New Illinois Law to Require More Insurance Coverage to Victims of Bike Crashes

Governor Patrick Quinn has signed Public Act 98-519, an amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code which will increase the minimum limits of insurance coverage available to victims of bicycle crashes caused by motorists. Illinois Bicycle Lawyer Mike Keating is a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyer's Legislative Committee that pushed this change in the law in Springfield.

The new law, which will take effect on January 1, 2005, raises the minimum motor vehicle liability insurance required by Illinois to $25,000.00 for injury or death to one person, up from the current $20,000.00. The current minimum in Illinois of $20,000.00 is the lowest of any state in the Midwest. The new law will also increase the minimum mandatory coverage for bodily injury or death to more than one person from $40,000.00 to $50,0000.00. Further, minimum coverage for damage to property will increase from the current $15,000.00 to $20,000.00.

This new law is a necessary step in the right direction for Illinois, whose current minimum coverage requirements rank among the lowest in the United States. Despite the rapid increase of the cost of health care over the last 20 years, Illinois has failed to increase the minimum liability insurance required for Illinois motorists. As a result, victims of bicycle crashes often incur medical bills that far exceed the amount of liability insurance covering the motor vehicle that caused the bicycle crash. When this occurs, the bicycle crash victims may become personally liable for out-of-pocket medical costs even though the bicyclist was completely free of fault.

Bicyclists are entitled to the same protections under the law as any other user of the roadways. If your rights as a bicyclists have been violated and have resulted in an injury from a bike accident, or you have any questions about this blog entry, please contact Mike Keating of Keating Law Offices for a FREE consultation at mkeating@keatinglegal.com or (312) 239-6787.

The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices have helped the Chicago bicycle community by being an advocate for bicyclist's rights and representing bicyclists who were injured in a bicycle accident or crash in civil cases. The trial lawyers at Keating Law Offices have emerged as national leaders in the field of bicycle-related litigation. Attorney Michael Keating, founder of Keating Law Offices, has been recognized by SuperLawyers and Chicago magazines and the National Trial Lawyers Association as one of the leading trial lawyers in all of Illinois.

Illinois Bans Cellphone Use Statewide. Can The New Law Reduce Bicycle Crashes?

As Illinois law stands right now, there are a number of different laws in different municipalities regarding cell phone use while driving. That is soon to change. On January 1, 2014, Illinois drivers will begin facing fines of $75-$150 for talking on hand-held cell phones while driving. The bill, signed into law by Governor Pat Quinn on Friday, August 16, 2013 piggybacks Illinois' existing ban on texting while driving which has been in place for years. 

 

The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers of Keating Law Offices fully support any legislation which may result in even a minor reduction in driver distraction. The ban on texting while driving was brought into law in Illinois after the death of Matt Wilhelm in September of 2006. Matt Wilhelm was an Illinois bicyclist riding his bike on the shoulder of a downstate road. Matt was known as a conscientious and safety minded rider. He rode to the side of the road and always wore his helmet. But what Matt was unable to plan for was a teenage driver who swerved off of the roadway onto the shoulder and struck Matt on his bike. The teenage driver, by some accounts, blamed her actions on the fact that she was text messaging while driving and became distracted. 

 

The sponsor of the new law banning cellphone use while driving throughout the state, State Representative John D'Amico, cites eliminating driver distraction as the primary aim of the ban. Representative D'Amico explained to the Chicago Tribune that he believes when he is talking on a hand-held cellphone, his "peripheral vision is much lower" and his "concentration level is not where it's supposed to be." According to the Tribune, many private citizens and public figures agree with D'Amico's beliefs and support the new legislation, including both Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez and Deputy Executive Director for the Governors Highway Safety Association, Jonathan Adkins. Adkins explained that in addition to eliminating driver distraction, the new legislation makes it much easier to enforce the texting ban because drivers will no longer have any excuse to have cellphones in their hands while on the road. 

 

On the flip side, there is another group of people who are not convinced that eliminating hand-held cellphone use will have a significant impact on drivers' overall level of attention. Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety noted that cellphones are one among many distractions diverting drivers' attention, as most drivers are also prone to distractions such as food, drinks, the radio, or even daydreaming. Rader further noted that there is not conclusive evidence supporting the proposition that eliminating hand-held cellphones will result in a significant reduction in distracted driving or crashes. Even Representative D'Amico admits he has no scientific support for his belief that talking on a hands-free device is safer or less distracting than talking on a hand-held device. Talking on a hands-free device while driving will remain legal under the current legislation.

