Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

Justice News Flash recently reported on a terrifying truck accident involving two of the largest vehicles on the road: a school bus and a flat bed semitrailer.

The collision struck on Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of two state highways. A school bus was carrying elementary students home from a special needs school that they attend. While traveling, the bus attempted to turn right at the intersection, which was covered by a traffic signal. At the same time, a semi flatbed trailer was traveling through the intersection on the road to which the bus was turning.

The semi driver failed to stop at the intersection, running a red light, slamming into the bus as it was turning. The damage from the collision between these two large vehicles was substantial. In total ten people were rushed to hospitals suffering various injuries—including the bus driver, truck driver, a school aide, and seven elementary students.

The negligent truck driver was owned by K & L Trucking. Police are still investigating the matter to determine any criminal citations.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti encourage all those injured in accidents where a semi is involved to ensure that their legal rights are protected. The nuances of the possible legal matters involved require a trained lawyer to explain how your case fits into the legal framework. Many different possible areas of law may be involved following these accidents: personal injury, product defects, the legal liability of an employer for the actions of his employee, among many others. Handling the aftermath of these accidents is not something that you should do alone. Please contact a truck accident lawyer to ensure that you are protected.

A community is still in shock after two high school boys were killed following a truck crash involving a semitrailer last week. As reported at WAFF 48 News, two 17-year olds were traveling in a 2002 Chevy Cavalier on rural roads on Tuesday afternoon. At one point the Chevy failed to stop at a stop sign near an intersection where a Peterbuilt logging truck was traveling.

The collision caused extreme damage to the smaller Chevy car. Both teens were wearing their seatbelts, but that protection was still not enough. Each was pronounced dead at the scene when emergency personnel arrived.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens. The numbers of teen driving death are startling, with around ten drivers between 16 and 19 years old killed every day in auto accidents. In particular, the most frequent accidents involve teenage males driving with other teenage males in the car—just like in this recent tragic crash. Teens are less experienced behind the wheel and unable to recognize potentially hazardous circumstances.

While teens are more likely to get into accidents, crashes that involve trucks are more likely to cause severe damage to vehicles involved. Obviously the sheer size, weight, and force behind semitrailers make them menacing vehicles on the roadway. Any impact where that force is involved is likely to cause immense damage. Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti continue to learn about semi crashes that involve severe injury and death. Be sure to remain extra vigilant when sharing the road with these machines.

Chicago Breaking News Center recently reported on an accident involving an SUV and a semitrailer in the far western suburbs of Chicago. The semi accident occurred late Thursday evening on Interstate 88 (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) near the town of Elburn.

From what police have been able to piece together since the crash, two women in their 20s were driving a Honda CRV east on Interstate 88, just west of Illinois 47. Around 10:30pm the SUV—for reasons still unknown—crossed the median and started driving into oncoming traffic. It wasn’t long before the SUV struck an oncoming semitrailer. The Honda hit the truck on the rear axle, sending both vehicles out of control.

Upon arriving at the crash scene, one woman had to be extricated from the SUV. A helicopter was called in to transport the more severely injured woman to a local hospital. Both women suffered several broken bones, but fortunately none of the injuries appear life-threatening. The truck driver escaped without any major injuries.

Any time that a crash involves a semitruck—especially one that is hit by oncoming traffic—the consequences are usual severe. Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti continue to see the often deadly effects of these crashes. Whatever caused the accident here, whether it was vision problems in the night, speeding, or some other malfunction, it is imperative for all drivers to remain alert for possible trouble on the road. Drivers remain at the mercy of one another’s actions while sharing our roads and highways. Please take care while on the road-- for all our sakes. If you’ve suffered at the hands of a driver who has failed to take appropriate precautions, please contact a truck accident lawyer to learn more about your rights.

A unique truck accident that struck in Oregon last night claimed the life of an SUV driver reports Fox News 12. The crash occurred around 10pm yesterday evening. Richard Clay, an Illinois truck driver, was stopped in a trucking park area at that time after a long day on the road. He was sitting in the sleeper berth portion of the vehicle watching a movie when he felt a sudden jolt. Apparently, a still unidentified driver of a Honda SUV had slammed into the bed of the parked semi. The collision caused a fire to erupt almost immediately. The flames engulfed the SUV and part of the semi. Clay was able to get out of the sleeper berth, but he could not help the SUV driver. That driver died as a result.

