Personal injury attorneys in Elgin and the surrounding Chicago area are needed far too often. With Elgin’s quickly growing population and the beauty along the Fox River, we have more traffic than ever. Unfortunately, this also means more car accidents with serious injuries. In the blink of an eye, your life may change, leaving you injured and confused about what to do next. After a serious car accident, you will find yourself faced with many questions about how to best deal with the other driver, insurance companies, the police, medical forms and billing, your car, and possibly even your job, all while trying to recover physically. Let our Elgin car accident lawyer help.
Knowing what to do right after a car accident
One of the very first things that usually happens after a car accident with injuries, is a report to the police. In Illinois, drivers are required to file a motorist crash report no later than 10 days after an accident, if the accident caused more than $1,500.00 worth of damage or if anyone was hurt or died in the accident. This crash report has to be sent to IDOT- the Illinois Department of Transportation. If the police did not arrive at the accident site, you must also file a report with law enforcement following a car accident. The police may have come to the scene to provide assistance, help with the exchange of information, gather witness information, prepare a report, and possibly issue a ticket against the at-fault driver. It is important to provide the facts- and just the facts- as you remember them. Be honest (always), but do not editorialize or admit fault, since fault is not always clear-cut, and the aftermath of an accident is neither the time nor the place to be discussing blame. What is important is to cooperate with law enforcement and seek medical treatment if you are hurt. The rest of it can wait. You should also promptly report the facts of the accident to your own insurance company and avoid talking to the other party’s insurance company at all until you have had the chance to speak to a car accident lawyer- even if you know that the accident was not your fault and you have nothing to hide. The insurance companies will want to take control over you and the situation, but playing by their rules is often the most harmful thing that you can do. It is best to avoid speaking with insurance until you have spoken with an Elgin car crash attorney.
What you need to prove in a car accident injury case
In Illinois, to succeed in a claim or lawsuit against the driver of another car (or the driver of the car you were in if you were a passenger), you need to be able to prove a few things that a good Elgin car accident lawyer can help with:
Proximate Cause: Causation, or ‘proximate cause’ is what links the negligence to the injury. You must show that not only the other driver was negligent but that the negligence caused the accident and that the accident caused your injury. Nothing can be assumed.
- Negligence: There is a duty owed by all drivers to prevent harm to others. You need to prove that the other driver breached their duty by doing something wrong, for example, by following your car too closely, running a red light, or not being able to stop in time to prevent an accident. This is called negligence.
- Injury: If the other driver was negligent but you were not hurt, then you don’t have a case for personal injury. You might have a case against the other driver for damage, however.
- Proximate Cause: Causation, or ‘proximate cause’ is what links the negligence to the injury. You must show that not only the other driver was negligent but that the negligence caused the accident and that the accident caused your injury. Nothing can be assumed.
