Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

Earlier today, our Chicago truck accident attorney Steven Levin read a news report posted on NYTimes.com revealing the deadly dangers associated with oil workers and highway travel.

In one particular case, after working 17 hours straight at a natural gas well, four crew members traveled in their company truck for an additional four hour driver back to their drilling service company’s shop. When the crew was roughly 10 minutes from home, the driver fell asleep at the wheel. This caused the truck to travel off the highway – subsequently slamming into a sign that sheared off part of the vehicle’s side. The accident resulted in one fatality.

However, our Chicago truck accident lawyer learned that two months prior to the fatal accident, the accident victim nearly died in a surprisingly similar accident. The accident occurred when another crew member fell asleep behind the wheel after a grueling shift and slammed the company’s truck into a pole. It was revealed that in 2009, the victim’s company was penalized in three states for violations that included “requiring or permitting” oil field trucks to driver after working 14 hours.

The article reports that within the past several years, roughly more than 300 oil and gas workers have died in highway crashes – the largest cause of fatalities in the industry. Safety and health experts attribute these deaths due in part to the fact that oil field workers are granted exemptions from highway safety rules that permit truckers to work longer hours than drivers in a number of other industries – such as the large commercial vehicle industry.

Although the National Transportation Safety Board released a statement saying that they are strongly opposed to oil field exemptions because they increase the risks of crashes, not much has been done to change regulations. According to a statement released by the C.D.C., unless changes are made to increase worker safety, the highway fatality rate is likely to continue. All the while, some experts have called for an increased oversight to help decrease the epidemic.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti urge lawmakers to update rules and regulations pertaining to oil field truckers in order to help decrease the increasing number of tragically premature fatalities. Worker safety, as well as, the safety of the traveling public should always remain a top priority in order to ensure that our nation’s roadways are a safe place to travel.

Earlier this week, a Chicago truck accident attorney at our office read a news report detailing a settlement that has been reached in a fire truck accident lawsuit. BaltimoreSun.com reports that the accident in question transpired in December 2007 when a fire truck, responding to a call, sped through a city intersection with its lights and siren on at 47 miles per hour. It was reported that the fire truck struck the victim’s passenger vehicle that was traveling at around 23 miles per hour through the intersection. However, according to regulations mandated by the city of Baltimore, emergency vehicles are required to stop at all red lights and stop signs – even when responding to emergencies – to ensure that intersections are clear of traffic.

As a result of the tragic accident, a 49-year-old woman, her 35-year-old husband, as well as, their 24-year-old friend all succumbed to fatal injuries. According to local authorities, no criminal charges were filed against the firefighters. City and state laws in Maryland set high immunity for police and firefighters responding to emergency calls. Additionally, our Chicago truck accident lawyer learned that Maryland does not recognize gross negligence in these types of cases. The news article reveals that the fire truck accident was deemed the worst accident involving Baltimore firefighters and civilians in 50 years.

Relatives of the victim of the 2007 fire truck collision will each split $40,000 as part of their settlement. Our Chicago trucking accident attorney learned that $40,000 is the cap set for motor tort claims involving police and firefighters responding to emergencies. In addition to the settlement reached as a result of this devastating collision, Baltimore’s Solicitor’s Office wishes to settle two other claims involving traffic accidents with city vehicles. The city has agreed to award a pedestrian $200,000 who suffered extensive injuries and increasing medical expenses as a result of being struck by a car driven by a city health department worker who had fallen asleep behind the wheel. In the other case, the city agreed to pay $100,000 to another individual involved in a traffic accident with a city vehicle.

Often times, collisions involving emergency vehicles run the risk of causing substantial personal injury and even premature fatality. If you have been involved in a collision involving a city vehicle, it is important to obtain qualified legal representation from experienced accident attorneys who are well-versed in handling these types of complex cases. Recently, our Chicago truck accident attorneys obtained a $10 million settlement on behalf of an 8-year-old Chicago boy who lost his leg in a tragic fire truck accident on the South Side. The settlement aiding in covering the young boy’s past and future medical expenses, as well as, special prosthetic devices he will need for the rest of his life.

Earlier this week, a Chicago truck accident lawyer at our firm read a news report posted on OrlandoSentinel.com detailing a disastrous semi truck accident. According to the news article, the accident in question transpired when a semi tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle were traveling along an interstate highway. The passenger vehicle was traveling well below the posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour due to mechanical problems within her vehicle. However, a semi truck traveling behind the vehicle failed to notice the driver’s reduction in speed and the driver subsequently braked and steered to the right to avoid the passenger vehicle. As a result, the semi tractor-trailer jackknifed as it entered the emergency lane.

The 34-year-old driver of the passenger vehicle sustained minor injuries as a result of the accident while the semi truck driver remained unharmed. The wreckage caused traffic to remain stalled for more than an hour along the interstate highway as clean-up crews attempted to clear the scene. Our Chicago truck accident attorney learned that as a result of the accident, the semi truck driver has been charged with careless driving for his role in the jackknife collision.

Any Chicago trucking accident attorney will tell you that when these types of accidents involving large commercial vehicles transpire – the results can be particularly devastating and life-altering. Give the fact that semi tractor-trailers are built, maintained and driven substantially different than any other type of vehicle and can weight upwards of 80,000 pounds, their ability to cause significant damage upon impact is dramatic. With over 500,000 personal injuries resulting each and every year from trucking accidents involving large commercial vehicles – according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – commercial vehicle drivers and their trucking carriers must exhibit the utmost standard of care during operation - including the oversee of driver operation.

In the tragic event that you have been injured in an Illinois trucking accident or have lost a loved one at the hands of a negligent large commercial vehicle driver, please contact us at Levin & Perconti as soon as possible. Our accident attorneys in Chicago have expertly handled a wide variety of cases involving motor vehicle accidents, including those involving tractor-trailers. We ensure that our clients are properly and adequately compensated for the damages they have sustained as a direct result of their accident. These damages include but are not limited to: loss of wages, medical expenses, as well as, any physical and emotion pain and suffering.

TruckingInfo.com recently released a news report detailing a new rule geared towards trucking carriers that has been implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Our Chicago truck accident attorneys learned that last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration posted their final rule that changes its procedures in several areas affecting truck lines, intermodal equipment providers, brokers, freight forwards, in addition to, hazmat proceedings.

One of the most significant changes implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is the requirement that even in the event that a trucking carrier pays a full civil penalty in enforcement proceeding does not give them the ability to unilaterally avoid an admission of liability. Our Chicago truck accident lawyers learned that such a payment constitutes admission of all the facts in a Notice of Claim, unless the trucking carrier and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration agree otherwise.

