Justice For Chicago Bicyclist Doored Along Milwaukee Avenue

Our law firm has obtained a substantial settlement for a bicyclist doored along North Milwaukee Avenue on August 10, 2010.   The incident occurred at around 10:00 a.m. while our client was commuting to work in Milwaukee Avenue's southbound dedicated bike lane.  When he reached the 1300 block of Milwaukee, near the intersection with North Paulina Street, a motorist, whose Ford Windstar was stopped along the right hand curb, suddenly opened his door without looking for traffic in the bike lane.  The bicyclist tried to avoid a collision but his right hand struck the door causing him to crash and sustain a knuckle fracture along with numerous bumps and bruises.

Successful resolution of this matter required educating the motorist's out-of-state insurer, Geico, regarding both Illinois law and Chicago ordinance in place to protect bicyclists from dooring incidents.  Illinois statute 735 ILCS 5/11-1407 and Chicago Municipal Code 9-80-035 prohibit persons from opening vehicle doors unless it is reasonably safe to do so.

Settlement In Case Arising From Bicyclist Struck By Drunk Motorist

We have successfully resolved a case arising from incident that occurred in September, 2009 when our client, a former Marine, was struck from behind by a drunk driver as he rode his bicycle near the 4900 block of South California Avenue in Chicago. The violent collision threw the bicyclist from his bike, rendering him unconscious. He suffered a fractured shoulder and numerous deep scars to his head, face and arm. Thankfully, he has since healed reasonably well from his injuries. The matter resolved for the full amount of available insurance from the at fault driver, and the maximum amount from the bicyclist's own underinsured motorist coverage.

Bicycle Accident Claim Successfully Resolved In Case Against Uninsured Motorist

Today we successfully resolved a personal injury case arising from a bicycle accident that occurred in October, 2009 on West Montrose Avenue, near Homer Park, in Chicago. Our client was riding his bike along the right side of Montrose when a left turning motorist struck him. We were able to track down a witness who explained that the driver was completely at fault for the incident. Though the driver was uninsured we were able to secure a settlement by making a claim under the uninsured motorist coverage of our client's own auto policy.

Our client's medical bills were initially paid by his health insurance provider. However, because settlement was procured not from a third party, i.e. the driver, but instead from our client's own coverage, no right of subrogation or reimbursement could be asserted, maximizing our client's recovery.