Pin-in Car Accidents

Personal Injury Lawyers Compassionately Guiding Wheaton and Schaumburg Residents

Pin-in car accidents can be life-threatening and leave victims with devastating injuries. If you or your loved one has been injured in a pin-in car accident, you should discuss your case with a Wheaton or Schaumburg car accident lawyer. At Therman Law Offices, we are committed to helping victims and their families pursue compensation for the harm that they have suffered. With extensive experience, we understand how to navigate even the most complex personal injury claims.

Consequences of Pin-in Car Accidents

In some cases, victims of serious car accidents are pinned into the car and must be extracted from the wreckage by others. These crashes often require emergency responders to use heavy equipment like a “jaws of life” machine to extricate the individual from his or her vehicle. It is not uncommon for victims in these accidents to suffer lifelong disabilities afterwards. The injuries caused by a pin-in accident can be extremely serious, such as broken bones, crushing injuries, internal bleeding, spinal cord injuries, internal organ damage, and traumatic brain injuries. In the most serious cases, pin-in accidents lead to death.

Illinois law gives people injured in pin-in car accidents the right to seek compensation for their injuries from the party responsible for the accident. The vast majority of car accident cases are rooted in the legal theory of negligence. Negligence takes place when there is a failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances. The behavior typically consists of actions but can also consist of a failure to take action when this would be reasonable and prudent.

For example, if a drunk driver swerves into oncoming traffic, hits your car, and causes the car to become wedged between a guardrail and another car, resulting in a pin-in accident, that driver would likely be considered negligent. This is because a driver using ordinary care would not have gotten behind the wheel while intoxicated, understanding that drunk driving creates a needless risk.

In order to prove negligence, your injury lawyer must establish the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence:

• The defendant owed you, the plaintiff, a duty of care;
• The defendant breached the duty of care; and
• The defendant’s breach was a direct and proximate cause of the pin-in car accident and the plaintiff’s resulting injuries.

Once each of the elements is established, the plaintiff may be able to recover a variety of economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are the objective out-of-pocket expenses associated with an accident, including medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and property damage. Non-economic damages refer to the more subjective, non-monetary losses associated with an accident, such as pain and suffering, disfigurement, and depression. Each case is different, and the precise amount of damages that a plaintiff will be able to receive will depend on the specifics of the case.

It is important to note that under Illinois’ modified comparative negligence law, the plaintiff will not be able to recover any damages at all if he or she is deemed to be more than 50 percent responsible for the accident. When the plaintiff is less than 50 percent at fault, any damages are reduced in proportion to the amount of fault attributable to the plaintiff.

Contact a Knowledgeable Car Crash Lawyer in Wheaton or Schaumburg

Pin-in accidents can be terrifying and life-changing. If you or someone close to you has been injured in a pin-in car accident on a highway or another road, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At Therman Law Offices, our attorneys advocate for people injured in pin-in car accidents and a wide range of other car crashes across Illinois. Establishing liability for these accidents is complex, and having a diligent attorney on your side can make a big difference in your case. We proudly represent people in Schaumburg, Wheaton, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Streamwood, Elgin, Bartlett, Hanover Park, Bensenville, Wood Dale, Bloomingdale, and Roselle, among other cities in Cook County. For a free consultation, call us at 312-588-1900 or contact us online.