It is also reported that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will also review out-of-service orders before they go into effect on reincarnated operations that have a history of breaking the rules. Additionally, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will consolidate the records of reincarnated entities with their predecessors’ records. The agency’s decision was ultimately turned on its contention that businesses with a lot of financial resources could afford to repeatedly violate the rules by simply paying the fines.

Our Chicago trucking accident attorneys are pleased to learn that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has enacted a rule for trucking carriers that makes it tougher for the trucking carriers who have been sanctioned to reincarnate themselves under a new identity. As large commercial vehicles travel on our busy roadways day in and day out – the safety of the traveling public should always remain a top priority. Mandated regulations, such as the one previously mentioned, aid in ensuring that unsafe trucking carriers and their drivers are restricted from dangerous operation.

In the event that you have been injured in an Illinois trucking accident or have lost a loved one at the hands of a negligent commercial vehicle driver, please contact us as soon as possible. Our accident attorneys in Chicago have expertly handling a wide variety of cases involving motor vehicle accidents, particularly those involving commercial vehicles. We ensure that our clients are properly compensation for the damages they have sustained as a direct result of their accident, such as: loss of wages, medical expenses, as well as, physical and emotional pain and suffering.

Earlier this week, a Chicago truck accident lawyer at our firm read a news report posted on PhillyBurbs.com detailing a negligence lawsuit that has been filed on behalf of an 11-year-old girl who was killed after a dump truck collided with the school bus she was traveling in. The accident in question transpired in February of this year when an overloaded dump truck was traveling at an excessive speed and failed to observe oncoming traffic before crossing a high speed intersection – subsequently colliding into the school bus. The dump truck struck the rear side of the bus – causing the school bus to spin and crash into a light pole at the intersection.

As a result of the accident, seventeen children were injured – including the accident victim’s two sisters -- and causing fatal injury to the accident victim. The civil lawsuit was filed earlier this week by the 11-year-old’s parents and seeks an unspecified amount of damages. Our Chicago truck accident attorney learned that many of the claims asserted in the lawsuit stem from findings released by law enforcement agencies and the National Transportation Safety Board. At the time of the accident, the 66-year-old school bus driver was cited for failing to stop or yield and the 38-year-old dump truck driver was charged with violations stemming from the condition of his overweight truck, inadequate brakes, as well as, improper securement of the dump truck’s load.

According to court documents, the lawsuit asserts that the defendants were negligent in their daughter’s death, as well as, the injuries and trauma sustained by her sisters. It is asserted that the truck should not have been traveling on the roadway due to its weight and condition and that the truck driver was driving at an excessive speed and not paying attention to the dangers posed by the roadway. The complaint also refers to the suspension of the dump truck driver’s license in 2003 for reckless driving. It is argued that the suspension was a predictor that he would likely be involved in future accidents and his trucking company should have assigned him to a non-driving position.

Our Illinois truck accident attorneys learned that although no criminal charges have been filed – it is reported that the case will remain open and that no determination would be made on criminal charges until the safety board concludes its study and issues a final report. Possible criminal charges may be filed against the school bus driver who – according to toxicology results – maintained a therapeutic level of an undisclosed prescription drug in his system. However, local authorities reveal that the drug was properly prescribed to the driver and would not have impaired his ability to driver the bus at the time of the accident.

YaleDailyNews.com recently released a news report detailing a lawsuit that has been filed after a deadly U-Haul accident took the life of one individual and caused substantial injury to two others. The accident in question transpired on November 19, 2011, when a U-Haul accelerated rapidly and swerved during a crowded tailgate during the Yale-Harvard football game. As a result, the U-Haul struck and killed a 30 year-old woman and severely injured a Harvard employee and a 30 year-old Yale student.

Although the driver of the U-Haul passed a field sobriety test at the scene of the accident, he was taken to a local police department for questioning. Police investigation of the accident has been complete, however, the result are under review and have not yet been released to the public.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys learned that as a result of the accident, the 30 year-old Yale student has filed a lawsuit naming both the U-Haul Company of Connecticut, as well as, the U-Haul truck driver as defendants in the lawsuit. According to court papers, the woman asserts that she has sustained a number of severe painful and obvious injuries as a direct result of the crash. Injuries the 30 year-old sustained included severely injuring her leg which ultimately required multiple surgical interventions. She has filed suit for at least $15,000 – the minimum amount necessary to file a case before the court.

In the plaintiff’s complaint, recently filed with the court, it is asserted that the U-Haul driver and the U-Haul Company of Connecticut acting negligently in causing the accident. Our Chicago truck accident lawyers learned that five potential causes of the crash are listed in court papers, which include: the excessive speed of the U-Haul driver, the fact that the driver never honked his horn, as well as, the working condition of the U-Haul. However, a lawyer for the defendant has stated that the accident occurred as a result of “apparent vehicle malfunction.”

As a result of the accident, our Chicago trucking accident attorneys learned that Yale has updated its tailgating regulations as of January. The revised regulations include banning kegs and box trucks from tailgates. Additionally, a vehicle-free student tailgating area has been created along with requirements that tailgates end before a football game’s kickoff.

If you have been a victim of a devastating accident such as the one previously mentioned, please contact a Chicago truck accident lawyer at Levin & Perconti to see what legal rights and relief may be available to you.

Earlier this week, our Illinois truck accident attorneys read a news article detailing a lawsuit that has been filed on behalf of a 9-year-old boy who lost his leg is a tragic garbage truck accident last year. According to the report, posted on UTSanDiego.com, reveals that the accident in question transpired on November 17, 2011, when the young boy was riding his skateboard on a public sidewalk when he collided into a trash truck that was in the process of making a three-point turn around.

As a result of the devastating collision, the 9-year-old required immediate amputation of his left leg, in addition to, sustaining other debilitating injuries. Due to injuries sustained, our Chicago truck accident lawyers learned that the young boy required over 100 days of hospitalization at a local children’s hospital. The civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of the young boy by his parents shortly thereafter on March 21. The lawsuit names both the garbage truck driver, as well as, the city of San Diego as defendants in the lawsuit.

Court papers allege that the 9-year-old’s family has lost the ability to earn income as a direct result of their son’s accident. They are also seeking unspecified damages for past and future medical expenses. A Chicago truck accident attorney at our firm read that the lawsuit alleges that the garbage truck driver operated negligently and that the city of San Diego acted negligent in its hiring, training, as well as, supervision of the defendant truck driver.

When motor vehicle accidents result in the harm of a young child, the subsequent effects can take a huge toll on families – both emotionally and financially. When these types of accidents transpire, it is often extremely beneficial to seek legal aid as soon as possible. Our accident attorneys in Chicago have extensively handled cases of negligence quite similar to the one previously mentioned and have helped families obtain compensation for their increasing medical expenses, lost wages, as well as, physical and emotional pain and suffering.

