Legal Question in Personal Injury in Illinois

bicycle accident

My son rode his bicycle through an intersection. Cross traffic had a stop sign. My son was blocked from view of cross traffic by adjacent car. Adjacent car waived car A (coming from my son's left in cross traffic) through the intersection. My son hit car A as he went through the stop sign. Police were called, but no ticket was issued. My son suffered minor scrapes and bruises. His bicycle will cost $500-$1000 to repair or replace. Car A suffered minor cosmetic damage. My son turned in a claim to the insurance for car A. Car A never reported the accident to his insurance. His insurance is stonewalling my son's claim for damages. Most lawyers won't handle a claim this small. What can we do???


Asked on 8/30/07, 7:01 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Nima Taradji Taradji Law Offices

Re: bicycle accident

It is not clear that even if you were to file a claim in small claims court (which will costs you all said and told about $500) that you can even win. Just because a car waived your son through, it was still his responsibility to make sure there are no other vehicles coming. That is there is a strong contributory negligence here which will affect anything you may win- In IL, if your son is found to be 51% or more responsible, he gets nothing. If he is found to be less than that responsible, then his award will be reduced by the percentage that he has been found to be at fault.

This is a no win situation you are in.

My best advice is to move on, make sure your son has learned a good lesson and buy him another bike.

I hope this helps,

Taradji Law Offices

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Answered on 8/30/07, 8:18 am


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