs to compensate you may be a manufacturer and not another motorist?.
5. Damages — Did your injuries lead to losses, such as lost wages and mental anguish? If your accident caused some small cuts and bruising, but it was not serious enough to seek medical treatment, it would be hard for you to file a claim.

If you were injured through another’s negligence, you have an injury claim. Speak to a motorcycle accident attorney now at (312) 500-HURT if you have any doubts about the validity of your claim.

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

In any personal injury claim, you are owed compensation for:

• Economic damages, such as lost wages, medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses
• Non-economic damages, such as mental anguish, scarring and pain and suffering
• While not common, you might be able to recover punitive damages if you were injured by extreme recklessness, such as drunk driving

Factors that might make your compensation higher or lower include:

• The severity of your injuries; more significant injuries tend to lead to higher medical bills and more pain and suffering
• Whether or not you were partially to blame for your injuries
• If the accident led to permanent disfigurement or disability
• The impact the injuries have had on your ability to live the life you are used to

At Burger Law, we know how to calculate the full value of someone’s injury claim and demanding the liable party takes responsibility for all of it. If your injuries require ongoing medical care, that will also be part of your settlement or verdict, including adjusting for inflation.

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

According to 735 ILCS 5/13-202, the statute of limitations for motorcycle accident injuries in Tinley Park, 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 a minor when the injuries occurred, they have until their 20th birthday
• If you or a loved one was under a legal disability when the injuries occurred, they have until two years after the disability ended
• If the liable party leaves the state of Illinois for a time, that time is not included in 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 call a motorcycle accident lawyer after you were hurt in a motorcycle accident in Tinley Park, IL. Call us immediately at (312) 500-HURT.

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

Motorcycles are not as easy to spot on the road, do not take up as much space on the road. Because 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 we train our brains to look for larger vehicles, but not for motorcycles. Inattentional blindness contributes to many motorcycle accidents in Tinley Park, IL.

Most motorcycle accidents occur because of:

• Left-hand turns — The Motorcycle Legal Foundation reports that 42 percent of all motorcycle accidents that result in deaths involve a car turning left while and hits a motorcyclist in an intersection. These crashes can happen because of a car driver’s intoxication, speeding or distracted driving.
• Other collisions — Head on collisions are also common between motorcycles and passenger cars. It is also common for a car to fail to see a motorcyclist when merging or changing lanes. Motorcycles also have the highest rate of collisions with fixed objects, which may be due to a negligent construction company or governmental entity.
• Road hazards — Cracked pavement, potholes, animal carcasses, slick surfaces or other roadways debris usually do not affect a vehicle with more than two wheels very much. However, motorcycles do not have the same level of stability and these hazards can cause a motorcyclist to spin out.
• Defective parts — Dozens of motorcycles are recalled every year, either by the manufacturer or by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If bikes or parts that are defective are allowed to stay on the market, it can lead to motorcycle accidents.

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

Almost all motor vehicle accidents are caused by human error. So, most of the time another motorist is responsible for your injuries. However, depending on the specifics of your case, you may also be able to make a claim against:

• A governmental entity or construction company for road hazards
• A vehicle designer, manufacturer or vendor in a product liability claim
• A employer if someone they hired injured you while driving, such as in a commercial truck accident

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

Governmental bodies are supposed to keep their roadways safe for use by everyone on the roads, and when there are road hazards that cause an accident, the agency responsible for the neglect can be held liable for the motorcycle accident. However, suing a government entity in Illinois has added complications. Our motorcycle accident lawyers in Tinley Park, IL can handle your claim and take the fight to city hall to get you a full financial recovery.

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

The dangers of motorcycles mean that bikers have a higher death rate than people in enclosed vehicles. If your worst nightmare came true and a family member died in a motorcycle crash, you can make a wrongful death claim. While it is impossible to put a monetary value on your loved one’s life can help provide some sense closure and ease the financial burden that come with your loved one’s passing. 740 ILCS 180/, the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, details the laws surrounding wrongful death claims:

• You can make a wrongful death claim for negligence, just as your loved one would have made an injury claim if they were injured.
• The Illinois statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years from the date your loved one died, not the date that they were first injured.
• There are three categories of people who can file a wrongful death claim in Illinois. Beginning with who has the first chance to file, they are:
  1. Immediate family members, such as a spouse, children, grandchildren and grandparents
  2. When there are no immediate family members, siblings and nieces and nephews can file a claim
  3. If there are no family members, a judge can designate a plaintiff ad litem to file a claim
• The damages you can recover include:
  • Under 755 ILCS 5/27-6, the Illinois Survival Act, the economic and noneconomic damages the deceased incurred from their injuries before passing
  • Funeral expenses
  • Loss of financial support from your loved one, including any work-related benefits
  • Loss of consortium
  • Loss of instruction, education and moral training the deceased would have provided
  • Survivors’ grief, sorrow and mental suffering

Burger Law’s Tinley Park, IL wrongful death attorneys are not just experts at getting our clients full recoveries. We are empathetic and have helped many families navigate the sorrow, anger and confusion that comes after a fatal auto accident.

In addition to motorcycle accidents, other injury cases we take on and win in Tinley Park, 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 Tinley Park, IL Today

Our Tinley Park, IL motorcycle accident lawyers will not stop fighting until there is nothing left to fight; we promise. You deserve to be financially compensated for your motorcycle accident. You did nothing to deserve being in this situation, and you should not have to pay for it. To learn more about how our Tinley Park, IL personal injury law firm will fight for your rights, call our team at (312) 500-HURT or contact us online for a free 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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