Highway Accident Lawyer Chicago

When we take to the highway in our vehicles, we shoulder a serious responsibility regarding the safety of others on the road. When a motorist fails to take this duty of care seriously, dangerous highway accidents are often the result. If someone else’s negligence leaves you injured in a traffic accident on the highway, an experienced highway accident lawyer in Chicago can help.

The Dangers of the Highway

While all traffic accidents are dangerous, highway accidents tend to be more so for all the following reasons:

• Highways facilitate heavier traffic, which exacerbates the effects of traffic accidents.
• Highways facilitate higher speeds, which are closely associated with increasing the likelihood that accidents will happen in the first place and with increasing the likelihood that any ensuing accidents will be deadly.
• Motorists tend to drive long stretches on highways, which expands the amount of time a driver spends on the road and increases the potential that he or she will be involved in an accident.
• Highway exits and entrances are often the sites of dangerous accidents.

The Role Speed Plays

The pivotal role that speed plays in dangerous car accidents cannot be denied, and highways are where motorists consistently hit their highest speeds (even when they aren’t exceeding speed limits or driving too fast for the condition of the highway). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shares all the following speed-related statistics:

• In 2019, nearly 9,500 motorists were killed in speed-related accidents.
• For more than 20 years, excess speed has played a role in about one-third of all traffic fatalities.
• In 2019, 26 percent of all fatal traffic accidents involved speeding.

Excess speed – and high speeds in general – can have all the following dangerous effects:

• Motorists are more likely to lose control of their vehicles.
• As speed increases, so too does the severity of any ensuing crashes.
• The effectiveness of a vehicle’s occupant protection equipment is reduced as speed increases.
• Vehicles require greater stopping distances as speed increases.

Driver Negligence

Highway accidents are typically caused by driver negligence, which comes in all too many dangerous varieties (in addition to speeding), including:

• Distraction – Distracted drivers do not pay adequate attention to the traffic all around, which makes them exceptionally dangerous drivers.

• Impairment – Drunk drivers can experience cognitive and sensory impairments in addition to the physical impairments, such as decreased coordination, that are caused by alcohol.

• Exhaustion – Drowsy drivers can suffer impairments that are not dissimilar to those suffered by drunk drivers, but they often fail to recognize the danger they pose.

• Aggression – The hallmark of aggressive driving is speeding with abandon, but aggressive drivers tend to combine dangerous practices when they get behind the wheel.

An Experienced Highway Accident Lawyer in Chicago Is on Your Side

The seasoned highway accident lawyers at Saks, Robinson & Rittenberg, Ltd., in Chicago have a wealth of experience successfully guiding traffic accident claims like yours toward optimal outcomes that uphold our clients’ rights and that afford them rightful compensation. We’re on your side and here to help, so please don’t wait to contact us for more information today.