 

As an Illinois firm representing injured bicyclists throughout the state, we routinely advocate on behalf of clients whose injuries are a direct result of driver inattention. The ban most certainly will not result in an increase in crashes, and to the extent it eliminates even a negligible amount of collisions, we fully believe that the ban is worthwhile. At worst, we view this legislation is a small inconvenience that has the potential to yield extremely significant benefits if even a single collision is prevented.

If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Illinois personal injury law, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All e-mails and phone calls are returned promptly. All initial consultations are confidential and free.

Divvy May Ride North Into Evanston

On the evening of Monday, August 12, 2013, the Evanston City Council voted in favor of submitting a grant application seeking funds to install Divvy bike sharing stations in Evanston. If awarded, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning grant will cover up to 80% of the project's proposed cost of $472,500.00. The city will foot the bill for the rest of the cost and will also be responsible for an estimated $168,000.00 in annual operating costs. User fees and advertising revenue generally cover 70-80% of the annual operating costs of a system similar in size to the one proposed in Evanston. In addition, Northwestern University has expressed an interest partnering with the city to support the program, and its staff plans to reach out to other large businesses in the area to seek similar ongoing financial support. 

 

At Monday night's meeting, the City Council approved the grant application with some slight modifications. The plan originally called for seven bike sharing stations located primary near Metra and CTA stations, the Northwestern campus, and the lakefront. The City Council modified the plan to include eight stations rather than seven. In addition, the City Council moved the proposed Dempster beach station to the Fleetwood Jourdain Center and also modified the map to include stations near the south end of town and one near Greenleaf Street and Chicago Avenue. Each of the proposed eight stations will be equipped with 10 three-speed bicycles.

 

As an Evanston resident and avid bicyclist, Illinois Bicycle Lawyer Michael Keating is extremely pleased with the Evanston City Council's decision to seek funding for a bike sharing program. Mr. Keating has been a member of Chicago's Divvy bike sharing system since its June 28, 2013 launch and regularly uses Divvy bicycles to travel throughout the city and to commute from the Metra Station to his office. The attorneys at Keating Law Offices are very excited about the prospect of bike sharing programs extending beyond the city limits, and we encourage other suburbs to follow in Evanston's footsteps.

Orland Park To Add Bike Paths To Its Growing Bike Infrastructure

On Monday, August 12, 2013,  the Orland Park Village Board voted in favor of allocating $1.44 million towards creating multi-purpose recreational paths on 159th Street, 108th Avenue, and 104th Avenue. The additional 20 miles of paths will supplement Orland Park's existing 50 miles of on- and off-street bicycle paths. Construction of the proposed new bicycle paths is contingent upon receipt of a $5.26 million grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program which will cover 80% of the project's total cost.

Village Spokesman Joe La Margo stated that the Board created and approved the plan in response to the urging of village residents. He explained "We've gotten a lot of feedback from residents and community stakeholders who feel that [making the community more bicycle-friendly] is important to them. It's not only the vision of the mayor and the board. It's also what residents have expressed an interest in." 

Orland Park's latest proposed project is one of many bicycle-friendly improvements the village has undertaken in the last several years. For instance, the village recently opened a bridge on La Grange road that connects more than 64 miles of bicycle paths. In addition, the village constructed a half-mile bike trial on 153rd Street that connects other existing bike paths. Village officials hope that these past and proposed future improvements will slowly begin to erode Orland Park's "car-centric" nature. 

The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers of Keating Law Offices applaud Orland Park's Village Board for its efforts to continue to make Orland Park a more bicycle friendly community. We sympathize with the concerns of residents who are understandably worried about the dangers of riding on a road without a designated bicycle lane. We have represented a number of bicyclists who have been struck by motorists on roads without designated bicycle lanes, often due in part to the motorists' failure to keep a constant lookout for bicyclists even absent marked bicycle lanes. Adding additional bicycle lanes will undoubtedly make Orland Park a safer community for bicyclists, while also encouraging residents to rely less upon cars as their primary mode of transportation.

Keating Law Offfices Settles Case For Bicycle Commuter Injured In Harvey for $550,000.00

The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers of Keating Law Offices have reached a settlement in excess of half a million dollars on behalf of a Chicago bicyclist struck by a school bus in Harvey, Illinois on December 9, 2011. At the time of the bicycle accident, the bicyclist lived in Chicago and worked at a school in Harvey. Her typical commute involved riding her collapsible bicycle to the Metra station in Chicago, taking the Metra to the station near Harvey, and then riding the bicycle to her school. She was a committed bicyclist who rode in all weather year round.