Recently, our attorneys at Levin & Perconti obtained a $10 million settlement on behalf of an 8-year-old Chicago boy lost his leg in a tragic fire truck accident on the South Side. The accident transpired as the young boy was playing in an open fire hydrant on the 4th of July when a fire truck responding to a call struck the boy with its front bumper. In an unfortunate turn of events, the boy was subsequently run over by the truck’s back tires. The settlement aiding in covering the young boy’s past and future medical expenses, as well as, special prosthetic devices he will need for the rest of his life.

SacBee.com recently released a report detailing a settlement that has been reached in a lawsuit stemming for a trucking accident that resulted in the fatality of a 52 year-old woman. The accident in question transpired on April 10, 2009 when the woman was traveling on an interstate highway to visit her children for Easter. A UPS truck that was traveling along the roadway with the accident victim rapidly changed lanes and collided into the woman’s special utility vehicle. Our Chicago truck accident lawyers learned that the lane change was characterized as “unsafe.”

The news report revealed that initially the defendant attempted to blame the accident victim for the devastating collision. Court papers filed by the defense attorney said that the fatal wreck was the direct result of an “unavoidable accident or sudden emergency” and was not the fault of UPS. However, after a lengthy trial, the jurors found in favor of the accident victim’s family and awarded the woman’s husband and her three adult children $1.75 million. The settlement amount will compensate for past and future loss of love, affection and comfort and other non-economic damages.

Often times there are some motor vehicle accidents that cannot be avoided. However, any Chicago truck accident attorney will tell you that when someone is seriously or fatally injured in an accident caused by careless driving, the driver should be held legally liable for damages incurred. In this case, large commercial vehicle drivers are required to adhere to a standard of care that requires them to operate their vehicles safely in order to avoid collisions of any kind.

When this standard of care is violated by a factor such as unsafe lane change and an accident ensues, the driver and their trucking carrier may be held liable for negligence if the victim sustains injury. If a premature death results from a careless or negligent driver, a wrongful death lawsuit may be filed against the truck driver, as well as, his or her trucking company.

Our Illinois trucking accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti continue to urge our readers to driver carefully around large commercial vehicles. Collisions involving these substantially larger and heavier vehicles can often cause significant property damage, personal injury, or sometimes even death. If you have been injured in an Illinois trucking accident or have lost a loved one at the hands of a negligent driver, please contact our experienced accident attorneys as soon as possible to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Earlier this month, a settlement was reached in the trial stemming from a 2010 semi truck accident in which a 59 year-old sustained devastating personal injuries. According to the news report, posted on PalmBeachPost.com, the accident in question transpired in February 2010 along an interstate highway when the victim was traveling in the roadway’s left lane.

It was alleged in court that the truck changed into the victim’s lane of travel and collided into the front of his passenger vehicle. The passenger vehicle was ultimately pushed sideways for a reported length of two football fields before coming to a complete stop. Local authorities cited the truck driver shortly after the accident for improper lane change; however, the ticket was ultimately dismissed.

As a result of the tragic accident, our Chicago truck accident attorneys learned that the 59 year-old victim suffered neck and back injuries in the accident, which were further aggravated by his arthritis. Subsequently, the victim had to undergo lower back surgery. Court documents reveal that the victim will have to continue to undergo future surgery, including one to fuse the vertebrae in his back and neck.

Prior to the debilitating collision, the victim was working as a tollbooth attendant. Additionally, he was maintaining an exercise program in an effort to relive his arthritis, as well as, reduce its impact. However, our Illinois truck accident attorneys learned that the 59 year-old has been unable to return to work, as well as, continue his exercise program as a subsequent result of the accident.

The negligence lawsuit named both the truck driver and his trucking carrier as defendants. Ultimately, the jury determined that both the truck driver and his carrier contributed negligently to the accident. Our accident attorneys in Chicago read through a statement released by the plaintiff’s lawyer that defendants were found negligent on the basis that there were no witnesses or physical evidence to determine which driver came into contact with the other .

The 59 year-old toll both attendant was subsequently awarded $14.3 million in damages by the jury. However, the award will be cut in half due to the jurors belief of contributory negligence on behalf of the plaintiff. The $7 million settlement is expected to cover medical expenses, as well as, pain and suffering.

If you have been injured or have lost a loved one in an Illinois trucking accident, please contact our experienced accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti to see what legal rights and relief may be available to you.

Earlier today, a Chicago truck accident attorney at our firm read a particularly heinous report which detailed how a drug testing operator for large commercial drivers has pleaded guilty for falsifying test results. The news report, posted on LandlineMag.com, further revealed that the drug testing operator pleaded guilty earlier this month in a United States District Court for making a false statement regarding the United States Department of Transportation’s mandated drug testing for large commercial vehicle drivers. It has been released that the operator previously claimed that it provided trucking carriers with random drug testing for their commercial vehicle drivers from 2008-2009.

However, our accident attorneys in Chicago learned that this way not the case. In actuality, the operator used his company’s address and violated Department of Transportation-regulated chain of custody requirements by directly receiving the drug testing reports from laboratories. Upon receiving the truck driver’s drug tests with results that tested positive for drugs, the operator falsely identified himself as a medical review officer. In turn, the operator would prepare false control and custody forms – misrepresenting the forms stating that the truck driver had tested negative. Although the report does not confirm what type of penalty the operator will receive, but given the severe nature of the infraction the penalty will undoubtedly be substantial.

Drug screening of large commercial vehicle drivers has continued to prove to play a vital role in maintaining the safety of our nation’s roadways. According to NortonMedical.com, federally regulated drug testing began in 1989 when the United States Department of Transportation began mandating drug and alcohol testing programs for its workers. In the early years of the testing program, over 18% of large commercial vehicle driers tested positive for cocaine, marijuana, or amphetamine use. Since the continued enforcement of mandatory drug and alcohol screenings, the rate of positive drug tests has decreased significantly.

Any Chicago truck accident lawyer will tell you that if you have been involved in an Illinois trucking accident, the large commercial vehicle driver is required by federal law to undergo an administered drug screening, as well as, a blood alcohol test within three hours of the accident. If tested positive for drugs, the truck driver may be subjected to both criminal and civil penalties. If you have been injured or have lost a loved one at the hands of an intoxicated truck driver, please contact our accident attorneys to ensure that you are fully compensated for injuries sustained.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently released a report which revealed that traffic-related fatalities for the first half of 2011 have decreased overall by 1 percent. According to a news article published earlier today by DetriotNews.com, the slight decrease has been attributed to the notion that many Americans are driving considerably less than in previous years. However, although Americans are driving less, the rate of deaths per mile traveled has seen a slight increase. A Chicago truck accident attorney at our firm learned that the fatality rate for the first half of 2011 was 1.04 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, up from the 1.03 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled during the first six months of 2010.

