This month Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law Senate Bill 84 (CTA §41 Notice Repeal), overturning a six-month requirement previously aligned with any Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) case. The rules under the new law are effective for any causes of action that accrue on or after June 1, 2009, such as Illinois bus accidents or Chicago train accidents.
Under the old requirement, any cause of action against the CTA had to submit a written notice to the CTA within six months of the relevant incident that advised the CTA of a potential cause of action. Failure to provide this notice barred the case from being brought. The formal notice required very specific facts regarding the action and essentially preserved the case for a later filing.
Under the newly passed law there is now no longer any required notice. However, a one year statute of limitations still stands for any and all CTA cases. This means that even though the required six-month notice has been repealed that an individual or party must still bring a cause of action against the CTA within one year after the incident occurred.
This new bill comes after many years of cases analyzing the effects of the six-month notice requirement. Many times courts were inclined to interpret the notice requirement literally and would dismiss cases that otherwise would have proceeded. This new law allows those who have been injured and have filed a claim for negligence against the CTA to proceed with their cases without having to take action within the first six months following the date of incident.
Senate Bill 84 was co-sponsored by Illinois State Senator Ira Silverstein and Illinois House Representative Al Riley.
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling Illinois train accident cases and Chicago bus accident cases for over 30 years, serving areas in and around Cook County such as Naperville, Wilmette, Arlington Heights, and Oak Forest.