The holiday season is a dangerous time on our nation’s roads due to increased amounts of drunk driving. This period typically starts with “Blackout Wednesday,” when many people drink large amounts of alcohol on the day before Thanksgiving. The rest of Thanksgiving weekend usually sees hundreds of fatalities in drunk driving accidents, and this trend generally continues in the weeks leading up to Christmas as people enjoy drinking with friends and family during holiday parties. Alcohol consumption is also prevalent on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and this often leads to another spike in traffic accidents and deaths. 

While this year’s holiday celebrations are likely to be smaller and more subdued than in years past for most families, there will still be too many people drinking and driving. Those who have been injured in accidents involving drunk drivers will want to understand their options for pursuing financial compensation.

Liability for Holiday Drunk Driving Accidents

In most car accident cases, victims will need to demonstrate that a driver acted negligently in order to collect compensation for their injuries and damages. In accidents involving a drunk driver, proving negligence is not difficult, since violating the law and driving while intoxicated is an act of negligence that puts others’ safety at risk. Victims may be covered by a drunk driver’s insurance policy, or they may pursue a personal injury lawsuit against the driver and seek to recover compensation for their damages, including medical bills, loss of income, and pain and suffering.

A car accident can be a frightening, traumatic experience. Even if a collision does not seem to cause serious injuries, it can still have long-lasting effects on your health and well-being. Addressing the costs of immediate medical treatment, long-term therapy, impairment to your ability to earn an income, repairs to your vehicle, or replacement of other damaged property can be difficult. These matters can become even more problematic if the driver who was responsible for the collision did not have insurance or if their insurance policy will not fully cover the costs of your damages. In cases involving uninsured or underinsured motorists, a skilled attorney can help you determine how you can receive the financial compensation you deserve.

UM and UIM Coverage

In Illinois, liability insurance policies are required to include uninsured motorist (UM) coverage at the legal minimum amounts. The minimum coverage for bodily injury or death is $25,000 for one person or $50,000 for multiple people. Your liability insurance will provide you with at least this amount if you are injured by a motorist without insurance. Depending on the terms of your policy, you may have coverage that is above this minimum amount. Your policy may also include underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage that will address the difference between what is covered by an at-fault driver’s policy and the full amount of your damages.

Before making a claim through another driver’s insurance policy or with your own insurance company, it is advisable to consult with an attorney. Insurance companies will be looking to minimize the value of your claim, and any information you provide to them could be used to reduce the amount you can receive. Our lawyers can speak to insurance companies on your behalf, and we will work to negotiate a settlement that will fully address your injuries and damages and ensure that you receive compensation that will allow you to recover from your accident.

Although it may seem like second nature to experienced drivers, driving a vehicle takes a great deal of attentiveness and concentration. When a driver is distracted by his or her cellphone, GPS system, stereo, or even other vehicle occupants, the driver can make critical errors. Distracted driving is estimated to cause over 1,000 car accident injuries and approximately nine deaths every day in the U.S. In fact, some experts say that distracted driving has become an even greater danger than drunk driving.  If you or a loved one were involved in a car accident caused by a distracted driver, you may be entitled to compensation.

Proving a Distracted Driver’s Negligence

Through a personal injury claim, you may be entitled to compensation for the costs incurred by your accident. You may receive compensation for your medical bills, vehicle damage, future and ongoing medical expenses, lost wages from missed work, and reduced earning capacity. If your loved one was killed in a distracted driving accident, you could be compensated for the loss of his or her financial support and household services, funeral and burial expenses, and more. However, to win a personal injury claim and recover compensation, you will need to prove that the driver’s negligence led to your injuries or your loved one’s death. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you gather evidence that demonstrates the driver’s negligence. Police reports, photo and video evidence, data from the vehicles’ event data recorders, accident reconstruction, and eyewitness testimony may all be used to prove the driver’s fault.

Texting and Driving is Against the Law in Illinois

When a driver looks down at his or her cellphone or other electronic device, he or she cannot possibly pay attention to the road simultaneously. Texting and driving or using other smartphone applications while driving has led to countless car accidents in Illinois and across the U.S. Because of the danger it poses, Illinois has established laws prohibiting the use of hand-held phones and other electronic devices while driving. If your accident was caused by a someone texting and driving, it is possible that the driver will be considered “negligent per se.” This is a legal doctrine that makes an action automatically considered to be negligent because it is in violation of the law.

In 2018, alcohol was a factor in 27 percent of all fatal car accidents in Illinois, resulting in hundreds of deaths, and many more people were injured in non-fatal crashes involving alcohol. Drunk drivers in Illinois often face serious criminal charges to deter them from continuing to endanger others on the road, but this does not necessarily mean that they are required to make amends to the people whom they have harmed. If you or a family member has been injured in an accident caused by a drunk driver, your best chance at compensation is to work with a reputable attorney to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

Demonstrating Negligence in an Illinois Drunk Driving Accident

In most personal injury cases, obtaining compensation through a settlement or verdict is dependent on your ability to show that another party was negligent. This means that their behavior failed to account for their duty of care to you, and subsequently caused an accident resulting in your injuries and other damages.

Since cell phones became a part of our daily lives, distracted driving car accidents have skyrocketed. The numerous alerts, phone calls, and social media posts that we can scroll through and respond to have led many drivers to prioritize their notifications over their safety on the road. Many drivers may be willing to place themselves at risk to quickly respond to a text or answer a call, but they often forget that momentarily looking away from the road places other motorists at risk of injuries as well. For this reason, Illinois law enforcement has stiffened the penalties tied to distracted driving and one county has set up a special program to tackle this offense.

What Is Considered Distracted Driving?

There are three areas in which one can get distracted while driving: visual, manual, and cognitive. When you take your eyes off the road to grab something in your purse or send a quick text response, you are visually distracted. Manual distractions include anything that takes one or more hands off the steering wheel to perform an action, such as picking up a cup of coffee or your cell phone. Cognitive distractions occur when you are not paying attention to the road or what is going on around you. This may cause you to disregard the speed limit or fail to notice a car stopped right in front of you. Illinois stiffened its distracted driving penalties in 2019 by banning the use of handheld devices and labeling the penalty as a moving violation. These moving violations go on your record and just three in one year can lead to your driver’s license being suspended. This Illinois law prohibits the following: