Chicago Motorcycle Accident Attorneys

motorcycle in chicago

According to the Illinois Secretary of State, there are more than 300,000 licensed motorcycles on Illinois roads. This number is increasing every year, and for good reason. There’s something incredibly freeing about riding along with the wind in your face and the rumble of the engine rooting you to the road. 

Unfortunately, the very things that make riding a motorcycle so exhilarating also make it dangerous. There is no bulky box of metal protecting you from the elements, or others on the road. Even the road itself can be dangerous if environmental factors or poor maintenance make it unsuitable for vehicles with less than four wheels. 

While non-cyclists are quick to point out these hazards and cast blame on motorcyclists when an accident occurs, bikers have the same rights to the road as any other driver. At Stein & Shulman, we work hard to defend the rights of motorcyclists and frequently represent riders who have been injured in accidents in the Chicago area. Our experienced team of attorneys has recovered millions of dollars for accident victims in the Chicago area. 

What Type Of Motorcycle Accident Cases Do We Take? 

When we are at the negotiating table advocating on behalf of an injured motorcycle rider the defendant will often give our side a boost by admitting “I didn’t even see them.” What they are implying is that the cyclist is at fault for having the audacity to be out on the road. What they are actually admitting is that they were negligently failing to share the road. 

At Stein & Shulman we aggressively defend bikers who are injured because other drivers do not respect the rules of the road or understand how to safely share the road with motorcycles. 

  • For example, other drivers often forget that motorcyclists rely on hand signals to indicate an upcoming turn or lane shift, even if their bike has lighted turn signals. Too often cars will fail to yield to bikers, or merge into them.
  • Sometimes cyclists are injured by drivers who tailgate them. Motorcycles require far less stopping distance than other vehicles. Other drivers sometimes fail to take this into account and apply their brakes too late to avoid an accident or come to a complete stop. 
  • Another common cause of accidents are drivers that conveniently forget motorcycles are smaller than cars. They may not look for a motorcycle around them, even if they can hear that one is in their immediate vicinity. Or they might see a bike, but think it is further away than it actually is because it is smaller than other vehicles on the road, and their brain tells them that means it is further away. 

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident with another driver, and you believe it was the other driver’s fault, Stein & Shulman has your back. 

Our firm also represents Chicagoland motorcyclists who wreck because of poor road conditions. Things that are no problem for someone in a car to navigate — road debris, slick surfaces, potholes, etc. — can pose big problems to bikers. If you would not have wrecked if the road was properly maintained, we are here for you. 

Fighting For The Compensation You Deserve 

Motorcyclists get a bad reputation because a handful of reckless riders rev their engines, weave in and out of traffic, and do wheelies on the highway. However, the vast majority of motorcycle riders are safe, conscientious, and careful operators who do not deserve to be blamed for their injuries based on the vehicle they are driving. 

At Stein & Shulman, we fight to get motorcycles every cent of money they deserve following an accident. To do this, we gather evidence that links a biker’s injuries to the accident, shows the defendant was the one at fault, and reveals just how badly the cyclist has suffered. 

The first thing we do is try and reconstruct the accident by gathering whatever evidence we can about the circumstances surrounding and leading up to the wreck. Since the scene of the accident is quickly cleaned up in order to protect other motorists, this often means pulling police reports and talking to witnesses. We have also had luck finding surveillance video of some accidents. Sometimes we hire an accident reconstruction expert to assist us. Our ultimate goal is showing that the other driver was the one who caused the accident. 

Once we have evidence of what happened, we turn our attention toward gathering information about how much harm the accident caused. This means looking at medical records, calculating how much money our client has lost from not being able to work, and otherwise estimating the full amount of damages it is appropriate to ask the defendant to pay. Generally, the worse our client has been injured, the more money his or her case is worth. 

All of this takes a lot of time and effort, but our clients do not pay us for this work up front, and may not pay for it at all. Stein & Shulman takes motorcycle accident cases on a contingency fee basis. This means we do not get paid unless we win, and our fee is always a portion of what we recover on our client’s behalf. If you have questions about how contingency fees work, we are here to answer them. 

Contact Our Chicago Law Firm Today to Discuss Your Motorcycle Accident Injury

If you or a loved one in the Chicago area has suffered a serious injury in a motorcycle accident the Stein & Shulman team is here to help. Our experienced personal injury attorneys have secured millions of dollars for accident victims in the Chicagoland area. 

You can count on us to honestly evaluate your potential claim, and give you the advice and support you need as you decide whether to file an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit. Please contact us today to schedule a free initial consultation.

The law office of Stein & Shulman routinely represents motorcycle accident victims in Chicago, Cook CountyLake CountyDuPage CountyWill County, McHenry County, and Kane County.