Arlington Heights Truck Accident Lawyers

An Illinois truck crash can jeopardize your health, career, and finances in the time it takes for a negligent truck driver to speed through a red light, become fatigued and swerve into your lane, or carelessly turn into a busy crosswalk. As a driver or passenger in a car or vulnerable road user, you are susceptible to devastating injury with an increased likelihood of permanent complications. In the long run, this can easily cost you thousands in medical bills and lost wages, not to mention the toll a debilitating truck accident injury can take on your mental and physical health. If the truck driver, or a third party, is responsible for causing your injuries, you may be entitled to seek compensation with the help of our Arlington Heights truck accident lawyers. 

Lerner and Rowe can help you maximize your compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. To schedule a free consultation with an Arlington Heights personal injury lawyer, contact us today. We have legal representatives standing by 24/7 to respond to your call at 708-222-2222, your FREE online form submission, or your messages via our convenient LiveChat feature.

Arlington Heights Truck Accident Lawyers

Why You Should Choose Lerner and Rowe to Represent Your Truck Accident Lawsuit

In a crisis situation, you need to be represented by a top-notch personal injury lawyer who has a successful track record, strong endorsements from clients, extensive legal knowledge, and familiarity with the local landscape. At Lerner and Rowe, our Illinois truck accident lawyers can offer you all of these qualities and a commitment to outstanding service as we represent you in your Arlington Heights truck accident lawsuit. 

We recognize that a T-bone truck accident near the Tony’s on Rand Road, a multi-vehicle pile-up on U.S. 14, a side-swipe truck accident on Palatine Road, or virtually any type of collision involving a semi-truck has likely yielded significant financial setbacks, health issues, and stress. Having an experienced team of highly effective negotiators with a history of getting results can help ensure that you receive the compensation you need to move forward after being severely injured in an Illinois truck accident.

We encourage you to take advantage of our considerable resources and hard-won legal knowledge, which is the level of experience and support you deserve. At Lerner and Rowe, our Arlington Heights truck accident lawyers have proven ourselves to be reliable, capable advocates who consistently exceed expectations for our injured clients, and we can be trusted to do the same for you.

Understanding Arlington Heights, Illinois Truck Crashes

Arlington Heights is considered a suburb of Chicago. Formerly a horseracing destination, Arlington Heights is currently focused on community and business development. The village is serviced by several adjacent highways, including I-90, Route 12, Route 14, and Illinois State Routes 53, 58, 62, and 68.

The cluster of highways creates an increased opportunity for truck accidents in the area, as truckers use these highways to access Chicago. In particular, the four state routes are cause for concern. Data from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) shows that the greatest number of traffic fatalities occurred on State Routes. There have already been 93 fatalities involving semi-trucks in 2023 statewide.

Cook County, where Arlington Heights is located, had 5,669 collisions involving semi-trucks, both with trailers and without. There were about 10 times the number of Cook County truck accidents involving trucks with trailers as there were collisions involving trucks without trailers, which speaks to the risk of operating such a cumbersome vehicle. Similarly, Arlington Heights reported 26 truck accidents in 2021, where trucks with trailers were involved in collisions at a much higher rate.

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Common Arlington Heights Truck Accident Causes

Due to their unwieldy nature, there are many opportunities for a truck to become a hazard to other motorists and road users. Even when a truck driver is completely focused on the road and their truck is in perfect working order, semi-trucks require more room to stop or make turns and they have prohibitive blind spots that make it challenging to merge or change lanes safely. 

The size and weight of a truck are constantly working against the operator. If the truck driver is also struggling to function due to fatigue, boredom, impatience, or intoxication, this can impede their ability to avoid a collision. Other conditions, such as an unbalanced load, can also interfere with the truck driver’s capacity to maneuver the rig safely. Common causes of truck accidents include:

  • Distracted driving
  • Speeding
  • Texting and driving
  • Rubbernecking 
  • Reckless maneuvering
    • Unsafe lane changes
    • Excessively wide turns
  • Aggressive driving
  • Ignoring traffic laws
    • Running red lights and stop signs
  • Drowsy driving
  • Mechanical failures
  • Road rage 
  • Poor road maintenance
  • Drunk driving

Arlington Heights Truck Accidents Often Inflict Severe Injuries 

Semi-trucks are notorious for the destruction they cause in a collision. For many survivors of truck accidents, their bodies are never the same. Illinois truck accident injuries can temporarily or permanently limit mobility, sensation, speech, memory, and other critical functions. In treating these types of debilitating injuries, survivors may be subject to additional risks that can harm their health, such as the risk of developing an infection after an invasive surgery. Common types of Arlington Heights truck accident injuries include:

  • Spinal cord injury
  • Nerve damage
  • Whiplash injury
  • Disfigurement
  • Soft tissue injury
  • Fractured or broken bones
  • Dental injuries 
  • Crush injury
  • Amputations
  • Deep lacerations
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Contusions 
  • Severe burns
  • Facial injuries

Considering the potential for devastating injury after an Illinois truck accident, you should not forgo immediate medical care. Delaying treatment can also harm your ability to recover compensation because it makes it appear that your injuries weren’t serious enough to need urgent medical attention, or that you waited for them to become worse to falsely inflate the value of your Arlington Heights truck accident claim.