The specific cause of the unfortunate accident is still unknown and authorities are asking anyone who may have been in the area to contact them with information. Whatever the case, the truck crash is another example of the hazards that exist while traveling, both on the road and near it. Those dangers increase in the evening, when the sun disappears and visibility is limited. When a driver loses the ability to clearly see everything in front of him, even basic circumstances pose risks. For example, it is likely that the SUV driver would never have run into a parked semi had it been light outside—but that all changed when darkness obstructed his view.

No matter what the specific cause, there is a good chance that this truck crash involved a breach of driving care. The only way to ensure that our roadways remain as safe as possible is to hold all negligent drivers accountable for their errors. Abiding by that basic standard protects both the negligent drivers themselves and those who they risk on the road. If you have suffered at the hands of a bad driver, please contact a truck accident attorney today.

ABC 7 News examined the risks that car and truck drivers take every day in the Chicago area while attempting to drive in front of local Metra trains.

The problem seems to be growing this year. Train operators note that total train accident deaths in just the first five months of 2010 are almost the total for the entire year in 2009. With a 1,000-ton train traveling down the track at 70 miles per hour, there is almost no such thing as a “minor” train accident. Each incident is extremely costly.

Yet, car divers, truck drivers, and pedestrians still often refuse to wait for a train to pass at a crossing—willing to take the risk while trying to dart in front of an oncoming train. The investigation noted that the risk is higher during rush hours and in construction zones. Drivers seem ever more impatient at those times and locations, willing to risk more. At one location on the test ride, investigators noticed the tail end of a semi stopped on the tracks while a train moved toward it. The semi was able to get out of the way with only seconds to spare. Train engineers report that those close calls occur every single day.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti understand the extreme risk any driver, especially truckers, take when attempting to beat a speeding train. The perception of the driver when on the road and staring down a track is often dangerously skewed. It is impossible to know exactly how fast a train is going, how long it will take to arrive at the crossing, and how long it will take the vehicle to drive across the danger area. This is even truer for semi-trucks, which have long beds to get across the track zone. Under no circumstances is the small time savings worth the risk of damage and death that comes with a train accident.

Often in fatal vehicle accidents, the cause of the crash is a blatantly obvious driving mistake that everyone knows should never be made but that occur all the time. For example, the Evansville Courier & Press reported last night on a tragic truck crash in Illinois caused by a young driver’s failure to stop at a stop sign.

The accident occurred early on Friday afternoon in rural Clay County. The young driver of an SUV was traveling on a sparsely used country road when he failed to stop at a stop sign. While traveling through the intersection, he was broadsided by a large flatbed semi. The impact of the vehicle caused the SUV to careen off the road, ending up in a cornfield. Shortly after stopping in the cornfield, the vehicle burst into flames.

The semi also caught fire after the incident, but its driver and passenger were able to get out of the vehicle with only minor injuries. The truck driver and passenger valiantly attempted to rush to the SUV to help remove the driver before the flames engulfed it. However, there was too little time, and the driver ended up stuck the SUV. He was ultimately burned beyond recognition.

Hopefully all drivers know that all traffic signs must be obeyed intimately. Stop signs in particular can never be ignored. At stop signs in rural, unpopulated areas it is often tempting to perform only a partial yield or fail to stop all together, because it is assumed that if a driver does not see any other vehicles around than there must not be any risk to driving through. However, while behind the wheel our perceptions are never flawless. We often glance around the road so quickly and casually that we subconsciously feel that the road is empty, when in reality another vehicle is actually barreling down. Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti offer sincere condolences to the victims in this tragedy and urge drivers throughout the state not to take any risk while on the road. The consequences of being on the wrong side of that risk are too great.

