Public transportation, including CTA buses and commuter trains, offers many benefits to Illinois residents, including convenience, reduced costs, and a lower environmental impact. However, choosing to use public transit also means placing your trust in the driver or operator to keep you safe from injury. If an accident happens because of the negligence of the driver or another party, you may be seriously injured. In this case, you should know the steps you will need to take in order to recover fair compensation.
Get Medical Help and Hire an Attorney
As with any personal injury case, there are a couple of things you should be sure to do as soon as possible after the accident. The first is to seek medical attention. This ensures that you have detailed information about the extent of your injuries, both for the sake of getting the treatment you need and for creating a record to support your injury claim. Second, you should reach out to a personal injury attorney. Your lawyer can help you immensely with the following steps and give you a better chance of recovering full compensation for your damages.
Determine Who Is At Fault
If you are injured in an accident as a public transit passenger, someone else is almost always at fault, but it may not be easy to identify exactly who because of all of the different parties that may be involved. Depending on the situation, the negligent party could be the operator of the bus or train, the government organization responsible for the transit system, the driver of another vehicle involved in the collision, or some combination of multiple parties. Thoroughly investigating the accident and speaking to witnesses can help you identify anyone from whom you can recover compensation. You should also know that according to Illinois legal doctrine, public transportation is a common carrier with the highest duty of care to passengers, which means operators can be liable even for injuries caused by third parties and other passengers.
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