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Rockford Van Accidents
We are referring primarily to accidents involving conversion vans, touring vans, or 15-passenger vans. You can see these vehicles outside of churches, and at bars that may have a band on a performance tour, or used as airport shuttles, alternative transportation for special school bus routes, and for sick or elderly transportation to medical appointments. Not only do these vehicles have significantly higher rates of roll-over accidents, but with the way they are designed, they are more prone to roll-overs than other vehicles. When you factor in the other issues that surround the use of such vehicles, it’s clear to see that if you Google search “van accidents,” you will quite literally see dozens of fatal accidents involving these vehicles. Generally, most have the same underlying reasons for the crash:
- Drivers: The drivers are not required to have any special endorsements to operate these vehicles (e.g., CDL or otherwise).
- Vehicle Familiarity: The vehicles are heavy, and do not turn, stop, or slow down at the same rate as most passenger vehicles.
- Vehicle Maintenance: These vehicles are generally not in use for everyday commutes. If a group or facility owns one of these vehicles, outside of oil changes, it may be infrequent that tire pressure or brakes are checked to ensure that the vehicle can safely transport a large amount of people (i.e., weight).
- Distractions: When these vehicles are in use, there are a number of potential occupants in the vehicle with appropriate distractions such as conversations, phone calls, or GPS directions, whih can get in the way of the vehicle being operated in a safe manner.
Illinois Time Limits on Filing Suit
Illinois sets a time limit of two years to file a personal injury lawsuit in the state’s civil court system. In most cases, this two-year time limit, known as a “statute of limitations,” begins to run on the date of the accident. Sometimes, however, a statute of limitations might run from the date that you discovered you were injured, rather than the date of the event that injured you. This later date is known as a “discovery date.”
For injury claims against a city or county, you have one year to file a lawsuit. The time limit to sue the state is generally two years, but you must file a formal claim within one year in order to sue.
A qualified personal injury attorney can help guide you through this difficult time and alleviate some of the stress.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
For a confidential, compassionate, in-depth, free, and, most importantly, thorough consultation with a Rockford Personal Injury Lawyer about your van accident injury case in Rockford, Belvidere, Freeport, Rochelle, Oregon, Loves Park, Byron, Machesney Park, Roscoe, Rockton, or elsewhere in the State of Illinois, call or text message us at (815) 391-0089, or e-mail us 24/7/365. We offer in-office consultations, and routinely make visits to clients’ homes, hospital rooms, nursing homes, and other off-site locations to make retaining our services as easy as possible.