Injuries Happen. Lives Change

We fall. We crash. We slip. … We’re struck. We’re slammed. And we’re victimized. In fact, according to information released by the National Safety Council, an American is accidentally injured every second. And an American is killed every three minutes by an event that should have been preventable. Looking closer at data specifically for our state, Illinois, in 2016, there were 324,473 crashes involving motor vehicles according to data compiled by the state of Illinois, Department of Transportation. Reports by the state of Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission show that the frequency of injury per 100,000 workers in Illinois was 2,991. And there were 163 fatal work injuries in 2017 within our state, as referenced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Injuries occur at an alarming rate! And when they do, your best hope to receive appropriate compensation for someone else’s negligence is to hire an experienced personal injury attorney in Crystal Lake, IL.

“It Happened So Quick”

After many accidents that result in injury, we often hear victims say, “It happened so quick.” This is a common feeling, and what we mean when we say this, really, is that the accident was so unexpected, that there was no time to prepare. And that is the very nature of accidents, isn’t it? They happen and leave us no time to prepare. They strike and we’re helpless to stop them in most cases. It’s a busy world in which we live and function in daily, and there is no way to predict what is a safe action or an unsafe one.

Imagine driving to work. In theory, there is no reason to be concerned because cars and trucks have brakes and can always stop before there is an impact, right? But as we all know too well, brakes only work when they are applied in time to avoid an impact. And when they’re not applied at all, due to distracted driving then the chance of a fatality or severe injury occurring is amplified significantly.

Imagine you’re walking down the sidewalk. In a normal situation, you’ll have no problems, but then suddenly, that car from our scenario above is now spinning after impact and subsequently rolling up over the curb and onto the sidewalk where you were walking, minding your own business, on your way to grab a cup of coffee and a Danish.

Imagine you’re bicycling, and you pull up to lock your bike at a rack. You step off your bike, and then suddenly, the person who was struck by the car rolling up onto the sidewalk is thrown into a ladder 20 feet away where workers were hanging a sign onto the new coffee shop. The sign falls and strikes you on the head.

Obviously, the above scenario is a bit outlandish and probably would only happen in a movie, but the basic premise holds, that accidents can happen fast and you’re probably not going to have time to avoid them when they do. Things fall. Stairs are sometimes left unrepaired. Escalators can break and throw people. Fires happen. Machines fail. The list goes on and on and on, and when problems arise, and accidents happen, they often cause personal injuries. And those personal injuries are consistently found to be caused by someone’s or some company’s negligence. Therefore, when you are involved in an accident and suffer an injury, you’ll need to protect yourself and your family’s interests from further injury that could arise from astronomical medical bills, rehabilitation therapy costs, expensive lifelong care, loss of job or career, maybe even death.

After Your Accident & Injury—“What Should I Do Now?”

You can clearly see that personal injuries can be devastating, physically, emotionally, and financially. And you cannot afford to take a risk with your future, your finances, and most importantly—the security of your family. Thus, when you are involved in an accident you absolutely must hire a personal injury attorney in Chicago, IL who has a track record of success settling injury claims and lawsuits.

Get Medical Help

The first, and most important, step to take after an accident of any kind is to seek medical help. No matter what type of accident you’ve had, and regardless of whether it involved you alone or multiple parties, you need to seek medical assistance. Even if you feel you are not injured, you could be. Some injuries may not become obvious to you until later, and if you report them later you may have a harder time getting compensated for your injuries.

Gather Contact Info For Witnesses

Witnesses can be valuable assets in a personal injury claim, so if anyone witnessed your accident, get their contact information so your personal injury attorney in Chicago, IL can get in touch with them.

Take Photos

If you are not severely injured and are able, take photos of the accident scene. If it’s a traffic accident, photograph the vehicles involved, the streets, road conditions—everything. If it’s a fall from faulty stairs, photograph the damage, the stairs, etc. And always take photos of your injuries, if they are external such that you can photograph them. Your personal injury attorney in Chicago, IL will review all your photos and pick whichever ones he or she feels will best represent your interests.

Contact An Attorney

After you’ve been cared for by a medical professional, and your injuries have been documented, and treated, contact a personal injury attorney in Chicago, IL. The earlier you contact your personal injury attorney the better. This is because your claim and/or case (should you need to go to court to recover damages) will be dependent upon evidence, and evidence can ‘disappear,’ especially when a negligent party expects that they might be sued for damages. If you work with us as your personal injury attorney in Chicago, Illinois, we’ll get to the scene of your accident right away and fully document the scene through the use of various means. We’ll talks to witnesses, if any, while their memories are fresh. And we’ll start an investigation to gather any information we need to win your case, in the event that the negligent party’s insurance company refuses to settle, or offers a settlement that is insufficient to cover all your damages handsomely.