Online tools often assume a “typical” scenario. They don’t know whether an incident involved:
- Lane changes and speed differentials during rush-hour traffic
- Intersection and turning disputes where witness accounts conflict
- Pedestrian or cyclist impacts near busier corridors and crosswalks
- Road design factors (visibility, signage, lighting, lane markings) that may point to more than one responsible party
In real wrongful death matters, the questions that drive settlement value are often the same questions that calculators can’t answer reliably: What exactly caused the fatal outcome? What evidence supports fault? What defenses are likely to be raised under Illinois negligence rules and comparative fault principles? And what losses can be documented?