Within the last month, the Department of Transportation has published its final traffic numbers for 2010. The statistics reveal that the number of individuals killed on our nation’s roadways fell 2.9 percent to 32,885 in 2010. These numbers are the lowest number of traffic-related deaths since 1949. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projects that traffic-related fatalities from January through June 2011 fell 0.9 percent to 15,060 – down from the 15,196 fatalities that were documented for the first half of 2010. The Secretary of the Department of Transportation believes that this decrease is due to safe driving practices that have been established for all drivers, including buckling up and refraining from operating while intoxicated.

Every Chicago accident lawyer at Levin & Perconti is pleased to learn that the number of traffic-related fatalities has seen an overall decrease in the recent years. Despite reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which reveal that the number of individuals injured in traffic accidents increased by 26,000 to 2.25 million in 2010, in addition to, an 11,000 increase to the number of pedestrians injured in traffic accidents, the overall decrease in fatalities is encouraging news. Often times, the most effective way to avoid a motor vehicle accident, including an Illinois trucking accident, is to remain attentive and adhere to traffic laws. Injuries sustained in motor vehicle collisions can be minimized or even eliminated when drivers exercise extreme caution during vehicle operation, especially during these difficult winter months.

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, it is important to act quickly. Please contact our experienced Chicago accident lawyers for a free consultation to determine what legal rights may be available to you.

After a fatal trucking accident took the life of their daughter, the family of the accident victim has filed a lawsuit against numerous construction and trucking companies for their alleged role in the accident. According to a news report released earlier today on The Sacramento Bee Online, the fatal accident transpired in January of last year when the 35 year-old accident victim was crossing a pedestrian walkway only a block away from her home. The woman was walking across the cross walk when she was struck by a 21,000 pound dump truck. The devastatingly tragic accident continued as the woman was fatally severed in half upon collision and subsequently dragged by the dump truck.

In addition to the recently filed lawsuit alleging negligence and recklessness, our Chicago accident attorneys learned that the dump truck driver was arrested at the scene of the fatal accident and charged with multiple counts, including: failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, as well as, driving with a suspended license. At the root of this tragic accident, the case raises serious concerns about the construction that was being conducted at the scene of the collision. According to the news report, the contractors are believed to have been cutting corners and regularly comprising the safely of the public and the roadway.

The complaint in this accident lawsuit alleges that the dump truck was being operated and controlled in an improper, reckless, and unskillful manner by an individual was a deficient driving record and in a manner that did not follow that driving route and other safety requirements that had been implemented by the contractors of the roadway. In order to save time and money, it is alleged that the dump truck driver and others working on the construction project had been permitting shorter, yet more dangerous routes for drivers to operate. An additional aspect of the lawsuit reveals that all of the defendants, both construction and trucking companies, were aware that dump trucks hauling excavated material from the construction zone were not adhering to the designated truck routes.

When these types of devastating accidents occur, it is important to have the utmost legal experts on your side. If you have been injured in an Illinois trucking accident or have lost a loved one at the hands of negligent driver, please contact our accident lawyers in Chicago to see what legal rights, representation and relief may be available to you.

A 59 year-old semi truck driver was charged earlier this week with vehicular homicide for his role in a devastating fatal trucking accident that occurred early last month. According to a news article posted on BrecksvillePatch.com, the fatal accident occurred when the semi truck driver struck and killed a 40 year-old construction worker along an interstate highway. Despite the amount of time that has passed since the accident and the charges filed against the truck driver, our Chicago truck accident lawyers read that this was attributed to authorities waiting until a thorough investigation of the accident was complete. The truck driver faces the first-degree misdemeanor of vehicular homicide, the lowest charge he could receive with a commercial vehicle driver’s license although there was no evidence that the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or use of cellular technology at the time of the accident.

In recent years, the topic of commercial vehicle accidents in construction or work-related zones along interstate highways has seen substantial increase with many resulting in injuries or fatalities. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently released a study which found that an estimated 150 people are killed annually in large semi tractor-trailer accidents that occur in work/construction zones. These statistics comes as no surprise given the fact that these large commercial vehicles may weigh up to 80,000 pounds and a truck’s trailer may be up to 53 feet long. In an additional study conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, it was revealed that in a majority of these trucking accidents – the commercial vehicle driver is the least likely party involved in an accident to sustain serious injury or fatality. Statistics prove that 74% of fatalities that result in trucking accidents are occupants of passenger vehicles, 12% are non-motorists, while only 14% are truck drivers.

If you or a loved one has been a victim of this type of destructive and tragic trucking accidents, it is important to seek legal aid from experienced Chicago accident lawyers. Having represented hundreds of victims of negligence, our attorneys have firsthand knowledge and experience when it comes to handling the devastating effects of any and all types of motor vehicle accidents – including those involving commercial vehicles. Recently, our attorneys at Levin & Perconti obtained a $6.5 million settlement for the victims of an Illinois trucking accidents. During our investigation conducted during the civil litigation process of this disastrous accident, which resulted in one fatality, it was determined that the semi truck driver was operating under the influence of marijuana, as well as, an overloaded semi tractor-trailer at the time of the accident.

Our Chicago trucking accident attorneys recently read a report on PhillyBurbs.com detailing a garbage truck accident that sent one individual to the hospital. According to the report, the trucking accident transpired when a van collided into a passenger vehicle along an interstate highway. Upon collision, the passenger vehicle in turn collided into the rear of a garbage truck. The three-vehicle accident caused one of the drivers to be transported to a nearby hospital for minor injuries. Local authorities at the scene believe that the dense fog played a significant factor in the accident and no charges have been filed.

Throughout the United States, reduced visibility conditions brought on by the weather continue to be an increasingly common cause of motor vehicle accidents each year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, adverse weather conditions cause an estimated 1,500,000 motor vehicle accidents each year, resulting in over 629,000 injuries and 7,100 fatalities.

Reduced visibility conditions include those involving fog, dust and/or smoke and can become extremely dangerous to roadway travelers. In recent years, fog has become the most prevalent cause of reduced visibility accidents due to the fact that foggy conditions often distort a driver’s perception of speed and distance.

According to the Federal Highway Administration’s Road Weather Management Program, not only does fog lead to reduced visibility for drivers, but significantly alters traffic flow and vehicle operation. Given the severity of reduced visibility conditions, it is no surprise that fog causes an estimated 38,000 motor vehicle accidents each year. Of the number of accidents attributed to fog, 15,600 result in personal injury, while 600 result in premature fatality.

