Evanston Car Accident

Car accidents are a regular occurrence in and around the Evanston area. Crash victims should be able to recover full compensation for their losses from at-fault parties, but this is a challenging process. At Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP, we are here to help if you need an Evanston car accident attorney by your side. We pledged to fully investigate every aspect of your claim so that we can stand up to aggressive insurance carriers and recover the compensation you need to make a full recovery.

• At Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP, our dedicated team has extensive trial and courtroom experience, and we are willing to pursue maximum compensation on behalf of every client.
• For more than 40 years, we have helped Illinois residents and visitors recover consolation after sustaining personal injuries.
• We handle Evanston car accident claims on a contingency fee basis. This means that clients never have to worry about paying any legal fees until we recover compensation for their losses.

There are various reasons why you need to work with a skilled car accident attorney in Evanston as soon as possible. An attorney’s role in these situations will be multifaceted and begin with conducting a complete investigation into the incident. They will gather all of the evidence needed to prove liability, including photographs taken at the scene, any available video surveillance footage, accident reports, mobile device data, vehicle recording device data, and more. An attorney will also:

• Ensure you are seen by a trusted medical professional who will not only treat your injuries but help calculate expected losses
• Handle all paperwork involved with filing your insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit in civil court
• Handle all negotiations with insurance carriers and at fault parties
• Fully prepare your case for trial in front of a jury if that is what it takes to ensure that you are treated fairly

At Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP, our attorneys have extensive experience helping clients who have sustained a wide range of injuries after an Evanston car accident occurs. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord trauma
• Concussions
• Whiplash
• Open head or facial wounds
• Severe lacerations or puncture wounds
• Soft tissue injuries
• Internal organ damage or bleeding

It is very important for us to highlight that not all car accident injuries are necessarily traumatic and visible in nature. It is not uncommon for Evanston car accident victims to suffer from a range of emotional and psychological traumas. This can include feelings of anxiety, stress, fear, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These “hidden” injuries can last for months or even years after a car accident in Evanston occurs.

Our attorneys work diligently to recover full compensation for all of our clients’ injuries. This includes the visible traumatic injuries listed above as well as any unseen emotional and psychological injuries.

Even though Evanston is not in the middle of bustling Chicago, it is close enough to the main city action that we have to deal with car accidents on a regular basis. This is particularly true when it comes to morning and afternoon commute hours. Information presented by the Illinois Department Of Transportation shows that there were nearly 1,000 total crashes during the latest reporting year in Evanston. Out of these incidents, there were 291 total injuries, many of which were severe.

The data goes on to show us that many of these collisions were considered “angle” crashes, which can mean a number of things, including T-bone collisions. Additionally, a significant portion of crashes in Evanston were rear-end collisions. Interestingly, 248 of the latest year’s crashes in Evanston involved parked motor vehicles.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not true that most vehicle accidents occur in adverse weather conditions. The majority of collisions that have occurred in our city over the last few years have happened in dry conditions.

Victims in Evanston who have been injured due to the negligence of another driver often ask how much compensation they might receive for their claim. When it comes to Illinois car accident claims, there is no set amount of money set aside for crash victims. Rather, the total amount of compensation we can secure for clients will vary depending on factors related to every particular vehicle accident that occurs.

Some of the factors that can affect compensation amounts include the severity of the injuries, whether or not a victim can work while they recover, whether or not there was any shared fault for the incident, and how much pain and suffering they have endured.

Our goal is to recover both economic and non-economic losses on behalf of our clients. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Coverage of all emergency medical expenses
• Compensation for follow-up hospital or doctor visits
• Out-of-pocket expenses that arise
• Lost wages if a crash victim cannot work
• Property damage expenses
• Pain and suffering damages
• Loss of quality of life damages

In the state of Illinois, crash victims must be aware that they have a limited amount of time to file lawsuits in civil court. The Illinois personal injury statute of limitations is two years from the date an injury occurs. This gives Evanston car accident victims a two-year window with which to file a lawsuit against the alleged negligent driver in the case. Failing to file a lawsuit within this timeframe will likely result in the crash victim becoming unable to recover compensation for their losses.

It is important to understand that insurance carriers also dictate time limits in these cases. Most auto insurance carriers have strict reporting deadlines, often within a day or two after a crash occurs in Illinois. Failing to report an accident to the insurance carrier as promptly as possible could result in the carrier delaying or even denying the claim altogether.

