One second you are riding. The next you are on the pavement, and the rest is sirens, hospital lights, and questions nobody is answering yet.
Here is the short version. In Illinois you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file an injury lawsuit under Illinois Statutes (ILCS) Chapter 735, Section 5/13-202. If a city, county, or other local public entity may be responsible for the crash, that window can be one year. You can still recover money if you were partly to blame, as long as your share of the fault stays at 50% or less. And with a contingency-fee arrangement, you generally do not pay attorney fees up front.
The insurance company already has a plan for your case. You should have one, too.
Call Willens & Baez Personal Injury Lawyers, PC at (312) 957-4166 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Key Terms in an Illinois Motorcycle Accident Claim
Insurance adjusters use a handful of words that quietly decide what your case is worth. Here is what each one actually means for a Chicago rider.
| Term | What it means for your case |
|---|---|
| Liability | Legal responsibility for causing the crash. The person or entity found liable may be responsible for damages, subject to applicable insurance coverage and other legal considerations. |
| Comparative fault | Your own share of the blame. It reduces the amount you can recover, and if your share is over 50%, it bars you from any monetary recovery entirely. |
| Statute of limitations | The filing deadline. Missing it can prevent you from pursuing the case, subject to applicable exceptions and tolling rules. |
| Policy limits | The most amount an insurance policy will pay. Serious rider injuries often cost more than the limits. |
| UM/UIM coverage | Your own coverage if the at-fault party is uninsured or underinsured. Uninsured motorist coverage may apply when the at-fault driver has no liability coverage, while underinsured motorist coverage may provide additional protection when the driver’s insurance is insufficient, subject to the policy and Illinois law. |
| Economic damages | Losses with a paper trail: medical bills, lost pay, bike repair or replacement. |
| Non-economic damages | Real losses that are simply harder to price such as pain, scarring, and loss of a normal life. |
Adjusters know these words cold. You should not have to learn them from a hospital bed.
How Much Does a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Cost in Chicago?
Nothing out of pocket. That is the honest answer, and it is the one most people are afraid to ask about.
We at Willens & Baez take motorcycle cases on a contingency basis. The fee is a percentage of what we recover for you. If there is no recovery, there is no fee.
Illinois builds protections into that arrangement. Rule 1.5(d)(2) of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct requires a contingent fee agreement to be in writing and signed by you. It has to state the percentage that applies at settlement, at trial, and on appeal. It has to list the expenses that come out of the recovery, and say whether those expenses come out before or after the fee is figured. When the case ends, you are entitled to a written statement showing the outcome and how your money was calculated.
Case costs are separate from the fee, and rider cases may have their own factors that drive cost. These can include:
- A crash reconstruction expert, when the case requires analysis of speed, sight lines, reaction time, or other crash dynamics
- A conspicuity or visibility analysis, when whether the driver could see you is disputed
- Inspection and storage of the motorcycle before it is scrapped or repaired
- Examination of your helmet, jacket, boots, and gloves, which often show the direction and force of impact
- Treating-physician opinions on road rash, grafts, and permanent scarring.
Our firm advances case costs in appropriate cases, so you generally do not have to pay those investigation costs up front.
Ask any Chicago firm to put the percentage and the cost treatment in writing before you sign. A firm that will not do that is telling you something.
How Long Do I Have To File a Motorcycle Accident Claim in Illinois?
Usually two years from the date of the crash. It depends on who hurt you, and some deadlines are much shorter.
| Type of Claim | Deadline | Illinois Law |
|---|---|---|
| Injury claim against a private driver | 2 years from the crash | 735 ILCS 5/13-202 |
| Wrongful death claim | 2 years from the date of death | 740 ILCS 180/2(d) |
| Claim against a city, county, park district, or other local public entity | 1 year from the injury | 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a) |
| Claim against the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) | 1 year from the injury | 70 ILCS 3605/41 |
| Claim against Metra or Pace | 1 year from the injury | 70 ILCS 3615/5.03 |
That government row matters more for riders than it does for drivers. A pothole that may be manageable for a car can cause a motorcycle to crash. If a badly maintained street, a sunken utility cover, or a construction plate helped cause your crash, the claim may run against the City of Chicago or another local body, and the window shrinks to one year.
The practical deadline is always shorter than the legal one. Skid marks can fade, surveillance footage may be overwritten, and witnesses’ memories can fade or become harder to document. Waiting costs you evidence long before it costs you the case.