In order to avoid a potentially fatal collision caused by reduced visibility conditions such as fog, our Chicago truck accident lawyers recommend that drivers follow the following tips provided by Weather.com:
- Travel with headlights on the low beam setting to avoid impaired visibility
- Reduce vehicle speed
- Use vehicle’s wipers and defrosters as necessary for maximum visibility
- Use road markings as your guide
- Remain patient and avoid passing other vehicles

Times of adverse weather conditions calls for drivers to exhibit the utmost standard of care when operating their vehicles in order to avoid harm to themselves, vehicle passengers, as well as, surrounding motor vehicles. Illinois trucking accidents caused by fog can be easily avoided when drivers take the proper steps to ensure travel safety.

Yesterday afternoon, our Chicago truck accident lawyers read a report on ABC4.com detailing a fiery semi truck accident that shut down an interstate highway for over eight hours. Reports state that two commercial vehicles were traveling westbound on an interstate highway when one of the semi tractor-trailers collided into the rear of another. The semi truck that was rear-ended was transporting a cargo of over 4,000 gallons of crude oil -- which subsequently ignited upon collision.

The truck transporting the crude oil sustained severe damage as a result of the collision and ensuing fire. The semi truck that caused the initial collision sustained only partial damage. Fortunately, both drivers remained relatively unharmed. Police reports state that the driver of the commercial vehicle responsible for the collision ‘got distracted’ which ultimately lead his vehicle to travel into the neighboring lane. The truck driver has received a citation for reckless driving.

Any Chicago truck accident lawyer will tell you that when an 80,000 pound commercial vehicle is operated in careless or reckless manner, the safety of those traveling on our Illinois roadways is placed in serious peril. Often times, careless or negligent semi truck operation is commonly attributed to driver fatigue and distraction. Despite the heavy regulation that is placed on commercial vehicle drivers and their trucking carriers by our federal and state governments, certain regulations – such as the number of hours a semi truck driver is permitted to drive – is commonly overlooked or even blatantly disregarded. Failure to comply with regulations established by such agencies as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration frequently results in fatal semi truck accidents various factors such as driver fatigue.

When excessive speed, driver distraction, or driver fatigue plays a contributing factor in an Illinois truck accident resulting in serious personal injury or wrongful death, the commercial vehicle driver and their trucking carrier may be subject to civil trucking litigation. Truck drivers are required by federal and state law to exercise reasonable care when operating commercial vehicles on our roadways. In many cases, failure of truck drivers to exercise reasonable and responsible care during travel may constitute negligence in the event that an accident ensues.

If you or a loved one has been involved in any type of motor vehicle accident, it is important to obtain legal representation from an experienced Chicago accident lawyers. Our attorneys ensure that accident victims are properly compensated when their life has been altered due to the negligent acts of others.

Earlier today, TheTrucker.com reported that the United States Department has officially finalized a final rule which prohibits interstate truck drivers from using hand-held cellular telephones during vehicle operation. In a joint effort from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, as well as, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, operators of commercial trucks or buses found in violation of the hand-held cellular telephone ban may be subjected to federal civil penalties of up to $2,750 for each offense.

Additionally, if a commercial vehicle driver commits two or more serious traffic violations, authorities of that state will suspend the driver’s commercial driver’s license. Any trucking company or carrier that permits their drivers to use hand-held cellular telephones during vehicle operation will also be subject to a serious fine … with the maximum penalty of $11,000.

This new rule has been established in light of numerous semi truck accidents that have occurred as a direct result of distracted commercial vehicle drivers. With over four million commercial vehicle drivers being affected by the United States Department of Transportation’s new rule, the agency hopes to see a substantial decrease in semi truck accidents caused by distracted driving.

The report additionally discusses the research by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration into driver distraction, which ultimately led to the creation of this new rule. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s research revealed that by using a hand-held cell phone while operating an 80,000 pound vehicle requires the commercial vehicle driver to perform several dangerous actions, such as searching and reaching for the mobile device.
When a commercial vehicle driver reaches for an object, such as a cellular device, they are three more times likely to be involved in a collision.

Our Illinois semi truck accident lawyers read that further research indicated that dialing a cell phone makes it six times more likely that the semi truck driver will be involved in a destructive accident. With over 4,400 fatalities and 500,000 injuries resulting from a distracted driver in 2009, safety measures, such as the establishment of this new rule, must be taken to avoid these tragic collisions.

Having represented hundreds of victims of negligence, our experienced Chicago truck accident lawyers know firsthand the devastating and tragic effects that semi truck accidents have on victims and their families. If you have been involved in a collision with a large commercial vehicle please contact our experienced Illinois personal injury attorneys to see what legal rights and relief may be available to you.

WHTC.com recently reported a distracted semi truck accident that resulted in two drivers sustaining multiple injuries. According to authorities, the semi truck driver disclosed that he briefly took his eyes off the road while driving to obtain an item he had dropped prior to colliding into a pickup truck traveling ahead of the commercial vehicle. The initial collision also caused a subsequent accident with the vehicle in front of the pickup truck. Both the drivers of the semi truck and pickup truck sustained various broken bones and were transported to a local hospital. The occupants of the other vehicle sustained no injuries in the collision. An investigation into the accident is currently being conducted and the semi truck driver has received a citation.

Our Illinois semi truck accident posts frequently discuss the various harms that result from collisions caused by distracted semi truck drivers. In 2009, over 5,400 people were killed on roadways in the United States and approximately 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle accidents that were reported to have involved distracted driving – according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Research continuously shows that distracted driving is one type of driver error that is a predominant contributing factor in commercial vehicle accidents. The NHTSA recently conducted a study to determine driver distraction in commercial vehicle operations. After conducting extensive research, the NHTSA issued various recommendations to address the increasingly prevalent issue of distracted commercial vehicle drivers. Those recommendations include:

- Drivers should never text while driving
- If a call must be made, drivers should exit the roadways to a safe location
- Drivers should refrain from using dispatching devices during travel
- Drivers should not read, write, or look at maps while driving.
- Fleet safety managers should educate drivers and discuss the importance of attentive driving and refraining from distracting tasks or behaviors during vehicle operation

Our Chicago semi truck accident attorneys continue to advocate the dangers of distracted driving and encourage drivers to remain attentive during travel. This holds especially true for drivers of large commercial vehicles. A few seconds of inattention while transporting an 80,000 pound vehicle is all it takes to cause a serious accident resulting in injury or even death. If you or a loved one has been involved in an Illinois semi truck accident due to distracted driving, please contact an Illinois truck accident lawyer to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Earlier today, our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys read a report on BakerCountyPress.com detailing a fatal collision between a semi truck and a pedestrian. The 41-year-old victim attempted to cross a busy county roadway when he was struck by an oncoming Freightliner truck. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Charges against the semi truck driver are pending further investigation into the accident – including the toxicology results of the victim. This accident is the second pedestrian accident in the area within the past week. The other accident involved a hit-and-run accident involving a truck and a 14-year-old young girl who sustained minor injuries.

