Auto Accident Attorney Near Me

In 2016, there were 324,473 car accidents in Illinois, 66,703 of which resulted in an injury to one or more people. These statistics represent an 8% increase from the previous year’s data, making it especially important for Illinois drivers to use care when operating a vehicle in the state. Unfortunately, even when a driver obeys all traffic laws, he or she could still be involved in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence. In these cases, holding the at-fault party accountable can be crucial to an injured party’s recovery, so if you were involved in a car crash that was not your fault, it is important to contact an experienced auto accident attorney near me who can help you seek compensation for your financial losses. 

Types of Car Accidents

While all car crashes are frightening and potentially dangerous, certain types of accidents are notorious for causing particularly devastating injuries, including:

• • Multi-car pile-ups, which as their name suggests, involve a high number of vehicles and impacts, leading to severe injuries, such as head trauma and spinal cord damage;
  • Head-on collisions, of which there were 2,724 in Illinois in 2016, many of which resulted in serious injuries and even death;
  • Rear end car accidents, of which there were nearly 96,576 in Illinois, making them the most common type of car accident in the state;
  • Side-impact collisions, of which there were nearly 51,000 in the state in 2016 alone;
  • Sideswipe accidents, in which one vehicle scrapes alongside another; and
  • Rollover accidents, which often involve high profile vehicles, such as SUVs, that when struck, tend to flip over more easily. 

Regardless of the type of accident, injured parties will need to prove that another person’s negligence or recklessness caused the accident in order to collect damages compensating them for medical bills, lost wages, disability, property damage, and pain and suffering.

Car Accident Causes

Many of these types of accidents are the result of speeding. For instance, collisions involving speed accounted for nearly 33% of crashes in Illinois, 33.2% of fatal accidents, and 37.8% of crashes that involved an injury. Inattention and distraction also played a significant role in many car accidents and while collisions with other vehicles made up the majority of car crashes in Illinois over the last few years, nearly 33,093 involved a collision with a fixed object. Furthermore, crashes involving fixed objects make up the highest number of fatal accidents at 28.2% of all fatal crashes in Illinois in 2016. 

Other common car accident causes include:

• • Falling asleep at the wheel or driving while fatigued;
  • Vehicle defects;
  • Tailgating and driving aggressively;
  • Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
  • Violating traffic laws;
  • Tire blowouts; and
  • Road hazards. 

All of these car accident cases involve some type of negligent or reckless conduct. However, in order to prove that someone’s negligence was the cause of an accident, injured parties will need to provide evidence, such as:

• • Eyewitness testimony;
  • Photos from the scene of the accident;
  • Video recordings of the accident taken by witnesses or traffic cameras;
  • Police reports;
  • Phone records;
  • Accident reconstruction diagrams; and
  • Data obtained from in-vehicle technologies. 

For help collecting this evidence for your own car accident claim, please contact our legal team today. 

An Auto Accident Attorney Near You

If you were involved in a car accident and were not primarily at fault, please contact  Rittenberg, Saks & Robinson, Ltd. to schedule an initial case evaluation with a dedicated auto accident attorney.