Car Accidents

Meet Jim Coogan Managing Partner & Trial Attorney Who is Jim Coogan? I am native to the Chicagoland area. Both sides of my family were from the South side of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. I grew up in Oak Brook and always thought I would call the Chicago area my home. There’s just something […]

DID YOU GET A REFUND? Auto Insurers Claimed Generosity in Issuing Premium Rebates You have seen the commercials. Lower traffic during these times means lower insurance claims. And Insurance companies are giving back. But insurance regulatory filings and financial statements show there is more to the story. This spring, when government orders forced businesses to […]

VISION ZERO INITIATIVE–MIXED RESULTS In 2+ Years, Road Fatalities Fall, But Danger Remains It has been more than 2 years since the City of Chicago adopted a plan to make roads safer. The “Vision Zero” plan aimed to reduce traffic casualties by promoting better sight lines, safe zones, and protection for cyclists. As the Chicago […]

Be Careful Where You Park In a surprising decision from Illinois’ First Appellate District, the Court dismissed the case of a person who injured themselves stepping into a 5-foot pothole. The basis for the ruling? The location of where she parked her car. Her lawsuit was against the City of Chicago for negligent maintenance of […]

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, 3,166 Americans died in crashed caused by distracted driving in 2017. It is easy to say that those three-thousand one-hundred and sixty-six people simply did not have to die. Thousands more did not need to be injured as a result of distracted driving. It impacts anyone and […]

According to a 2015 survey, approximately 13 percent of all U.S. drivers are uninsured. In Illinois, that percentage is only slightly higher, at 13.7. Illinois has the 18th highest number of uninsured motorists in the nation. If you’ve been hit by an uninsured driver in a car accident, it’s important to know what to do. […]

In 2015, there were 313,316 crashes involving motor vehicles in Illinois. People die or suffer severe injuries in car accidents, every day in Illinois and across the country.  Some accidents are more serious than others. In those less serious accidents, over the years of our practice here at Dwyer & Coogam,  we have found that […]

Laws Capping Damages Hurt the Injured Patients, Consumers, and Victims pay the price when Juries are Capped. It is one of the most difficult questions for an injury lawyer to answer: “what is my case worth?”  So, if lawyers who do this work on a daily basis cannot answer it, how is a jury of […]

Governments Taking Steps to Protect Riders Coogan Gallagher Injury Lawyers Know Risks to Riders Every single day, millions of Americans hop in a ‘rideshare’ vehicle to get where they are going.  You know the companies: Uber, Lyft, Via…  And you know they are a way to save money on transportation.  Rideshare transportation has changed the […]

What is a “Dutch Reach”? Netherlands teach simple technique to improve Cycling Safety Ever heard of the “Dutch Reach”?  It’s simple to do.  And is easy to remember.  Consider the risks of both the drivers and passengers as well as cyclists in urban environments.  If you have ever ridden your bicycle past a row of […]

Self-Driving Cars are Coming They will change commuting–and Injury Law Humans are making another evolutionary leap into the future.  Once, the wheel was the innovation.  The wheel was applied to things we could push or pull.  It was later adapted so that animals could do the pushing and pulling for us.  Eventually, we invented carriages […]

As 2017 rolled along, we were bombarded by reminders that the economy and transportation are continuously changing.  We heard about “the Gig Economy.”  We heard about new types of “e-Commerce.”  And there were many, many new developments in the world of “the Ride Share Economy.”  Technology will always continue to shape how humans get to […]