In recent years, collisions between large commercial vehicles and pedestrians have become increasingly common. In 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a study to evaluate pedestrian traffic safety. The study found that in 2009 over 4,000 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the United States and an estimated 59,000 were injured. On average, it was determined that a pedestrian is killed every two hours and injured every nine minutes in traffic related collisions. A similar study was conducted in 2007 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It was determined that over 265 pedestrian fatalities resulted from collisions with large commercial vehicles while over 101,000 injuries were sustained.

Every year, our Chicago truck accident lawyers handle a variety of cases involving motor vehicle accidents and pedestrians and have obtained successful verdicts and settlements on behalf of our clients. Recently, we obtained a $1.25 million settlement on behalf of a 50-year-old woman who was struck by a bus while crossing a Chicago crosswalk. The woman suffered multiple injuries including public, rib, and spinal fractures as a result of the accident. The driver of the vehicle ultimately pled guilty for failure to exercise due care and striking a pedestrian.

Any collision involving a motor vehicle and a pedestrian can be severe and life-altering. If you have been involved in a pedestrian accident, it is important to obtain legal aid from experienced truck accident attorneys in Chicago. Our attorneys ensure that our clients are properly compensated for their devastating injuries and losses. If you or a loved one has sustained severe harm, or even death, as the result of a semi truck accident you may be able to seek compensation for damages incurred. Please contact an Illinois truck accident attorney to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Earlier today, our Chicago semi truck accident attorneys read a report on 9news.com detailing a destructive semi truck accident that resulted in the collision of 11 vehicles. Authorities states that a semi truck was traveling along an interstate highway when the truck’s cargo of organic soil began leaking from the trailer. Although the soil is not considered a hazardous material, it did cause the roadways to become unmanageably slick – resulting in numerous collisions. Seven individuals involved in the collisions were transported to a local hospital for sustained injuries. Authorities have been unable to trace the semi truck that caused the leak and asserted that the trucking company and the driver may face charges for the spilled load.

An improperly secured commercial vehicle load can often prove disastrous for surrounding vehicles and our roadways. According to the Driver’s Handbook created by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, cargo being transported on highways must remain secured on or within the transporting vehicle. Cargo must always remain secured so that it will not: leak, spill, expel off vehicle, and/or shift. An improperly secured load can consequently cause severe devastation such as: loss of load, damage to cargo or vehicle, accidents, fines and citations, and often times death.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently released a study which detailed the risks associated with the transportation of hazardous and non-hazardous materials by commercial vehicles. The study found that in semi truck accidents caused by non-hazardous material, such as organic soil, result in over 125,000 accidents each year. Of the 125,000 non-hazardous material accidents, it was reported that over 109,000 accidents resulted in injuries while 5,000 resulted in fatalities. Additionally, cargo spills account for over 2,500 accidents each year.

Our Illinois truck accident lawyers recognize the immediate threat that often results from an accident caused by the contents of a commercial vehicle. Many times, even if extreme caution is exercised by the drivers of passenger vehicles around large commercial vehicles – an improperly secured load can cause severe and life-threatening damages. If you or a loved one has sustained harm or even death as a result of an improperly secured truck load, you may be able to seek compensation for damages incurred. Please contact a truck accident attorney in Chicago for a free consultation to help determine what legal rights may be available to you.

Recently, our Chicago truck accident lawyers read a report on KAJ18.com detailing a semi truck driver who received a citation due to his failure to properly secure his cargo. The driver was hauling a cargo of logs along an interstate highway when he began to make turn – causing his trailer to become disbanded. The logs struck an oncoming vehicle but fortunately no one was injured in the accident. Local authorities believe that a blot holding the metal frame to keep the logs intact was clipped off as the truck was turning, causing the logs to come loose. The driver was issued a citation for failure to secure the load of logs while driving a commercial vehicle.

Proper securement of cargo is one of the most important regulations a semi truck driver is required to follow. As of 2002, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires that motor carriers operating in interstate commerce must comply with the following rules:

- Articles must be prevented from shifting on or within, or falling from commercial motor vehicles
- Increase the use of tie downs or cargo securement devices other than those currently in use
- All vehicle structures, systems, parts and components used to secure cargo must be in proper working order when used to perform that function with no damaged or weakened components that could adversely affect the truck’s performance.
- All rules are applicable to trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds

Our experience Illinois truck accident attorneys have handled a variety of motor vehicle accidents, including those involving semi trucks. Given the sheer size and weight of large commercial vehicles, any accidents in which they are involved in are almost always particularly devastating. Victims of semi truck accidents often sustain serious harm including: broken bones, loss of limbs, as well as, injuries to the brain and spinal cord. If you or a loved one has been involved in a semi truck accident, it is important to seek experienced accident attorneys to help.

Since 1992, our accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti continue to provide qualified legal representation to those who have been victims of careless and negligent driving accidents. Our attorneys ensure that our clients are properly compensated for their devastating injuries and losses. We hold truck drivers, as well as, their companies liable for their failure to safety operate large commercial vehicles. Victims of these accidents may be able to seek compensation for various damages including: loss of wages, pain and suffering, as well as, punitive damages that punish the wrongdoer’s negligent behavior.

Earlier today, our Chicago truck accident attorneys read a report on TireReview.com detailing a fatal semi truck accident caused by an improperly secured semi truck cargo. The driver of a passenger vehicle was killed when a semi truck cargo containing a tire/wheel assembly became unsecured and collided into the 27-year-olds vehicle. The truck driver stated that the cargo assembly had been placed on the back of the truck’s flatbed trailer and was only being secured by one single strap. The truck driver disclosed that he noticed that the strap had become unhinged but could not pull over in enough time. The accident is currently still under investigation and no charges have been filed against the semi truck driver.

Each year, thousands of semi truck accidents are caused directly by improperly secured cargo. When a semi truck’s cargo is improperly secured, it is a direct violation of regulations provided by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. To protect against shifting and falling cargo, the FMCSA requires that trucking companies, drivers, and/or loaders secure cargo in a matter which prevents articles from shifting on or within, or falling from the commercial vehicle. All vehicle structures, systems, parts and components used to secure cargo must be in proper working order when used to perform that function with no damages or weakened components that could affect the vehicle’s performance.

