Auto Accidents

Each year, well over 30,000 people are involved in motor vehicle accidents across the country. Here in rural southern Illinois, accidents tend to be even more serious than in bigger cities. This is for a number of reasons. First, in the city, people are often stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, meaning when they do get into a wreck, the speed is low and the damages are less severe. But if you are traveling through country backroads, you may often find people driving in excess of 70-80 miles per hour. There may be tight bends in the road, un-paved roads, and high corn stalks obstructing views. When people have accidents in these rural parts of Illinois, the injuries can be catastrophic and devastating.

Car accidents don’t just impact the hurt victims; they can have a lasting impact on families too. When the breadwinner for a family is taken out of the workforce, it often means everyone else must double down and work twice as hard to make up for the lost income. When a stay-at-home parent is injured, it may mean hiring help or relying on other family members to help with cooking, cleaning, laundry, and childcare. Business owners are especially at risk after an injury, because they are often solely responsible for earning their income. If the business owner cannot come to work or doesn’t have their work truck, the whole company may fall apart.

After a car accident in southern Illinois, it is very important to speak to a lawyer immediately. Why, you ask? Well, for three specific reasons:

• Protect your interests. Insurance adjusters are trained to get injured people to admit to things or say things that will later hurt their chances of being compensated. It’s impossible to list all the tactics and tricks they use, but we know them very well. For instance, an adjuster may play friendly to get you to admit in a recorded interview that you had a sporting injury when you were younger. Fast forward 6 months, and now you’re trying to negotiate a settlement. That same adjuster is long gone, and the actual bodily injury adjuster is reviewing the file. Sure enough, he or she will see those notes and greatly reduce your compensation, claiming that your injuries are “pre-existing.” Having a lawyer means avoiding these simple mistakes from the start.

• Get the best medical care available.  Believe it or not, many medical providers will not treat injured people after a car accident. This may seem heartless, but it’s not. It’s just business. You see, health insurance often will not cover injuries for which car insurance should be paying the damages. Likewise, doctors know that when there’s a car accident, there may be a lawsuit, and this means they may have to take time out from their patients and practice to testify, speak to lawyers, give depositions, and so forth, and not all medical providers account for those activities in their practices. If you unwittingly get stuck with the wrong doctor, they can tank your case quickly or waste your valuable time, billing health insurance for office visits, but never actually diagnosing your injuries. By hiring a local personal injury lawyer with a solid reputation, you have the best shot at seeing qualified doctors. Our office has built reputations with many physicians, orthopedic experts, and physical therapists across the state who are willing to treat patients on a lien, meaning you do not have to pay upfront!  These doctors often do not require health insurance, nor do they care if you have health insurance. They literally rely upon the attorney to not only get you paid, but to also recover payment for their services too. This is how you can get the very best, white-glove care after an accident.

• Maximize your compensation. It is very well known in the legal community that people who pursue compensation after an injury do not always get the same amounts. In fact, there is a wide range of compensation, and often the lawyer you hire makes a big difference. But if you go it alone, you are almost guaranteed to get less. Yes, you avoid an attorney fee, but insurance carriers also have zero risk of being taken to trial, so they make significantly lower offers. Sometimes, they even play games with your money, making you think you’re getting one amount, only to use the money to pay liens, leaving you with almost nothing at all. Having a lawyer ensures that you know your rights from the start.

At Crossroad Legal, we’re confident in our ability to recover significant compensation for our clients, and we’ve been doing it long enough to know what it takes. Whether it’s a simple fender bender, a t-bond crash, motorcycle injury, or a semi-truck has hit you, we want to earn your trust and business. Active military and veterans receive significant discounts at our firm, and we never take a fee unless we are able to get you paid! So, you have nothing to lose. Give us a call at (618) 515-5555 today. Someone is available 24/7 to take your call.