Elderly Related Accidents

The reality is that the chances of being hurt in a car accident increase as you get older. Car crashes can cause serious and long-term injuries. If you have been injured in an accident caused by an elderly driver, you need to reach out to a Wheaton or Schaumburg car accident attorney as soon as possible. On the other hand, if you are an elderly person who has been injured in a car accident, we can help you as well. We can examine the facts of your case and assess your legal options accordingly. At Therman Law Offices, we are committed to getting victims the compensation that they need to deal with their injuries.

Claims Arising from Elderly Related Accidents

With advancing age, a person’s ability to hear and see can naturally decline. This can affect an elder’s ability to react behind the wheel. They also may be more subject to distractions when driving. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, older drivers statistically have higher rates of fatal crashes, based on miles driven, when compared to any other group except young drivers. The extreme death rate can be attributed to a number of factors, including elderly people’s frailty. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that there were 40.1 million licensed drivers who were age 65 and older in the United States in 2015. In that same year, about 6,165 people aged 65 or older were killed in traffic crashes, representing 18 percent of all Americans killed on the road. Additionally, 240,000 older individuals were injured in crashes in 2015.

Elderly drivers owe the same duty to other drivers and pedestrians on the road as non-elderly drivers. This duty includes following traffic laws and operating the vehicle safely. Fault in an Illinois automobile accident case is typically established through negligence. Negligence denotes a driver’s failure to exercise reasonable care behind the wheel, ultimately causing injuries or death to a victim. Reasonable care refers to the level of care that a prudent driver would use in the same situation. For instance, a driver who fails to yield at a stop sign and causes an accident would likely be considered negligent and on the hook for any subsequent harm. This is because a reasonably prudent driver would understand the risk of accidents associated with running a stop sign.

In order to establish negligence, the plaintiff’s attorney will aim to demonstrate the following elements:

1. Duty: the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care to drive cautiously;
2. Breach: the defendant breached the duty of care by failing to be safe behind the wheel;
3. Causation: the defendant’s unsafe driving was a direct and proximate cause of the car accident; and
4. Damages: the accident resulted in quantifiable damages, such as property damage or injuries.

Once negligence has been established, a plaintiff may be able to recover economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are damages for which a monetary value can be easily assessed. As a result, economic damages generally include medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and other easily identifiable damages. Contrarily, non-economic damages generally include damages for intangible losses, such as pain and suffering, disability, and other forms of mental distress.

Injured car accident victims in Illinois have two years from the date of the accident to file a claim in civil court. Typically, the statute of limitations begins to run when the “cause of action arises,” although there are certain, limited exceptions to this rule

Contact a Car Accident Attorney to Pursue a Claim in Wheaton, Schaumburg, or Beyond

Dealing with an auto accident can be physically, emotionally, and financially stressful. If you or someone close to you has been injured in an accident involving an elderly person, we can help. At Therman Law Offices, our lawyers have the skill, experience, and dedication to handle your case. You can trust that we can vigorously advocate for your rights at every step of the way. We fight for victims in cities such as Wheaton, Schaumburg, Westmont, Oakbrook Terrace, Clarendon Hills, Downers Grove, Lisle, Darien, and Bolingbrook. To speak to us in more detail about your case, call us at 312-588-1900 or contact us online.