Tragedy struck twice yesterday in two separate truck accidents on Interstate 57. As noted in The Herald-News, the first semi-truck accident occurred shortly before 9:30 a.m about 30 miles south of Chicago. A truck was traveling southbound on the highway when it slammed into another truck in front of it. The impact caused the large vehicle to burst into flames. The driver of the engulfed truck was killed in the crash, while the truck driver who was rear-ended was brought to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

That fatal morning truck accident was not the only destruction on I-57 yesterday. About an hour after traffic resumed following the first crash, a second semi accident struck the roadway. About 4:30 p.m. a northbound semi struck the rear of another semi that was slowed on the roadway only a few miles from the morning crash. A third semi then struck the wreckage created by the collision. One of the drivers of this second crash was also killed, though at the time of the report it was unclear which driver had died.

Failing to properly stop in time to prevent a collision is an extremely common form of highway accident. This is especially true with large semitrailers. The size and speed of these large machines makes it difficult for them to stop quickly when necessary. It is for that reason that warnings are often posted about not following these vehicles too closely or in blind areas. They simply do not maneuver as well as normal vehicles and therefore are more susceptible to accidents when road conditions require them to stop suddenly.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti have been involved in many forms of semitrailer accidents, including rear-end collisions. We encourage all drivers, including semi drivers, to take extra precaution whenever traveling near big rig vehicles. Many of our highways are currently undergoing construction work, requiring many stop and start construction zones. These locations in particular pose dangerous risks to large vehicles that cannot change speeds as easily as small cars. Please pay particular attention to surrounding vehicles at these locations to best lower the risk of being involved in a tragictruck accident.

A southern Illinois semi-rig driver was killed on Monday when he lost control of his truck on Interstate 64/Highway 40, near the Taylor Avenue bridge. As explained in Fox 2 Now, the truck accident closed traffic for four hours and forced engineering crews to investigate the structural stability of an overpass bridge.

The driver, Thomas Joseph Niemeyer, was traveling along the highway when his truck suddenly swerved left, hitting the nearby Taylor Avenue bridge overpass. Authorities are still investigating and do not know what caused the vehicle to swerve dramatically left leading to the deadly truck accident.

As a result of the collision, Mr. Niemeyer was thrown from the semitrailer. He was too badly injured by the time medical crews arrived, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti understand that the causes of many deadly accidents are difficult to determine. This is especially true with single vehicle accidents. The list of possible causes are many, from the driver suffering medical problems while behind the wheel to improper manufacturing in components of the vehicle. These accidents occur with too much frequency to avoid looking into their causes. In that way, victims can be properly compensated and other motorists may be saved from injury if the reason for the truck crash is understood and prevented in the future.

For those reasons it especially important to look into all of your legal options if someone you know has been hurt in a single vehicle truck accident. Our expert accident attorneys will help investigate the possible causes of the crash to determine if your loved one’s crash should have been prevented.

Another tragic freeway crash this week proves once again that slowed traffic from one accident often leads additional crashes as on-coming drivers fail to notice the stand-still. As reported by Fox 2 Now, the combined accidents in the latest crash involved several semitrailers and claimed the lives of two individuals.

The destruction began early in the morning last week when a big rig that was too tall for the road hit an overpass, tipping over and loosing is seafood cargo all over the highway. The incident did not harm anyone, but it caused traffic to jam behind the accident. As traffic built up, the line of stopped cars grew behind the scene of the first distressed truck.

One semitrailer that came upon the stopped traffic was caught off-guard by the stoppage and was unable to slow down in time. As a result, the rig slammed into the back of another semi that was stopped in front of it. This truck crash caused a chain-reaction, with four more cars bouncing off one another. The semi that started the second crash by failing to stop ended up bursting into flames from the impact. The driver of the rig and his passenger were trapped inside the vehicle when it combusted. Both were killed.

Witnesses to the accident were incredibly shaken by the drama. One driver who was directly in front of the truck accident explained, “The fire was so hot and the smoke was just rolling out, that you just couldn’t get close to it. I really wanted to do what I could to help the victims inside, but I knew it was too late.”

This is the second truck crash that we have posted this week involving a driver’s failure to stop when coming upon slowed traffic on the freeway. Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti have been involved in several legal cases where similar accidents have occurred. Slowed freeway traffic spots are some of the most dangerous locations on the road. Please contact our offices if you or someone you know has suffered injury as the result of one of these vehicle accidents.

Please click here to read more about this tragic crash.

The News Tribune recently wrote about a traffic accident that involved six cars, including several large semitrailers on Illinois interstate 80.