On the day of the collision, the bicyclist was taking her usual route back to the Metra station and rode north on Wallace Street towards  147th Street. Because there was not a designated bicycle lane, the bicyclist was appropriately riding on the right edge of the traffic lane in accordance with the Illinois Rules of the Road. At the same time, the bus driver was about to exit a school parking lot and turn left onto southbound Wallace Street. This path of the bus required the bus driver to cut across the bicyclist's lane of traffic. As the bus driver exited the school's private driveway, the driver claims his vision was obstructed by the sun and this limited his ability to see the bicyclist. As a result, the bus driver did not yield to the oncoming bicyclist, entered the roadway, and struck the bicyclist's right knee with the front bumper of the school bus. This threw the bicyclist to the ground and towards the center of Wallace Street. 

The Harvey Police Department responded to the scene and found the victim of the collision laying in the middle of the street. The victim was soon transported to the emergency room in an ambulance. An initial evaluation revealed that the victim suffered a badly fractured tibial plateau, which is the top of her shin bone, and other injuries. The bicyclist's tibial fracture required reconstructive surgery and a lengthy period of rehabilitation.

The Harvey Police Officer who responded to the scene conducted an investigation and issued a citation to the bus driver under 625 ILCS 5/11-906. This statute states,"The driver of a vehicle about to enter or cross a highway from an alley, building, private road or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching on the highway to be entered." Bicycles qualify as "vehicles" under the Illinois Rules of the Road according to 625 ILCS 5/11-1502. The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers of Keating Law Offices relied upon the failure to yield statute  as well as the general common law duty to keep a proper lookout in advocating on behalf of the victim. It was later learned during the investigation of the case that the bus driver was fired from his job for his part in this unfortunate collision and a series of other problems at his job. 

Despite this unfortunate past history, the attorneys for the bus company raised several defenses, including that the victim was on the wrong part of the road at the time of the collision and that it was not their fault that the sun obstructed the bus driver's ability to see the bicyclist. With respect to the bus driver's argument that the victim was riding in the private drive at the time of the collision, the Illinois Bicycle Lawyers referenced the victim's testimony, the responding officer's testimony, and the bus driver's own testimony to prove that the bus driver had in fact entered the roadway by the time the collision occurred. 

In response to the argument that the bus driver's vision was obstructed, the Illinois Bicycle Lawyers relied upon a series of Illinois legal cases which establish that an individual cannot escape a claim of negligence by stating that he did not see something he should have observed if he was exercising ordinary care. In addition, we analogized the driver's argument to an Illinois case which states that it is negligence as a matter of law to proceed when blinded by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. In essence, we established that there is no excuse under Illinois law for failing to yield to the right-of-way due to obstructed vision. Drivers are required to use an alternate route, seek assistance from others, or find any other method to overcome their inability to clearly see the roadway they intend to enter. 

In reaching such a high settlement amount, the Illinois Bicycle Lawyers emphasized the victim's significant medical expenses, lost wages, permanent disability, significant pain and suffering, and loss of a normal life. In addition, we hired an orthopedic surgeon who is a national leader in knee injuries to examine our client and review her medical records to determine the severity of her injuries. This expert physician helped establish the cost of future surgical operations and medical treatment the victim will almost certainly require. 

The Illinois Bicycle Attorneys at Keating Law Offices are national leaders in the field of bicycle-related claims and lawsuits. The firm is currently litigating more bicycle related cases in courtrooms in Illinois than any other law firm in the state. In the process we  have reached numerous successful results on behalf of injured bicyclists. This settlement is one of the largest personal injury settlements ever in Illinois for injuries stemming from a bicycle accident that did not result in death or paralysis.

If you have any questions regarding Illinois personal injury law, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 orMKeating@KeatingLegal.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All e-mails and phone calls are returned promptly. All initial consultations are confidential and free.

Keating Law Offices Retained to Represent Bicyclist Severely Injured in Collision on Southwest Side

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The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices have been retained by a bicyclist who sustained severe injuries in a motor vehicle versus bicycle collision on Chicago's Archer Avenue on the city's southwest side near Midway Airport. The collision occurred earlier this year at one of the exits of the BP Gas Station located at Archer Avenue and Oak Park Avenue. Immediately prior to the collision, the victim was riding his bicycle westbound on Archer Avenue towards the BP. As the bicyclist approached one of the BP's two Archer Avenue exits, a motorist quickly shot out of the gas station and collided with the bicyclist. Prior to impact the bicyclist instinctively put out his arm to brace against the vehicle at impact.  Following the impact, the victim's bicycle was pinned under the car while the bicyclist narrowly escaped the same fate before hitting the ground. 

A nearby police officer responded to the scene, and the victim was transported to the emergency room in an ambulance. This case serves as a warning to all bicyclists involved in a collision: things may be worse than they seem. At the ER the bicyclist was not diagnosed with any fractured bones and emergency room personnel wrote the bicyclist a prescription for pain medication and scheduled a follow up appointment. However, at the follow-up appointment doctors discovered that the victim sustained a severely torn meniscus in his knee, a displaced tendon in his hand from the direct impact with the car, and injuries to his neck and shoulder.

