Teen "blacks out" and hits couple on motorcycle

In Pontiac on Sunday, a couple who were rising a motorcycle were injured when they were hit by a teenager driver who drifted into their lane of traffic and sideswiped them.  The teen driver reported to police that he "blacked out" and does not remember the crash.  The force of the impact forced the couple on the motorcycle into an adjacent ditch, where they were both thrown from the motorcycle and sustained such serious injuries that they had to be airlifted to Peoria.

While it would seem pretty clear that the teen driver is clearly at fault for this motorcycle accident -- after all his crossed over the center line to hit the motorcycle riders -- I would not put it past the insurance company to deny liability on this claim.

There is a a defense known as the "Act of God" defense, which basically states that when someone is suddenly stricken with a medical condition that renders them unable to drive, he cannot be held responsible for the accident.  I had some experience in dealing with this defense at my former law firm.

We represented a man who was hit while waiting to exit the parking lot of a restaurant.  The woman who hit him crossed over two lanes of traffic and drove full speed into him while he was standing still.  The woman claimed to not remember anything about the accident, and her 8 year old daughter who was sitting in the back seat, said she suddenly slumped over.  The woman's neurologist said that it was an epileptic attack, even though she had not suffered an epileptic attack in years and had never experienced anything other than grand mal seizures, which this was not.  There was no meaningful way to distinguish the "seizure" from falling asleep at the wheel, but the judge let the issue go the jury.  The jury returned a "not guilty" verdict.  Fortunately, I did not try that case.

Sometimes, what may seem like a clear cut motorcycle accident is nothing but.  I would strongly recommend that these people hire an experienced Illinois personal injury lawyer.