My Iowa roar trip-almost made it/need legal advice

[ricematthews]

Scott:

I'm not a lawyer and I'm not from Illinois so take this for what it's worth,
but it would seem to me that any legal proceedings would need to be settled
in the courts of and under the laws of Illinois, since that is where the
accident occurred.  Thus, you would most likely need representation by a
lawyer barred in IL.
I don't know, but your insurance company may assist you in this matter and
may, in fact, provide the representation - as the amount of any award may
possibly cover any legal fees (I think most personal injury work is
performed on a percentage of the amount awarded).

-Mark Rice

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OK, listers. My 200 q made it...I will say that
immediately. Against the grain and all common
logic, it did make it without a single hitch.
My friend's nearly new Acura, on the other
hand, wasn't so lucky :(

In Joliet, IL, we stopped off for gas on rt 30
at the junction of I 80, going west. We both
had the legal, protected left turn onto the
highway on ramp. I made the left turn, went a
100 feet onto to ramp and looked back for her.
Looked in my rearview to see a HUGE early 80's
Bronco slam into her. It appeared to be doing
highway speed on a town road. Anyhow. The force
of the collision was so great that her 99 Acura
TL was pretty much totalled beyond recognition,
spun 230 degrees with its rear wheels off the
ground. Her father and her walked away with
some injuries, but none critical.

The other driver was ticketed for running a red
light and failure to slow down (from an unsafe
speed) to avaoid a collision. Luckily, there
were tons of witnesses that were on record.
Anyway, the car is somewhere in Il, we're in
Iowa and we're wondering about how to handle a
bodily injury case against the other driver. My
friend has injuries, but a comprehensive test
was not done at the hospital. We had to refuse
to leave to get a simple knee exam, after
discharge, which did prove injuries. This seems
to be a case of the hospital utilizing a
dangerous policy of falsely billing an
insurance comapany for an exam that did not
take place. Luckily, her mother was a physician
and I refused to leave the hospital until
something was done.

As far as legal matters go, we need to reclaim
the deductible ($500), and would like to get
the full value of the vehicle. Additionally
raising the value is significant warrantee work
done just a couple of weeks prior to the
incident. New navigation system ($2,000+), and
other things.

I'm from NY, she's from NJ. The accident was in
IL. Can an out of state personal injury
attorney handle this?

The necessary Audi content: My 200 q made it,
through 2 hours of Jersey rush hour traffic,
200 miles of fog and rain storms in PA's
Appalachians, dry and hot Ohio, the bugs
pelting the front of my car and windshield. All
this, with my a/c running the entire way and
about 800 pounds of cargo and a pink girl's
bike sagging the rear of my car. Burned only
3/4 qt of Mobile 1.

BTW- Walmarts out here are selling 5 qt jugs of
SYntec in 5/50, 5/30, 10/30, and 10/40 for
14.88. Less than $3 a qt.