Damages Available in an Arlington Heights Truck Accident Claim

In order to recover compensation in an Arlington Heights truck accident claim, you need to be able to provide adequate evidence to show that you have suffered damages as a result of the injuries you sustained in the collision. Damages can refer to anything from the cost of a physical therapy session to a missed promotion to the loss of the ability to function independently. 

When considering what losses are eligible for compensation, damages are usually broken down into economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages cost the plaintiff financially, while non-economic damages cost the plaintiff emotionally or intangibly. Truck accident injuries are more likely to entail difficult recoveries and irreparable harm, so the non-economic damages claimed may be more extensive than in the average personal injury lawsuit. Typical damages in an Illinois truck accident lawsuit include:

It will be up to your Illinois personal injury attorney to correctly assess the value of your damages and make a convincing argument to negotiate for full compensation. They may engage an expert witness to speak to the monetary value of your stunted career, use testimony from your spouse to describe how the loss of companionship has impacted the family, provide receipts and bills with specific dollar amounts listed, or employ other forms of evidence to verify what your damages are worth.

Why You Need an Arlington Heights Truck Accident Attorney

As a plaintiff in an Illinois truck accident lawsuit, you may feel pressured to quickly settle your claim with the negligent party’s insurance company in order to recuperate at least part of the value of your medical expenses, lost wages, transportation costs, and other damages. While this is an understandable instinct, agreeing to the first offer the defendant makes will likely result in an inadequate settlement that leaves you on the hook for considerable expenses in the long term.

To ensure that you receive a fair opportunity to maximize your compensation, the best course of action is to hire an Illinois personal injury lawyer to represent you. With the help of their staff, they are better equipped to meet key filing deadlines, review technical medical records, understand legal jargon, and investigate both the scene of the truck accident and the parties involved to determine liability. They will also take on the role of your advocate in conversations with bill collectors, the defendant’s legal team, and other relevant parties.

Hiring an Arlington Heights truck accident attorney to guide your case through the personal injury claims process and negotiate a settlement communicates to the insurance company that you intend to advocate for the compensation you deserve rather than take a passive approach, so they will typically respond with a more serious offer from the beginning. It also conveys that your Illinois truck accident claim likely has merit because a personal injury lawyer doesn’t receive payment for their services unless they can settle a claim.

Frequently Asked Questions About Arlington Heights, Illinois Truck Accident Claims

How long do I have to file an Arlington Heights truck accident claim in Illinois?

The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in Illinois depends on the type of accident that occurred, severity of injuries, and the jurisdiction where it happened. In cases of a family member pursuing a wrongful death claim after losing a loved one in an Arlington Heights truck accident, the statute of limitations is the same.

What does Illinois’ modified comparative negligence statute mean for my claim?

Illinois is a modified comparative negligence state, which means that if you were injured in an Arlington Heights truck accident but were also partially at fault for causing it, you can still recover compensation for your damages. There are two caveats to this. First, you must be less than 50% at fault for the truck accident. The percentage of fault attributed to each party is usually decided by a judge if the parties cannot compromise. 

Second, you are not eligible to recover compensation for the full value of whatever settlement your personal injury lawyer negotiates. The percentage of fault you are responsible for is deducted from your final settlement. So, if you were speeding when you were hit by a negligent truck driver and it is determined that your excessive speed made your injuries more serious, you may be deemed responsible for 25% of your damages and accordingly, forfeit 25% of your settlement.

How much does it cost to hire a truck accident lawyer in Illinois?

Truck accident lawyers fall under the category of personal injury attorneys, which means that they handle civil claims based on accusations of negligence. Most plaintiffs in these cases are at a disadvantage because they were unexpectedly burdened with bills because someone else was reckless with their safety. Personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee based on the amount of compensation awarded. This means that if your attorney does not settle your truck accident claim, you owe them nothing.

Contact the Arlington Heights Truck Accident Attorneys of Lerner and Rowe

After a traumatizing Arlington Heights truck accident, you may be struggling with a grim financial situation, persistent health issues, and the emotional toll of the entire situation. For many people, this may seem like an inconvenient time to take legal action, but with the assistance of the Illinois personal injury lawyers of Lerner and Rowe, you can benefit from our comprehensive services while you focus on your recovery.

We have spent the last two decades as personal injury lawyers tackling complex claims, standing up to stubborn insurance companies, and supporting our clients at every turn. At Lerner and Rowe, we do not take our clients’ trust in our team for granted, and we perform accordingly. Whether we are advocating for you at the negotiating table or in the courtroom, you can rest assured that we are prioritizing your needs.

You can give us a call at 708-222-2222 or complete a FREE online form today to schedule a free case evaluation with a top-notch Illinois personal injury lawyer. While you heal from your injuries and work to rebuild your life, let our award-winning team take on the responsibility of maximizing your compensation in an Arlington Heights truck accident lawsuit.