What Do I Need to Know?
In this article, we're talking about “How long do I have to sue the CTA or the Chicago Transit Authority”. This applies for Pace Bus and to the (CTA) Chicago Transit Authority. The City Run Transit System that runs all the buses, trains, and shuttles in Chicago.
What Does This Cover?
This covers train accidents if you're hurt on the train. Bus accidents if you're a passenger on the bus. If you're driving and a CTA bus runs into you, so arighny kind of situation on the CTA. What do you have to know if you got hurt by the CTA or while riding the CTA? Well the first thing you need to know is that there is a 1-year deadline to file your case or have your case settled against the CTA.
In most cases like a car accident, a fall down or something of that nature. It's two years in the state of Illinois but the CTA gets a special protection. The deadline against the CTA is not two years, you only have a year and that's why if you got hurt, you should talk to a lawyer immediately.
In a CTA case, you got a small amount of time and lawyers needs time to investigate the case before the deadline. They don't want to just sign up the case and file a lawsuit, they need to investigate it to make sure they have all the defendants in the case and to know enough about the case before filling a lawsuit on it. If you got hurt on the CTA, talk to a lawyer right away. You can reach me at 312-500-4500, I also give free consultations.
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Filing A Lawsuit
The next thing you need to know is that the CTA rarely settles cases these days. You need to have a slam dunk monster case. In major cases they don't even settle, they tend to litigate them. Even if your case is caught on video, it's not going to matter.
The CTA is probably going to make you file a lawsuit. You can occasionally settle a small case with small injuries and liabilities against the CTA but they really don't settle much of anything these days. It is almost certain that the case is turning into a lawsuit and tend to get filed now.
I settle in somewhere in the 70%-80% of cases in my office before I even file a lawsuit. It's a very high percentage of my cases. That is why I make efforts to settle the cases early before I file a lawsuit because my clients get their money faster and get to move on but with the CTA, we're going to work the case up and take it to court. Which is another reason why having a lawyer is a really good idea. You probably don't want to go to court without a lawyer.
They Have Video Cameras Everywhere
The third thing you need to know about the CTA is that there are video cameras everywhere, on a typical train or CTA bus. They have cameras inside the bus that is facing backward on the driver, on the front doors. There are cameras everywhere. That would sound like a good thing.
“If I fall or if there's a crash, we'll have pretty plenty of video”. There's a lot of things about those videos that are a challenge.
From my experience, the CTA tends to lose a lot of the video. Sometimes it's corrupted or their equipment doesn't work. I don't know if it's a coincidence but it seems like the CTA loses a lot of video on cases that I suspect are very strong for the injured person.
They can't find the video and then they're always able to find it if it's looks bad for the injured person or that's just certainly seems like a strange coincidence. I mean we do live in the city of Chicago so I will leave it to you whether it's a conspiracy or whether it's just a completely innocent coincidence.
The other thing is even when they turn over video. The bus can be in a major crash and since the cameras are in a fixed position. If the bus shakes, so does the camera. It doesn't really show how violent the impact was and the CTA loves that when there's video. They'll say “Look at the video it doesn't even show a minor crap a major crash ”. Well, they know that the camera isn't really showing the full impact. They know about it but they'll argue it anyway and some people go would along with it.
Those are probably the three things you need to know about CTA cases. It used to be that they would settle cases these days. It's usually a fight but if you have been hurt or you a loved one has been hurt on the CTA; you need to talk to a lawyer now. You can reach me 24/7 at 312-540-500. I'm happy to answer your questions and you can check my website for more information at www.DeSalvolaw.com.
