A Chicago auto accident attorney from Abels & Annes has settled a lawsuit stemming from an accident that occurred back on June 20, 2008. The collision occurred at the intersection of Sutton Road (Route 59) and Golf Road in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Witnesses to the accident stated that the crash was caused by two vehicles that were engaged in reckless driving, which included driving at an excessive speed, quickly switching lanes, cutting each other off, racing each other and possibly involved in road rage behavior.
When they approached the accident intersection, one of the drivers got cut off and swerved to try to avoid a collision. When the driver swerved, he crossed the center line and struck another vehicle, which in turn hit our client’s vehicle.
One of the at fault driver’s fled the scene of the accident, however several witnesses were able to identify the make and model the vehicle, and one witness wrote down the license plate number.
The plaintiff’s vehicle was totaled in the accident and she was injured. She was taken by ambulance to Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois.
At the ER, the client complained of neck pain, and pain in her left knee, left shoulder and upper chest. She was examined and diagnostic tests were performed. She was prescribed pain medication and discharged from the ER with instructions to follow-up with a physician.
Over the next few days the plaintiff’s pain worsened so she followed up with her primary care physician. At that time the pain in her neck was radiating down her left arm with associated numbness in her left arm and hand. Her primary physician ordered a CT scan and prescribed physical therapy.
The plaintiff actually had to postpone physical therapy due to terrible headaches, neck pain and back pain. Due to the severity of her complaints, her doctor ordered an MRI which showed she had sustained a herniated disc at C5-6 in the accident.
The plaintiff was then referred to an orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon prescribed course of steroids to decrease the swelling in the herniated disc. She was also prescribed another course of physical therapy.
The steroids helped alleviate a lot of the pain, however she continued to have pain and flareups for a significant period of time. This affected her everyday normal life significantly.
A lawsuit had to be filed in the case because the driver that fled the scene would never admit his involvement in the accident. When interviewed by the police, the hit-and-run driver admitted he was in a vehicle matching the description and that he was in the area of Route 59 and Golf Road on the date of the accident, but he still refused to admit to his reckless conduct.
Fortunately, his attorneys had more common sense than he did, and we were able to reach a settlement with both reckless drivers’ insurance carriers. American Family Insurance and State Farm Insurance paid out on the claims.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a reckless driver, or is a the victim of road rage, contact the Chicago car crash lawyers at Abels & Annes for free, no obligation case evaluation. Call us at 312-924-7575 if you would like to speak to a lawyer.