The article does not state if whether the family of the deceased wishes to seek civil legal action against the truck driver and his company. Looking at this case, from our experience as Illinois truck accident lawyers, the family may have a cause of action for a wrongful death suit. Wrongful death suits are claims on the basis that the wrongful or negligent conduct of another caused a premature death. Failure to properly secure cargo is a direct violation of FMCSA regulations, therefore constituting a negligent act. The family of the deceased may be able to obtain damages including medical, funeral, as well as, burial expenses.

If you or someone you know has been involved in an Illinois semi truck accident, please contact an Illinois truck accident attorney. Our experienced lawyers will provide a free consultation to help determine what legal representation may be available to you. Harm resulting from another’s negligence should never be dealt with alone and our attorneys will help you receive fair compensation for injuries sustained, as well as, hold wrongdoers responsible for their negligent conduct.

Earlier today, our Chicago personal injury lawyers read a news report on WILX.com detailing a fatal semi truck accident. Local authorities state that both the semi truck and motorcycle were traveling along an interstate highway when the semi truck rear-ended the motorcycle. The collision caused both of the motorcycle’s occupants to be thrown from motorcycle. The female motorcycle passenger died as a result of the injuries she sustained from the accident and the male motorcycle driver is currently listed in critical condition. The accident is still under investigation and no charges have been filed against the semi truck driver.

Over the recent years, a substantial increase in motorcycle injuries and fatalities has plagued our roadways. Over 4,400 motorcycle fatalities occurred in 2009 … a surprising decrease from 2008 where over 5,300 fatalities were reported – according to the Insurance Information Institute. In addition, motorcycles are 39 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to die in a crash and 8 times more likely to be injured. When a motorcycle collision involves a large commercial vehicle, the risk of severe injury in addition to the fatality rate substantially increases.

When a large commercial vehicle is negligently operated and an accident occurs … the results can be tragic. Our Illinois accident attorneys have extensive experience when handling a variety of motor vehicle accidents – including those involving semi trucks. Recently, we obtained a $6.5 million settlement on behalf of the victims of an Illinois semi truck accident. Due to a negligent truck driver, who was operating under the influence of marijuana -in addition- to operating an overloaded trailer, collided with a passenger vehicle. The collision resulted in the death of a wife and mother and caused severe injury to her husband and wife.

Our Illinois accident attorneys continue to provide experienced legal representation to those who have sustained severe harm or even death as the direct result of driver negligence. Our attorneys seek to hold unsafe trucking companies and their drivers responsible for their careless conduct. If you or someone you know has been involved in a semi truck accident, please a Chicago personal injury attorney. Our attorneys will provide a free consultation to help determine what legal rights may be available to you.

Recently, our Chicago personal injury lawyers read a news report on MountPleasantPatch.com detailing a fatal semi truck collision that resulted in the death of one driver. A pickup truck was traveling westbound on a local roadway behind a large commercial vehicle when the semi truck had reduced speed to check an address. The pickup truck failed to notice the change in speed causing a severe collision. The driver of the pickup truck sustained substantial injuries as a result of the accident and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead a few hours later. Local authorities state that the driver of the pickup truck is believed to have been operating under the influence of alcohol.

Driving while intoxicated is one of the most dangerous things one can do when operating a vehicle. With it determined that out of one and every three people will be involved in an alcohol related crash in their lifetime – according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA also has determined that in 2009 alone, an estimated 10,839 people were killed in drunk driving accidents involving a driver with an illegal blood alcohol content of .08 or greater. In an addition study conducted by AlcoholAlert.com, it was noted that in 2009 over 911 fatalities resulted from drunk driving accidents.

With the increasing epidemic of accidents resulting from alcohol related causes, many campaigns have been created to help prevent motor vehicle injuries and fatalities. Prevention departments such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving provide useful tips for what to do if you see a drunk driver:

- Stay as far away from the other vehicle as possible
- Do not pass the vehicle or signal the driver to pull over
- Take down license plate number along with vehicle details
- Pull over and call 911 – giving exact location of the vehicle along with the manner in which the vehicle is being operated (i.e. swerving, speeding)

Our Chicago accident attorneys continue to expose the severe dangers associated with unsafe driving practices -- such as operating while intoxicated. By choosing to operate under the influence of alcohol or any other substances significantly puts the driver, vehicle passengers, as well as, surrounding vehicles at severe risk for a potentially fatal motor vehicle accident. If you or a loved on as sustained harm as the direct result of a drunk driving accident, please contact an Illinois personal injury attorney to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Recently, our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys read a report detailing a semi truck accident that resulted in the fatality of a passenger vehicle driver. According to WCFCourier.com, a minivan was traveling along a county road when a semi truck rolled through a stop sign and caused a broadside collision with the vehicle. The collision caused the 43-year-old driver of the minivan to be ejected from his vehicle and caused both vehicles to roll into a ditch. The minivan driver was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of the injuries sustained as a result of the accident. The driver of the semi truck was taken to a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries. The accident remains under investigation and no charges have been filed against the semi truck driver.

Broadside accidents (commonly referred to as a t-bone) occur when the front of one vehicle collides with either the driver side or passenger side of another vehicle. Although all types of motor vehicle accidents can be harmful, a broadside impact can cause substantially severe injuries and most often death. If a broadside collision occurs with a large commercial vehicle, the results are almost always devastating and tragic. From the years 2001-2003 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a study to determine the causation of semi truck accidents. The study found that during those years, over 8,200 semi truck were involved in t-bone type collisions. In another study conducted by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, it was discovered that over 60% of fatalities result from side impact collisions.

Each year, our Chicago accident attorneys provide experienced legal representation to those who have been harmed or killed as a result of a motor vehicle accident. When large commercial vehicles are operated carelessly and/or in an illegal manner – the results can be life altering. Under current federal and state laws, semi trucks are required to operate in a safe and careful manner to avoid any type of accident resulting in property damage, injury, or fatality. When this standard of care is violated by careless operation, such as rolling through a stop sign, accident victims and their families may be able to seek legal action if an injury or death has resulted. If you or a loved one has sustained harm as a result of a motor vehicle accident, please contact a Chicago personal injury lawyer. Our attorneys will provide a free initial consultation to help determine what legal rights may be available to you.

Our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys recently read a report detailing a fatal semi truck collision that resulted in felony criminal charges against the commercial vehicle driver. The accident, which occurred early last year, resulted in the death of the 47-year-old female driver of a passenger vehicle –according to RecordPub.com. The semi truck, which was hauling a triple trailer, was traveling through a construction zone on a toll road when the driver fell asleep behind the wheel – subsequently colliding with the motor vehicle in front of him. The collision caused the passenger vehicle to in turn collide with the semi truck in front of it.

