Articles Posted in Motorcycle Accidents

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Keith Kreinik was injured in a motorcycle accident.  The statute of limitations for his injuries would have run two years from the date of his accident, Sept. 2, 2007 to Sept. 2, 2009.  In the meantime, on Aug. 29, 2009, Karen Kreinik was allowed guardianship of Keith and filed a lawsuit against Ali Hosseini and Magnum Motors, the company that Keith was working for at the time of his motorcycle accident. 

It took more than 15 months for Karen to secure service on Hosseini, during which time Keith died.  Kreinik finally obtained service on Nov. 22, 2010.  Exactly a year later, the trial court granted Hosseini’s motion to quash service, stating that it was improper because the process server appointed by the court was not the one who actually served Hosseini. 

On Dec. 1, 2011, Kreinik served Hosseini.  On Jan. 3, 2012, Hosseini moved to dismiss the complaint with prejudice since Kreinik “failed to exercise reasonable diligence.”

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Jack Taylor was a motocross enthusiast from the downstate Illinois town of Lewistown. Taylor replaced a tire for his motocross bike on July 9, 2009 with a new one he purchased from a store in Peoria, Ill.  On July 11, 2009, Taylor went to the Sunset Ridge MX MotoCross Course in Walton, which is near Lewistown.

While using the course, Taylor attempted to jump. When he landed on the front tire, the one he had only recently replaced, it blew out and caused him to be injured. Taylor was taken to a nearby hospital and then transferred to another hospital in Peoria. 

On June 21, 2012, Taylor filed a lawsuit against Lemans Corp., Moose Racing, Parts Unlimited and Gibbs Motor Corp., alleging strict liability for a defective product, negligence and breach of implied warranties. The lawsuit that Taylor filed was in Cook County. The defendants moved to transfer the case to Bureau County, where the motocross course was located. The motion was brought under the doctrine of forum non conveniens.

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Motorcyclists have a higher fatality rate than drivers of cars. This is due to many factors, but one is the fact that motorists frequently fail to notice motorcycles. In many accidents, the motorcyclist is not wearing a helmet. In some instances, motorcyclists are traveling at high rates of speed, and they collide with a car or truck. Such was the case in the death of D.S.

D.S. was operating a motorcycle eastbound on Aug. 31, 2008 on Higgins Road in Schaumburg when he entered the intersection at Mall Drive with a green light. He was cut off by a car operated by the defendant, T.W. She was making a U-turn from westbound Higgins to head eastbound.

D.S. was killed in the crash. He was survived by his wife and three minor children. D.S. was a firefighter and paramedic with the Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Department. At the time of the accident, he was driving a high-performance motorcycle on his way to a charity run.The defendant was visiting from out of state. Several witnesses testified at trial that the defendant suddenly and unexpectedly made a wide and slow U-turn without activating her turn signal, and she cut D.S. off as he entered the intersection.

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On Sept. 24, 2010, Thomas DeSonia was driving his motorcycle with his girlfriend as his passenger. DeSonia was traveling about 40 mph northbound on Route 53 in Wilmington, Ill., when the southbound car driven by defendant Bernard Wall attempted a left turn in front of DeSonia. The motorcycle and the car collided. Wall was turning into a driveway so he could turn around and head back north. Because he had forgotten to purchase something while shopping at the store, he wanted to return there and thus the reason for the left turn.

Wall reportedly apologized to DeSonia at the scene.DeSonia alleged that the impact caused him to fall onto his back and slide about 35 feet on the pavement causing road rash, a laceration to his right hand that required 4 stitches to close and chronic back pain from his sacroiliac joint and L5-S1 nerves. DeSonia was treated with 3 epidural steroid injections, physical therapy, medicine and ongoing treatment. The issue of DeSonia’s permanent medical condition was barred due to the non-disclosure of his medical bills. Only a portion of his total medical bills were admitted and considered by the jury. DeSonia lost six months of work as a truck driver.

Wall said he did not see the motorcycle until the last moment because it was following too closely behind another car. 

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The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago found that an injured motorcyclist’s husband’s statement was an admissible statement for the jury to hear and not barred as hearsay. The man told a state trooper that although his wife was severely injured, she said to him:  “I’m sorry. It’s not the trucker’s fault.It was mine.”

Betty Jordan, the motorcyclist, was severely injured when her motorcycle collided with a semi-trailer truck on an Indianapolis interstate highway. Both of Jordan’s legs were amputated at the knees. The Jordans filed suit against the trucker and his employer for negligence and loss of consortium. 

After a jury verdict for the defendants, the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the district court erred in ruling that the state trooper’s testimony — about what the husband told him — was hearsay under Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 801.

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The Illinois Appellate Court has ruled in favor of a motorcycle rider who lost a leg in an accident and sought a $1 million judgment against Allstate Insurance Co. This decision might have gone differently for Allstate, but the insurer made several very serious errors in its handling of the case.

This case was reported in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

The accident occurred on June 30, 2006, when the driver, E.H., allegedly drove a truck through a stop sign and smashed into the side of a motorcycle driven by S.K., whose leg later had to be amputated. The truck was owned by a third party, L.S.

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Every day we get into cars with other drivers; however, we rarely think about the fact that we are entrusting our lives into those drivers. In the case of Cheri Razim, John Razim v. Steven R. Erickson, Zachary Stewart, 08 L 351 (Winnebago County), the plaintiff, Cheri Razim, sued the driver of her vehicle and the driver of the other vehicle involved for their cause in a motorcycle accident.

The Illinois motorcycle accident occurred on Memorial Day at a Winnebago County intersection. Razim was a passenger on Steven Erickson’s motorcycle, which was approaching the T-intersection; while Zachary Stewart was approaching from the opposite direction. Stewart made a left-hand turn in front of Erickson’s motorcycle. Erickson was unable to swerve out of the way and ended up striking the back of Stewart’s pickup with his motorcycle. Both Razim and Erickson were thrown from the motorcycle as it skid 98 feet from the site of impact.

As a result of the intersection accident, Razim sustained multiple fractures to her right arm, neck, femur, both legs, left ankle, and left foot. She was forced to undergo several surgeries, including an open reduction internal fixation of her right tibial plateau, left humerus, and right wrist. In addition, the multiple lacerations and abrasions she sustained required her to undergo plastic surgery and skin grafts on her right leg. The various procedures left Razim hospitalized for almost four weeks, with an additional six weeks needed at a rehab center. Despite her lengthy medical care, Razim is still primarily confined to a wheelchair and needs to keep her right leg straight and elevated due to venous insufficiency.

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