Victims of severe motor vehicle accidents here in the Chicago area often suffer catastrophic bodily injuries, even if they are blessed enough to have survived the crash. And their loved ones suffer alongside them in so many ways. Of course, the immediate response must be getting the best medical care to the victim and help for their families. From the time of impact to weeks or months after the wreck, priorities must be on getting better and dealing with realities like financial demands and lifestyle changes.
Nevertheless, there does come a time when the accident victim will have to undertake an additional responsibility. No matter how overwhelming, Illinois law places the duty to find justice with those who were harmed by the crash. And there is a legal time limit, too: in most instances, these claims must be filed within two years of the date of the accident, or they will be barred by law no matter how meritorious. For more, read Deadlines for Injury Victims to File Lawsuits: Statutes of Limitations.
This may seem particularly daunting when the victim and their loved ones suspect that the reason for the accident is a distracted driver. How can someone who was hurt in a Chicagoland car accident, pedestrian collision, or semi-truck crash prove distracted driving was the cause of what happened to them?
Discovery of Evidence to Prove Distracted Driving Damages Claim in Chicago Accident
Advocates for accident victims with experience in dealing with motor vehicle claims can be invaluable in the pursuit of justice. Working together with experts in accident analysis, they can gather facts that will meet the legal standards of authenticity and admissibility under Illinois law. Opinions that meet legal standards for consideration by a judge or jury can also be compiled by one or more experts in fields like digital technology and accident reconstruction. See: Accident Reconstruction Experts and Injury Claims.
During the legal process, the focus in any matter where distracted driving is suspected or even considered as a possibility to be ruled out will involve all sorts of things. Among them will be gathering witness statements, documents, and data involving the following:
1. Police Reports and Police Officer Testimony
Getting the official police report as well as identifying the police officer at the accident scene who wrote the report is critical. The police report is very valuable to the accident victim; it may include observations that point to distracted driving. Maybe the officer heard the victim make admissions at the scene that they were distracted. Maybe the officer found the driver unconscious with the phone on and obviously being used at the time of the crash.
For Cook County, these reports are filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Traffic division cases are divided into either major or minor files, depending upon the offense. Major offenses include things like driving under the influence; reckless driving; and speeding.
2. Witness Statements
Finding people who saw what happened or saw things that explain what was going on before or after the crash itself is a big job. These people need to be tracked down, asked if they can help, and then formal witness statements taken from them. They may be able to explain things like seeing the driver putting on make-up while they were driving just before the accident, or how they saw the vehicle weaving over the median, etc. This will suggest the driver was distracted from operating the vehicle in a reasonable and prudent manner and was driving negligently.
For Chicagoland distracted driving investigations, there may be a lot more potential witnesses to find and get their statements than in other parts of the country. Chicago is a huge metropolis with high traffic density. The likelihood of witnesses seeing what happened in a Chicagoland accident is higher than it might be in other places. Consider this: within the limits of Cook County during 2024, 381 people died in a motor vehicle accident. That is over one fatality for each day of the year; thousands more suffered bodily injuries but survived in Chicago traffic accidents.
3. Videos
Videos are powerful in these cases. There may be dashcam footage, for instance. Some semi-truck drivers have dashcams that record the drivers as well as the road ahead. There are also things like traffic cameras along the roadway and various privately-owned security systems operated by all sorts of businesses. These may all provide video evidence of the accident and what was happening in the minutes before the accident, too. Was the driver who caused the crash captured on video eating while driving, or animatedly chatting with passengers just before impact?
Most of us here in Chicagoland are aware of the traffic camera network that webs across the area. They record our roadways through a series of cameras set up along the routes. Chicago traffic cams are always live and can be viewed online.
4. Social Media
Social media can be very revealing, too. Subpoenaed digital records may give the accident victim’s team access to all kinds of information, from call logs on the driver’s phone to confirmation of app usage during the pertinent time. Photos or videos taken right before the crash can be particularly enlightening.
For more, read Drago, Lisa M., and Anthony J. Giuliano. “Widening the net: Use of social media data in personal injury and disability evaluations.” Behavioral Sciences & the Law 42.3 (2024): 149-162.
5. Expert Opinions
Expert opinion also comes into play to prove up distracted driving causation. Several different professionals may be at work here, including those with expertise in human factors; digital data and forensics; and reconstructionists. Black box data may need to be accessed by experts who know how to do it. They will then use their knowledge and skill to interpret that black box data to confirm the driver was distracted from proper operation of the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Justice for Victims of Distracted Drivers in Chicago Car Crash
Chicago area motor vehicle accidents will be governed by Illinois state law, with victims being required to build their civil claims for justice through established rules of procedure and evidence. There is no requirement for those who have legal liability to step up and do the right thing. In fact, accident victims and their loved ones should expect defendants and their insurance carriers to deny liability until and unless the victims show they can prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence.
To learn more about Chicago distracted driving accidents, read:
- Chicago Distracted Driving Accidents: Commercial Truck Drivers
- Distracted Driving Accidents in Chicagoland: High Risk for Teenagers Behind the Wheel
- Distracting Driving Accidents in Chicagoland.
For those that prove up liability on the part of one or more parties in a distracted driving accident, damages are also defined by state law. These can be awarded not only to the person who was hurt in the crash, but also their family members as defined by law.
For more on damages, read:
- 10 Types of Injury Damages That May Be Awarded to Accident Victims
- Wrongful Death Damages After Fatal Work Accidents in Illinois or Indiana
- Catastrophic Injuries in an Accident: Damages for the Loss of a Normal Life.
Distracted driving is a very real danger here in Chicagoland. Teen drivers are particularly at risk of driving while distracted. Please be careful out there!
