Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Lawsuit Filed On Behalf of Skokie Bicyclist

The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices recently filed a lawsuit in Cook County on behalf of a Skokie man who sustained severe injuries in an April 2012 motor vehicle versus bicycle collision. The collision occurred at the "T" intersection of Dempster Street and Kenton Avenue in Skokie, Illinois. Immediately prior to the collision, the bicyclist was traveling eastbound on Dempster, which does not have a stop sign at the Kenton Avenue intersection. At the same time, the driver of a 2006 Buick was driving southbound on Kenton Avenue towards a stop sign at Dempster. The motorist rolled through the stop sign and struck our client's bicycle in the intersection as the motorist attempted to turn right onto Dempster. Though the motorist initially told the responding officer that it was our client who struck the motorist's vehicle, we obtained a copy of a 911 recording in which the motorist explicitly admitted striking our client's bicycle with his vehicle. 
 
Section 106-48 of the Skokie Code of Ordinances and Section 5/11-1003.1 of the Illinois Rules of the Road imposed an explicit duty to exercise "due care" on the motorist. This means that the motorist was required to operate his vehicle with appropriate caution to avoid causing harm to other motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians, including our client. The motorist also failed to yield to our client's right-of-way in accordance with Section 5/11-1002(e) of the Illinois Rules of the Road which prohibited the motorist from driving through the Dempter stop sign until our client proceeded through the intersection, given that our client did not have a stop sign. Finally, the motorist violated the common law duty to keep a proper lookout, because he failed to notice our client and take steps necessary to avoid harming him as our client lawfully rode through the intersection. The Skokie Police Department issued a citation to the motorist for causing the collision. 
 
As a result of the collision the bicyclist suffered a massive injury to his left leg, requiring an open-reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) surgery. During the operation, an orthopedic surgeon implanted surgical hardware into our client's bone in an effort to stabilize his leg. The operation left our client bedridden for a month and subsequently required him to participate in extensive physical therapy. Unfortunately, our client later experienced complications with the hardware in his leg and the hardware had to be removed in a separate operation over a year after the original surgery. Our client was again left bedridden and is still attempting to rehabilitate his leg following the second operation. 
 
The case has been assigned to a judge in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Keating Law Offices is the leading Illinois law firm the in the field of bicycle litigation. The firm is currently handling more bicycle-related lawsuits in Illinois than any other firm in the state. 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 always confidential and free.