How Do I Know if I Have a Motorcycle Accident Case?
You likely have a claim if all three of these are true. You do not need to prove them yourself. You just need to know what to look for:
- Someone else may have done something careless, or a dangerous condition may have contributed. A left turn across your lane, a lane change into your position, a door swung open, or a dangerous roadway condition may all be relevant.
- That conduct or condition contributed to causing the crash. Not just that it happened nearby, but that it played a role in putting you down.
- You were hurt and suffered legally compensable damages. Medical treatment, missed work, or a bike you had to repair or replace can help document those losses.
Two more conditions we investigate for you, because most riders have no way to check them:
- Whether the evidence supports a finding that your share of fault stays at or below 50%. Illinois generally bars recovery when your share of fault is more than 50%.
- What insurance coverage may apply. That can include the at-fault driver’s policy, any applicable employer or commercial policy, and your own UM/UIM coverage.
If you are not sure, call us at Willens & Baez. Our free consultation costs you nothing, and the deadline runs whether or not you are sure.
Who Is Usually at Fault in a Chicago Motorcycle Crash?
In many motorcycle crash cases, another driver may be responsible, but determining fault requires an examination of the individual crash. Illinois crash data does not, by itself, establish who was at fault.
The Illinois Department of Transportation recorded 3,361 motorcycle crashes statewide in 2024. Of the 3,444 motorcycles involved, 2,148 were going straight ahead when the crash happened. Only 154 were turning left, and 69 were changing lanes. Those figures describe the movements of motorcycles involved in crashes, but they do not by themselves establish whether a rider or another road user was at fault.
The crashes we see in Chicago usually trace back to a short list of causes:
- Drivers turning left across your path, a common type of motorcycle-crash scenario
- Drivers who look right at a motorcycle and never register it
- Lane changes into a bike sitting in a blind spot
- Potholes, sunken utility covers, and uneven pavement
- Car doors swung open into a moving lane (violating 625 ILCS 5/11-1407 and Chicago Municipal Code 9-80-035)
- Distracted, speeding, or impaired driving.
Chicago streets add their own problems. Heavy intersection traffic, construction plates, rail lines, and cars parked inches from a moving lane. For more on the patterns behind these crashes, see our page on the common causes of motorcycle accidents.
During investigation, the insurance company will still start by asking what you did wrong. Bikers are often blamed for their own injuries, and you will need to protect your claim by consulting with an attorney before you give any statement to insurers.
How Illinois Splits Fault When Both Sides Share Blame
Say a driver turns left in front of you on Ashland, you were doing a few miles over, and the adjuster tells you that makes the crash your fault. This may not be automatically true.
Illinois uses modified comparative fault. Under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, you are barred (prohibited) from recovering damages only if your share of the fault in the accident is more than 50%. At 50% or below, you still recover, with the award reduced by your percentage. For example, 20% at fault on a $200,000 case leaves $160,000.
The percentage of fault carries enormous weight. Insurers may push hardest on demonstrating your fault at 51%, because every point they move it is money they keep.
Riders get hit with a special version of this. Adjusters lean on old assumptions about motorcyclists’ speed, weaving, and risk-taking, then work backward from there. Attorney Matthew Willens and the Willens & Baez team answer that with evidence: scene photos, crash reconstruction, vehicle damage, and witness accounts that put the fault where it belongs.
Illinois Motorcycle Laws That Shape the Fault Fight
The rules of the road do double duty after a crash. They decide who got a ticket, and they shape the fault argument that follows.
Helmets and eye protection
Illinois does not require a motorcycle helmet for any rider, at any age. It is one of only a few states with no helmet law at all.
Eye protection is a different story. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-1404, the operator and every passenger must be protected by glasses, goggles, or a transparent shield. The statute says the material has to be shatter-resistant. A windshield that rises above your eyes in a normal upright riding position counts. Contact lenses do not.
Because no helmet law exists, riding without one breaks no Illinois rule. An insurer may nevertheless raise helmet use in a head-injury case, depending on the circumstances. That is exactly why the medical and causation evidence needs to be built carefully from the start.
Lane position and passing
Illinois does not authorize lane-splitting, which is the practice of riding between two traffic lanes. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-709(a), a vehicle has to be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single marked lane. And 625 ILCS 5/11-703(c) places restrictions on when a two-wheeled vehicle may pass on the right, including requirements concerning the available lane of traffic.
