Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Chicago personal injury lawyers at Abels & Annes have signed on to represent a nine-year-old boy who was injured in an Illinois bicycle accident on July 19, 2010. The collision took place in the parking lot of M & M Quick Foods, which is located at the intersection of Austin Boulevard and Division Street in Chicago.
The boy was riding his bicycle eastbound in the parking lot when the defendant quickly pulled into the lot off the street, failed to observe the bicyclist, and struck him. The plaintiff was knocked off of his bike.
The child had immediate onset of back pain and bilateral leg pain. He was taken by Chicago Fire Department Ambulance to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. There he was examined by doctors and x-rays were negative for fractures.
Over the next several days the boy’s pain remained, so his mother took him to see a medical doctor. He is been undergoing treatment since the date of the accident.
The crash was investigated by the Chicago Police Department. The police report was actually written somewhat in favor of the driver that struck the bicyclist. The driver told police that the bike rider “darted out” in the parking lot. However, the police diagram clearly shows that the driver struck a bicyclist immediately upon entering the lot.
This brings up an interesting point about police reports. In this case (and in many other cases I’ve seen in the past), the injured party was taken from the scene of the accident before the police arrived. The officer interviewed the motorist, but did not take the time to interview the injured party, as he not at the scene of the accident and was on his way to the hospital.
Car accident lawyers run into this problem once in a while. I can tell you that just because the police write an unfavorable report, this does not affect our decision as to whether to take a case, and it certainly won’t bar the plaintiff from recovering in this case. We look at the evidence in a particular case and make our own decision as to who we believe was at fault.
In this case, plaintiff was riding in the parking lot before the defendant entered. The defendant was driving too fast for conditions and failed to observe the bicyclist upon entering the lot.
Drivers in the Chicago area have to keep a lookout for bicycle riders, especially children on bikes. Chicago is now listed as one of the top 10 bicycling cities in the United States. In my experience, many drivers tend to only lookout for other vehicles and forget that there are bicycles on the road.
If you’ve been hurt in an Illinois bicycle accident, contact the injury lawyers at Abels & Annes for free consultation. Call 312-924-7575 speak directly to an attorney.