A motor vehicle accident lawyer in Winnebago County, IL is used to dealing with cases where one driver is at fault and causes an accident that injures another person. Sometimes these individuals share a certain percentage of the responsibility for the collision. Under Illinois state law, the injured person is still entitled to financial compensation if they are considered less than 50 percent responsible. Other cases occur in which there was no other driver who caused an accident. Instead, the situation might have involved unexpected obstacles in the road. Who is responsible then? Can an injured person still make a claim?
Often, the injured individual’s own automotive insurance company should pay for expenses or provide a reasonable settlement under these circumstances. However, the insurance company may dispute whether the policyholder deserves that compensation. For instance, there may have been a large amount of debris in the road from a semi-truck tire blowout. The driver may have hit some of that debris and lost control of the car. The insurer may take the stance that the driver should have been able to avoid it.
A motor vehicle accident lawyer in Winnebago County, IL may need to hire expert witnesses in this type of situation. There may be a need to reconstruct the scene of the accident. The lawyer will want to locate any eyewitnesses at the scene. Law enforcement reports will factor into the case. The attorney may be able to show that an attempt to avoid the tire remnants could have led to an even worse accident, and that the person did not hit the debris because of inattention or distraction.
Large pieces of truck tires on the highway are a somewhat common sight. Other obstacles also sometimes appear unexpectedly. A pile of rocks can slide down a hill and land on the road. An orange barrel from road construction activity can be struck by a vehicle and wind up in a driving lane. No matter what the circumstances were, the injured person may contact an organization such as the Crosby Law Firm for a free consultation. At Thecrosbylawfirm.com more details can be found.