We represent and help a lot of people who have been injured in car accidents via our state wide network of Illinois attorneys.  One of the crazy truths about these lawsuits is that you can have the worst injury imaginable or even death, but if you weren’t hit by someone with a lot of insurance then you are out of luck.

Take the great comedian/actor Tracy Morgan who suffered massive injuries when the limousine he was riding in was rear-ended by a truck driver who hadn’t slept for 28 hours.  That driver was working for Walmart, so there was essentially an endless amount of insurance coverage.  While the settlement in that case was confidential, you can bet that Morgan and the other victims got millions of dollars to compensate them for their lost wages, pain and suffering and medical bills.  Morgan probably lost out on eight figures worth of work and because he was hit by a defendant that is a huge company, there was no worry about there being enough money to cover all the losses.

On the other hand, had they been hit by a teenager with $20,000.00 in insurance coverage, that is all they would get unless there is an uninsured motorist coverage policy.  Getting hit by a car at any time is usually bad luck, but in these cases getting paid is really just the luck of the draw.

There are other laws which don’t seem to be fair either.  Lets talk about three of them.

The first one I don’t feel that bad about, but if you drive someone to a bank to rob it and sit in the car the whole time, if they murder a teller or anyone else, you can get charged with first degree murder.  The law is essentially that if you agreed to participate in a felony then you are responsible for anything that happens during that felony even if you had nothing to do with it or no knowledge or desire to participate.  You could have been pressured to be “just the driver” and spend the rest of your life in jail.

When it comes to DUI’s, did you know that in Illinois you could choose not to drive because you know you are drunk and instead sleep in the back of your car, but still get a DUI? You could also get one while standing outside the car if you have the keys on you. The law is that if you have control of the vehicle and are drunk, you can be charged.  It’s an absurd law that does not encourage good behavior or smart decision making.  Can you imagine going to jail for a DUI when you were doing nothing but sleeping off your buzz?

A final law that drives me crazy is that child support has nothing to do with the relative incomes of each parent. I could have a court order to pay child support to you and be making $30,000.00 a year.  If you make millions a year and don’t need the little amount that I’m giving you, it won’t matter.  I’d still have to pay unless you choose not to receive it.  I of course think that each parent should have to support their kids, but when incomes vary that much, common sense should prevail.  It doesn’t happen that much, but Judges should be able to look at cases for what they are.

If you have any questions about any of these laws or any others, please don’t hesitate to contact us.    You can talk to one of our lawyer for free and it’s confidential.