Rider position and equipment
Section 11-1403 of the Vehicle Code covers how you sit and hold the bike. You ride on the permanent seat, facing forward, astride, with at least one hand on a grip while the motorcycle is moving. Handlebar grips cannot rise above the height of your head. A passenger has to be able to rest a foot on the footrest.
Insurance every Illinois driver must carry
Illinois sets minimum liability limits of $25,000 for injury to one person, $50,000 for injuries to more than one person, and $20,000 for property damage. Those numbers come from 625 ILCS 5/7-203, and 625 ILCS 5/7-601 requires the coverage.
Here is the part riders often do not know. Every Illinois auto liability policy also has to include uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash. That comes from 215 ILCS 5/143a. If you carry a qualifying Illinois motorcycle liability policy, it generally must include the required uninsured motorist coverage, although you should review your policy to determine the coverage that actually applies.
What Your Motorcycle Accident Claim May Cover
Compensation is not one number. It is a stack of separate losses, and each one has to be proven:
- Medical bills already incurred, plus the care your doctors expect you will still need
- Lost income, and reduced earning power if you cannot go back to the same work
- Pain, suffering, disfigurement, and loss of a normal life
- Repair or replacement of the motorcycle and your gear
- Rehabilitation, therapy, and in-home care.
Rider injuries tend to be severe, and the damages follow. Unlike occupants of passenger vehicles, motorcyclists generally have substantially less physical protection between their bodies and the roadway or another vehicle. Nationally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 6,228 motorcyclists killed in 2024, which was about 16% of all traffic deaths that year. Per mile traveled, riders were almost 27 times more likely than car occupants to die in a crash, and almost 5 times more likely to be hurt.
The injuries our Chicago motorcycle accident attorneys see most often include:
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord damage
- Deep road rash needing grafts
- Multiple fractures
- Internal bleeding
- Nerve injuries that leave lasting weakness in an arm or hand.
Get checked out even if you feel fine. Adrenaline masks a lot of pain, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an adjuster points to later.
When a rider is killed, the family can bring a wrongful death claim under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. Under 740 ILCS 180/2, a jury may award damages for the family’s grief, sorrow, and mental suffering along with their financial losses. The family must file the claim generally within two years of the death.
What If the Driver Who Hit You Does Not Have Enough Insurance?
Your own policy usually fills the gap. That is what uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may help address. This happens frequently, and it is not a sign that your case is weak.
UM coverage applies in cases where the at-fault driver is uninsured. UIM coverage may provide additional protection when the driver’s coverage is insufficient, subject to the applicable policy and Illinois law. It pays the difference between what the at-fault driver’s policy covers and what your losses actually are.
Uninsured motorist coverage may also apply after a hit-and-run crash when the driver is never identified, subject to the requirements of the applicable policy and Illinois law. Report the crash to police promptly, because your carrier will want that report.
UM and UIM claims are filed against your own insurer, which surprises people. It should not feel personal. Your carrier will still assign an adjuster to evaluate the claim under the applicable policy.
Can I Sue the City of Chicago If a Road Defect Caused My Crash?
Sometimes, though the rules are strict. This question matters more for riders than for anyone else on the road, because pavement that a car shrugs off can put a motorcycle down.
Under 745 ILCS 10/3-102(a), a local public entity has a duty to use ordinary care to keep its property in a reasonably safe condition for people it intended and permitted to use that property. A motorcycle using a city street may qualify as an intended and permitted user of the roadway, depending on the circumstances. That part is usually not the fight.
The fight is notice. You have to show that the city had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition, with enough time before your crash to fix it or warn about it. Prior 311 complaints, work orders, and inspection logs may help establish notice, and public-records requests may be used to seek those records.
Then there is the deadline to file suit: one year under 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), not two. If a road defect may have played a role in your crash, that changes the calendar immediately.
How Long Will a Motorcycle Accident Case Take in Cook County?
Nobody can promise you a date. What we can do is tell you what the stages look like, so the waiting makes sense.
| Stage | What Happens | What Sets the Pace |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment and investigation | You get care. We collect the police report, photos, video, and witness accounts. | How long your doctors need to know where you will end up |
| Demand | We package the medical records, wage loss, and liability proof and send a demand. | Waiting until your treatment picture is complete, not rushing it |
| Negotiation | The insurer responds, disputes fault or damages, and offers. | Whether the carrier is realistic about the injury and the policy limits |
| Filing suit | We file in a court with proper jurisdiction and venue, which may include Cook County or another appropriate county depending on where the defendant resides and where the events giving rise to the claim occurred. | The two-year deadline under 735 ILCS 5/13-202 is the outer edge. |
| Discovery | Both sides exchange records, take depositions, and disclose experts. | Court scheduling and how hard the defense fights liability |
| Resolution | Mediation, settlement, or trial. | The strength of the evidence and the court’s trial calendar. |
Settling early does not necessarily mean settling low. An early offer may arrive before the full extent of your injuries, recovery, and damages is known.