There are various steps that Evanston car accident victims can take to help recover maximum compensation in these situations. We know that the aftermath of a vehicle accident can be confusing, and you may not be able to take these steps in this exact order, particularly if you have to seek medical care. However, we encourage you to keep these steps in mind to help you recover the money that you are entitled to.

1. Call 911. You should call the police dispatcher as soon as possible after an accident occurs. It is crucial for the police as well as EMS and fire personnel to get to the scene quickly so they can ensure everyone’s safety. Additionally, the police will be the ones to conduct an investigation and fill out the accident report.
2. Seek medical care immediately. It is important for any person involved in a vehicle accident to seek medical care as promptly as possible. Evanston car accident victims should allow EMS personnel to care for their injuries and take them to the hospital, particularly if the injuries are severe. Even if a person does not think their injuries are severe, they should go to the doctor for a complete evaluation right after the incident occurs.
3. Begin gathering evidence. It is important to begin gathering as much evidence as possible, and the best time to do this is right after an accident occurs. However, we caution you not to begin gathering evidence if you have sustained a severe injury or if the car accident scene is unsafe. However, if you are able to do so, you can use any type of camera, including the one on your cell phone, to take photographs of everything you see. This includes causes of the crash, debris, skid marks, weather and traffic conditions, injuries, damage to vehicles, and more. Additionally, if there were any eyewitnesses to the crash, you need to write down their names and contact information before these individuals leave the scene.
4. Call your insurance carrier. You have a limited amount of time to report vehicle accidents to your insurance carrier. We recommend that you report the incident to your insurance carrier either by phone, through their website, or through their interactive phone app the same day the incident occurs. Failing to report a car accident to the insurance carrier promptly could result in a claim delay or even denial. However, you do not have to go into much detail when you make your initial report. Your insurance carrier only needs to know that the incident occurred, where it happened, the names of the other driver(s) involved, and that you were seeking medical care.
5. Contact an attorney. We want you to reach out to an Evanston car accident lawyer as soon as possible after a crash occurs. An attorney can step in and handle every aspect of the claim on your behalf. This will include communicating with the insurance carriers and other parties involved, conducting a thorough investigation into the incident, and negotiating to recover fair compensation on your behalf.
6. Go to all doctor visits. Under no circumstances should a car accident victim discontinue care against the advice of their doctor. If a crash victim person chooses to stop going to their doctor before they have reached maximum medical improvement, this could give the insurance carriers involved a reason to delay or even deny the claim. It is important to go to all follow-up visits until released from care by a doctor. Additionally, if you discontinue care and take a settlement, there will be no way to go back and receive additional compensation if your injuries are worse than you initially thought.

It is still possible for individuals to recover compensation even if they are partially responsible for a collision, but this is going to depend on their percentage of fault. Illinois operates under what is called a “modified comparative negligence” system. Under this system, a person can still recover compensation so long as they are less than 51% responsible for the incident. Any person 51% or more responsible for causing a crash in Evanston will be unable to recover compensation for their losses.

However, if an individual is less than 51% responsible, they can receive compensation, though the total amount of money they receive will be reduced depending on their percentage of fault. For an example of how this works, we should look at a theoretical scenario with simple numbers. Let us suppose that Driver A sustains $100,000 worth of medical bills and property damage after he is T-boned after Driver B, who was intoxicated, ran a stop sign.

Because Driver B was intoxicated, it may seem like they have to pay the full $100,000 to Driver A, but what if it is determined that Driver A failed to come to a complete stop before they went through a stop sign and into the intersection where the collision occurred? In this scenario, it is entirely plausible that a jury would determine that Driver A was 30% responsible for the collision. This means that they would receive $70,000 instead of the full $100,000 to account for their percentage of fault.

If you or somebody you love has been injured in a car accident caused by the actions of a negligent driver in the Evanston area, reach out to the team of Evanston personal injury lawyers at Seidman, Margulis & Fairman, LLP for help immediately. Our attorneys have a track record of success handling complex vehicle accident claims throughout Illinois, and our goal is to make sure you recover the compensation necessary to make through your recovery. When you need an Evanston car accident attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or calling (312) 781-1977.