What Should I Do After a Bike Accident in Illinois?

The first 30 minutes after a bicycle accident are often critical not only to your health, but also to any future legal claim for compensation for your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost income and damage to your bicycle and other property. If you’ve been involved in a bicycle accident in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois, these are the steps you should take whenever it is safe to do so:

First 30 Minutes:

• Immediately call the police and have them file an accident report. This ensures that all the proper information for your claim is secured and correct. A police report documents the collision, identifies the parties involved, provides driver insurance information, and records important details while the evidence is fresh. Insurance companies often rely heavily on the police report when evaluating liability.
• Ask the driver that hit you to provide their name, contact information, insurance information, driver’s license and license plate right away. If you’re worried they might attempt to leave the scene and/or they refuse to provide this information, take a photo of their license plate with your phone if you’re able. If they flee the scene, call 911 (even if you’ve already done so) and report it as a hit and run. 
• Make sure you stay on the scene until the police arrive so that you can speak to them directly and describe the accident in your own words as part of the police report. 
• Get a copy of the driver’s information exchange card from the police. This will help you or your attorney track down the official full length police report later on.
• If anyone witnessed the crash, ask for their name and phone number. Independent witnesses can be extremely important later on if there is a dispute about how the accident happened. If the witness is willing to give a statement of what the saw to the police, that’s even better.

First Few Hours:

• if you’re injured or even suspect you might be, seek immediate medical attention at the ER or Urgent Care. Many serious injuries don’t begin to show symptoms until hours or even days after an accident. Even if your injuries seem minor, prompt evaluation can identify problems that may not become obvious until later. Additionally, long gaps between the collision and medical treatment often give insurance companies an opportunity to argue that your injuries were caused by something else or were not serious. For the sake of your health and your case, go get checked out as soon as possible.
• Photograph the accident scene, your bicycle, the vehicle ,your injuries, and any road hazards before anything is moved. This kind of evidence preservation can be crucial if the driver’s insurance disputes fault later on. Do not repair your bicycle or throw away your helmet until they have been photographed and, if necessary, inspected. Damage to your bicycle and helmet may become important evidence if liability or the severity of the collision is later disputed. Photograph skid marks, debris, damaged roadway conditions, traffic signals, and weather conditions if they may have contributed to the collision.
• As soon as possible, identify nearby businesses, CTA buses, residences, or traffic cameras that may have captured the collision. Many video systems automatically overwrite recordings within days, so it is important to get this information immediately. Your attorney can often send preservation requests before footage is deleted, and can even issue subpoenas when necessary. 

First 24 Hours:

• Before filing a claim and speaking to the driver’s insurance company on your own, speak with an attorney who handles bicycle accident cases. Early legal advice can help you avoid mistakes that may affect the value of your claim, and your attorney can handle filing a claim for you.