How Do I Choose a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in Chicago?
Ask any firm you talk to, including this one, these five questions, then compare the answers:
- How many motorcycle cases have you actually taken to trial? Riders face jury bias that car drivers do not. You want a firm that has argued against it in a courtroom, not just in a demand letter.
- Who advances the case costs, and what happens to them if we lose? Rider cases need reconstruction and visibility work. Ask who pays for it and when.
- Which experts would you bring in on my facts? A specific answer means they have thought about your case. A vague answer means they have not.
- Who will actually handle my file day to day? Ask whether you will speak with an attorney or only with staff.
- What do you think the fault fight looks like here? A firm that tells you the case is easy is not being straight with you.
Get the fee percentage and the cost treatment in writing before you sign anything, with any firm.
Why Riders Choose Willens & Baez For Their Chicago Motorcycle Accident Case
We build rider cases around the evidence and circumstances of each client’s claim. That means investigating before the evidence goes cold and preparing each file carefully. That means investigating before the evidence goes cold and preparing every file as if it will be tried.
- We get to the scene, the vehicles, and the video early.
- We work with appropriate crash reconstruction and medical experts when expert analysis is needed to explain the evidence to a jury.
- We handle the insurance companies so you can focus on treatment.
- We evaluate the full claim, including future care and lost earning capacity when supported by the evidence.
- We pursue litigation when appropriate if the available settlement does not fairly reflect the claim.
Matthew Willens founded the firm in 2007 and has been licensed to practice in Illinois since 1995. He has been named to Illinois Super Lawyers each year since 2012 and to the Top 100 Illinois Super Lawyers list. He holds an AV Preeminent 5.0 peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell. He is recognized as an Illinois Leading Lawyer in Personal Injury Law and Professional Malpractice, and he is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He teaches Advanced Trial Advocacy as an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Before he represented injured people, Matthew Willens worked for a major insurance company managing million-dollar-plus claims. David Baez spent the first part of his career defending insurance companies. Our firm knows the other side’s playbook.
Among our firm’s published motorcycle results are a $625,000 settlement and a $500,000 settlement. Past results do not predict what any other case is worth. Every case turns on its own facts, its own injuries, and the insurance actually available.
We serve injured riders throughout Cook County and the surrounding Chicago metropolitan area. Consultations are free, we come to you when you cannot travel, and you owe nothing unless we recover for you.
What to Do After a Motorcycle Crash in Chicago
The first few days shape the whole case. Six things matter most:
- Get medical attention, even if you think you walked away from it.
- Report the crash to police when appropriate and obtain a copy of the crash report if one is prepared.
- Photograph the scene, both vehicles, the road surface, and your injuries.
- Get names and numbers from anyone who saw it happen.
- Speak with an attorney before giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer.
- Call a Chicago motorcycle accident attorney before you sign anything.
That fifth one trips up good people every day. Insurance adjusters may ask detailed questions about how the crash occurred and about your injuries, so consider obtaining legal advice before giving a recorded statement.
Talk to a Chicago Motorcycle Accident Attorney
Call Willens & Baez Personal Injury Lawyers, PC at (312) 957-4166 for a free consultation about your motorcycle accident case. Our Rolling Meadows office is at (847) 496-0990.
Chicago: 30 N LaSalle St #3450, Chicago, IL 60602
Rolling Meadows: 3701 W Algonquin Rd #712, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Illinois require motorcycle riders to wear a helmet?
Does Illinois require me to wear eye protection?
Is lane splitting legal in Illinois?
What are the rules for carrying a passenger on a motorcycle in Illinois?
How much insurance must Illinois drivers carry?
Does my own insurance cover me if the driver fled or had no coverage?
Is it illegal for someone to open a car door into a rider?
Can a rider’s family bring a wrongful death claim in Illinois?
Reviewed by Matthew Willens, founder and managing partner of Willens & Baez Personal Injury Lawyers, P.C., Chicago, Illinois.
Last updated: September 08, 2026