Kevin Haeffner was driving a semi truck at about 2:20 in the afternoon when he lost control of the vehicle while traveling eastbound on I-80. While out of control the truck slammed into another semi that was stopped and disabled on the side of the road. The accident caused the semi driven by Haeffner to overturn and spill its meat cargo.

The truck crash backed up traffic for several miles around the scene of the accident. Only twenty minutes after the crash, another semi was pulling up to the slowed down traffic area and was unable to stop in time. This semitrailer driven by Rex Davis hit three other vehicles that were stopped in traffic. This second accident caused severe damage to the vehicles hit by the truck. The local fire chief indicated that one of the cars was still stuck underneath the semi when they arrived. Rescue crews were forced to conduct extensive extraction maneuvers to free two passengers trapped in their vehicles.

All told the driver of the initial semi, Kevin Haeffner, the driver of a vehicle in the second crash, and his fourteen year old daughter were all injured in the accident and were still in the hospital at the time of the report.

As this situation suggests, some of the most dangerous locations on our highways are the areas where high speed traffic is forced to slow down quickly. Our truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti are all too familiar with the damage that is caused at these locations, especially by large vehicles like semitrailers. If you have been involved in an accident with one of these machines, please contact our truck crash attorneys today to learn more about your legal rights.

A recent story in the Springfield News-Sun serves as a good example of the legal complexities involved in many traffic accidents. When crashes occur on our highways, often there are two types of legal proceedings involved: criminal and civil.

If one driver is disobeying any traffic laws as part of the accident—from illegal lane changes to speeding—than they may be charged in a criminal court. The criminal proceeding involves the possibility of state penalties like fines and time in jail.

On the other hand, there also may be a civil legal case involved. A civil case does not pose the risk of jail, but instead seeks to compensate one private individual for losses they suffered because of the actions of someone else.

Each proceeding involves unique rules, regulations, time limits, and legal nuances. For example, earlier this year a semi-trailer was involved in a deadly accident on Illinois Interstate 70. The truck driver, a Chicago resident, was driving too fast for the raining conditions, ultimately slipping on the road and hitting other vehicles. Six other passengers were hurt in the accident, with four of them killed. The driver was criminally charged for vehicular manslaughter because of his inappropriate speed. He is facing the possible of up to a year in jail.

However, he also could be charged in a civil suit for his negligent actions. In that case, he may have to pay for the financial, physical, and emotional losses suffered by the crash victims. Besides that, the legal principle respondeat superior makes it possible for the injured individuals to sue the trucking company for their involvement in the wreck. After all, the negligent driver was hired by this company, was using their truck, and was working under their watch when the accident occurred.

Each of these types of legal proceedings involve many different unique principles and processes. That is why for even straight-forward accidents, it is important to seek expert legal help to sort through the legal jargon.

Our Chicago truck accident lawyers at Levin & Perconti are experts of helping to resolve your situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. Anyone injured in these types of truck crashes deserve to be compensated for their losses. Please contact our truck accident attorneys and learn more about your options.

An Illinois man is in critical condition following a tragic accident in Southern Illinois. The Evansville Courier Press reported on the truck accident yesterday morning.

Dennis Smith was on his motorcycle westbound on the two lane highway, Route 13. At some point during his ride, Mr. Smith crossed out of his lane and entered the eastbound side of the highway. It was then that the motorcycle crashed into the front of a tanker headed in the opposite direction being pulled by a semi-truck.

This type of crash is one of the most devastating on our roads: a head on collision between a tanker truck and a motorcycle. However, our highways constantly present risks and driving hazards that make these types of accidents all too common.

Most of us have driven on old two lane roadways that do not provide much extra security room to avoid traffic going in the opposite direction. On these roads even the smallest swerve from one side of the lane to the other can have consequences like the one here. It is therefore imperative that all drivers maintain constant focus on the roadway during their travels. That challenge is made even more important if weather conditions or other factors complicate the driving effort.

Trucking accidents are some of the most devastating crashes on roadways today. Our truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti understand the harm caused by these wrecks. We represent all those affected by them, seeking to ensure that the rights of those involved are protected. Please contact our office if you would like to learn more about your rights following a similar accident.