Hit by a Car That
Turned Left?
Injury Law Made Personal®
It is the most common way a motorcycle rider gets hurt, and it is also one of the clearest cases in Illinois law. A driver turning left must yield to oncoming traffic. And “I never saw the motorcycle” is not a defense — it is an admission that they turned without looking. Ankin Law has fought for injured Illinois riders for over 35 years.
Call 312.600.0000 Free Case ReviewHow a Left Turn Becomes a Case
The Situation
You are going straight, in your lane, with the light. Somebody waiting to turn left decides the gap is big enough. It is not. A rider has nowhere to go and no metal around him, which is why the same manoeuvre that dents a car ends a riding season.
The Accident
The driver says they never saw you, and often says it to the police officer too. That sentence is worth more to your case than anything else said at the scene, because the duty to look was theirs. Get it in the report, and get the names of anyone standing on that corner.
The Solution
Ankin Law pulls the signal timing, the intersection cameras and the vehicle data, and takes on the quiet part nobody warns riders about: the assumption that you must have been speeding. Howard Ankin has fought for injured Illinois families for over 35 years, and no fee is owed unless we win.
Is a Free Consultation Really Free?
Howard Ankin answers your questions directly.
What Illinois Law Says About Left-Turn Crashes
A driver turning left must yield to any vehicle coming the other way that is close enough to be a hazard. A motorcycle is a vehicle with exactly the same right of way
Illinois does not require one. Riders are still told their claim is worth less without it — ask a lawyer before you accept that as fact
is the Illinois deadline to file. Intersection camera footage is usually overwritten in days, so the useful evidence has a far shorter life
Who Is Responsible — and What You Can Recover
The Turning Driver
The burden sits with them, and it does not shift because a motorcycle is smaller or harder to see. Misjudging your speed is not a defense either. If they turned across a rider who had the right of way, that is the case.
Sometimes Their Employer
If that car was a delivery vehicle, a work van or a company car being driven on the job, the employer’s policy comes into play as well — and it is usually far larger than a personal one. Who owned the car matters as much as who was driving.
What You Can Recover
Surgery and the long rehabilitation that road injuries actually take, the wages lost while you cannot work, and the bike itself. Also the permanent limitation and scarring, which is the part a first offer is designed to skip.
Why Ankin Law Is the Right Call After a Motorcycle Crash
Riders Get Judged Before the Facts Do
Adjusters and juries carry an assumption that the rider must have been going too fast. Answering it takes evidence — signal timing, sight lines, scene measurements — gathered early, not an argument made late.
Do Not Let the Bike Be Repaired or Scrapped
It is physical evidence of the impact angle and speed, and once it is fixed or crushed that evidence is gone. Tell the insurer to hold it, in writing, before anyone moves it.
No Fee Unless You Win
You pay nothing to start and nothing unless Ankin Law recovers for you. A left-turn case is among the most provable there is, and it should never be settled for the first number offered. Howard Ankin has been doing this for over 40 years.
Get Your Free Case Review
If a car turned left across you, the camera footage is already being overwritten and the other driver’s insurer is already building a story about your speed. Contact us today for a free, confidential consultation with no obligation.
📞Free Case Evaluation
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