In causing this collision, the motorist violated a number of provisions of the Illinois Rules of the Road. Namely, the motorist was in clear violation of 625 ILCS 5/11-906 which states "The driver of a vehicle about to enter or cross a highway from an alley, building, or private road or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching on the highway to be entered." Bicycles qualify as "vehicles" under 625 ILCS 5/11-1502, placing the victim squarely within the protection of the statute which required the driver to yield to the bicyclist's right-of-way before pulling out of the parking lot and into the roadway. The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Office routinely rely upon the previously mentioned statutes to reach successful outcomes when advocating on behalf on clients who have similarly been injured by a motorist's failure to comply with the Illinois Rules of the Road. 

If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Illinois personal injury law, please do not hesitate to contact Illinois Bicycle Lawyer Mike Keating at 312-239-6787 (Business Hours) or  312-208-7702 (24/7) or atMKeating@KeatingLegal.com. All emails and phone calls are returned promptly. Keating Law Offices offers free, no obligation consultations to injured bicyclists. There are never any attorneys' fees or expenses unless the firm is able to make a recovery on your behalf.

Will IDOT Support Plans to Connect Skokie and Lincolnwood Bike Facilities?

According to the Skokie Review, the Village of Lincolnwood is seeking state funding from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program to move forward with a number of planned improvements to Lincolnwood Park and Centennial Park. Among the plans is a joint venture between Lincolnwood and Skokie which involves building a pedestrian/bicycle plaza in Skokie and connecting it to Lincolnwood's ComEd bike path near Lincoln and Jarvis Avenues. IDOT is currently embroiled in a controversial decision to not fund anymore protected bicycle lanes in Chicago until they complete a further review.

According to Ashley Engelmann, assistant to the Lincolnwood public works director, the Village of Skokie has approved the plan and agreed to cosign the grant application. The pedestrian/bicycle plaza is expected to cost approximately $160,830.00 with $128,664.00 covered by the grant. Assuming the grant is approved, Skokie and Lincolnwood will split the remaining cost of the project at a cost of approximately $16,000.00 per village. 

According to the Skokie Review, the plans for the project include "a monument sign that would indicate where Lincolnwood and Skokie borders meet, new benches and bike racks and a landscaped circular area." The Illinois Department of Transportation denied a previous application for the same project last year. If the grants are denied again, the projects will remain on hold.

The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers of Keating Law Offices are hopeful that IDOT will approve funding for the Lincolnwood-Skokie pedestrian/bicycle plaza. We firmly believe that bicycling is an extremely effective method of both transportation and exercise, and we fully support allocating funds to construct bicycle paths connecting Chicago-area suburbs. 

Keating Law Offices is a Chicago-based firm of trial lawyers who represent clients throughout Illinois. They are the leading Illinois firm in the field of bicycle litigation. If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving bicycle law or litigation, please contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Four Year Old Child Tragically Killed in Unincorporated DesPlaines After Collision With Semi-Trailer

As members of the Illinois bicycling community, we are always deeply saddened when a fatal bicycle collision claims the life of a fellow Illinois bicyclist. When that fellow bicyclist is a child, words cannot adequately describe the level of devastation that pulses throughout the bicycling community. 

 

Four year old Jayden Jacobo died tragically in a bicycle collision on the afternoon of Monday, July 29, 2013 near the 2300 block of East Oakton Street in an unincorporated portion of DesPlaines in Chicago's northwestern suburbs. Just prior to the collision, Jayden exited a private driveway onto East Oakton Street on his way to visit his aunt in Arlington Heights along with his brother, sister, and mother. Jayden was riding his bicycle while his mother walked next to him pushed a stroller. Upon exiting the driveway, Jayden's bicycle collided with the rear axle of a semi-trailer truck. Jayden's mother rushed to his aid along with the driver and passenger of the truck, but Jayden's injuries were too severe. He died at the scene of the accident of blunt force injuries. To date, no citations have been issued. However, news reports do not report as to whether any evasive action could have been taken by the semi-trailer truck prior to impact or any other details of the collision.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Jayden was weeks away from turning five but had already mastered riding his bicycle without training wheels. His aunt Alma Jacobo told the Tribune that Jayden was looking forward to being baptized on his birthday this month and was set to start kindergarten in the fall. His family is understandably absolutely devastated at the loss of the little boy they describe as "the most cheerful person in the world." 

Our absolute deepest sympathies are with Jayden's family at this extremely difficult time.