A case that was originally dismissed by the trial court then resurrected when Peter Higgins Law won appeals, first at the Appellate Court level and then with the Illinois Supreme Court (see the Summary of the Supreme Court case in “Case Reports” section, above) was recently settled for a confidential amount.
Our client sustained serious injuries when she flew off her bicycle while riding with a group of friends on a bike trail in Highland Park. The fall was caused by a defect in the asphalt trail, which had caused the rider in front of our client to fall, then caused our client to ride over him. Through our investigation and depositions, Peter Higgins Law discovered that this same trail defect had caused at least two other riders to fall prior to our client. This put Highland Park “on notice” of the dangerous condition of the trail, and we alleged that their failure to repair the defect prior to our client’s fall was a reckless disregard for the safety of anybody using that trail.
This was an important case for two reasons. First, our client received compensation to make up for the harms and losses she suffered in this incident. Second, but equally as important, however, was that this case made new law on what constitutes a bike trail in Illinois, and the circumstances under which a municipality will be held accountable under the law for failing to maintain their bike trails in a safe condition.
Peter Higgins argues bicycle injury case at the Illinois Supreme Court: