The
Illinois Bicycle Lawyers of Keating Law Offices recently negotiated a
very favorable settlement on behalf of a Chicago-area pedicab operator who
was injured when his pedicab was rear ended by a motorist. This collision occurred on the evening of May
4, 2013 when the pedicab operator was lawfully riding his pedicab in the designated
"slow lane" of traffic when he was struck from behind by a motorist who
failed to notice the pedicab until it was too late to stop. As a result
of the collision, the pedicab driver sustained injuries to his lower left leg
necessitating emergency room treatment. Fortunately, there were no passengers in the pedicab at the time of the collision.
In
addition to his medical expenses, our client sustained significant
property damage to his pedicab and lost wages in the days following the
collision, because he was unable to work until he found a rental pedicab
to replace his totaled pedicab. Following negotiations with the
responsible party's insurance company, the Illinois Bicycle Lawyers of
Keating Law Offices obtained the full value of our client's medical
expenses and lost wages, the full value of a market-equivalent
replacement pedicab, nine weeks of pedicab rental expenses, and pain and
suffering in an amount nearly equal to the client's medical expenses.
The
biggest challenge in this case was proving the value of our client's
pedicab. Our client was unable to locate documentation reflecting the
pedicab's purchase. In addition, our client added customized parts to
the pedicab, so we could not prove the pedicab's value using the
specific make and model of the original pedicab. As such, we submitted
several photographs of the damaged pedicab along with several examples
of equivalent pedicabs to reach an agreeable replacement value.
If you have any questions regarding this post or an issue involving Illinois personal injury law, contact Illinois Bicycle Attorney Mike Keating at 312-208-7702 or MKeating@KeatingLegal.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices have successfully resolved claims on behalf of injured bicyclists in Chicago, the suburbs, and downstate Illinois. The firm is committed to helping ANY injured bicyclists ANYWHERE in the State of Illinois at ANYTIME. All e-mails and phone calls are returned promptly. All initial consultations are confidential and free.