The driver of the motor vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. The vehicle’s passengers, the woman’s two sons, were critically injured as a result of the accident. The 12-year-old son suffered critical head trauma that has left him incapacitated for life. Additionally, the 16-year-old son sustained a broken pelvis and facial fractures along with other injuries. The 49-year-old driver of the semi truck pleaded not-guilty to three felony charges. These charges included: one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault. The prosecutor in the case stated that the charges were filed as a direct result of an extensive investigation into the accident.

We frequently discuss in our blogs the severe dangers that are associated with semi truck driver fatigue. Driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of semi truck accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 55,000 driving fatigue accidents occur in the United States each year. Of that number, 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries result each year from driver fatigued collisions.

Many of these fatigued-related accidents occur as a direct result of drivers being encouraged by trucking company’s demanding and impractical schedules for transporting shipments as quickly as possible. For this reason, semi truck drivers travel long hours without sleep or use stimulants such as energy drinks or coffee. Unfortunately, a recent study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that these types of stimulants do more harm than good and can actually decrease a driver’s response time.

The operation of large commercial vehicles is rigorously regulated through state and federal laws. These laws strictly prohibit the negligent operation of semi trucks – especially operating while drowsy. Fatigued driving is a severe violation of a driver’s standard of care that they are required to adhere to in order to safely operate a large commercial truck. In civil trucking litigation, a semi truck driver and their trucking company may be held legally liable for any harm or fatality that results from a negligent trucking accident. If you or a loved one has sustained serious harm as a result of a trucking accident, please contact a Chicago accident attorney to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys recently read a report in The Daily Record describing a destructive semi truck accident that left two drivers injured. The press release details the notes of the accident that state that a passenger vehicle was traveling westbound on a local highway when he crossed the center lane and struck an oncoming semi truck. At the time of the accident, the semi truck was carrying a load of approximately 6,800 gallons of crude oil. None of the semi truck’s cargo was affected as a result of the collision.

Both drivers were transported to a nearby hospital for their injuries. Local authorities state that the accident is currently still under investigation and the cause of the collision is unknown. Alcohol or illegal substances did not appear to play a role in the collision and crash investigators are determining the speed of each vehicle at the time of the accident.

While this accident fortunately resulted in no fatalities, more often than not, collisions with large semi trucks have devastating results. In April of 2011, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration conducted a study determining accident facts pertaining to commercial motor vehicles. The study found that in 2009 alone, over 74,000 drivers or passengers were injured in collisions with large trucks. In the same year, over 3,380 people were killed as a direct result of an accident with a semi truck.

Semi trucks are often transporting tremendously heavy, as well as, dangerous cargo such as machinery, flammable or explosive liquids, and construction materials. Any impact with the types of previously mentioned cargo in a semi truck collision can cause an incredible amount of damage to property and regrettably people. In many cases, cargo may be improperly secured or overloaded onto a semi truck’s trailer. When an accident results from this type of negligence, accident victims may be able to seek legal action against the truck driver, as well as, his/her trucking company.

Our experienced Chicago accident attorneys have effectively represented the rights of those who have been injured or killed as a result of a motor vehicle accident. These types of accidents are particularly devastating to those involved and can cause severe physical, as well as, emotion pain and suffering. If you have been injured due to a negligent driver or have lost a loved one, you may be able to seek legal action and obtain fair compensation for damages sustained. Please contact our Illinois personal injury attorneys to seek what legal rights may be available to you.

Our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys recently read an article on KAJ18.com describing a fatal semi truck accident that took the life of the semi truck driver and left two other individuals critically injured. While the cause of the accident is currently still under investigation, local authorities state that the accident occurred when a semi truck rolled over along an interstate highway. The two vehicles traveling behind the semi truck subsequently crashed into the rolled over semi truck. The driver of the semi truck was pronounced dead at the scene and the drivers of the other passenger vehicles were taken to the local hospital – with conditions currently unknown. Local authorities do confirm that speed played a role in the semi truck rollover and an investigation is being conducted into whether the driver was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

Due to the sheer size and weight of commercial vehicles, it makes it increasingly difficult to control and maneuver these large vehicles – especially when operating at increased speed. With the state of Illinois recently increasing the speed limit for commercial vehicles from 55 mph to 65 mph, we may be seeing an unfortunate increase in semi truck accidents due to speed. Even though semi truck drivers are trained to operate such large vehicles, sometimes a minor driver error can have substantial consequences resulting in injury or even death. A 2009 study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently reported that 12,545 deaths resulted in an increase in speeds limits throughout the United States between 1995 and 2005.

Drivers of large commercial vehicles are required by federal and state law to safely operate their vehicle and exercise a reasonable level of care on our roadways. More often than not, failure to safely operate a semi truck increases the likelihood of accidents involving injury or death. These types of accidents include those involving drunk or hit-and-run drivers, uninsured or underinsured drivers, in addition to, accidents occurring from semi truck collision and rollovers. In a court of law, drivers who carelessly operate their vehicle may be held legally liable for negligence if they caused an accident resulting in the harm of another person.

Our Chicago personal injury attorneys share comprehensive knowledge when handling any and all types of motor vehicle accidents. Victims of these types of accident may be able to seek legal relief from the damages they have incurred as a result of another’s negligence and carelessness. These damages include: cost of medical expenses, loss of wages, in addition to, physical and emotional pain. Those who knowingly commit negligent acts should be held legally responsible for the various harms they inflict. If you or someone you know has been affected by an Illinois semi truck accident, please contact an Illinois accident attorney for a free consultation to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Earlier today, our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys read a report in The Morning Call detailing a destructive accident involving the collision of two semi trucks. The accident occurred when a slower moving semi truck was rear-ended by a semi truck traveling behind it. The driver who caused the collision suffered severe facial lacerations as a result of the accident and his engine compartment subsequently ignited upon collision. The driver told local authorities that he was not paying attention to the road prior to impact. The driver of the commercial vehicle that was struck remained unharmed. Due to damage to the semi truck’s trailer, a hazardous material crew was called to the scene to provide cleanup.

Given the increasing number of vehicles on the road in the United States each day, driver safety must always be exercised – especially by drivers of large commercial vehicles. With semi truck drivers spending a majority of their year out on our nation’s roads, safety rules and regulations are implemented to prevent accidents resulting in injuries and fatalities. Unfortunately, all too often, unsafe semi truck driving habits plague our roadways and cause thousands of injuries and fatalities. According to a study conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in 2006 over 4,995 people were killed as a result of a large truck crash, while over 106,000 injuries resulted from these accidents.

More often than not, there are some vehicle accidents that cannot be avoided. On the other hand, when someone is seriously or fatally injured in an accident caused by driver inattention, – the driver should be held legally liable for any damages that subsequently result. Semi truck drivers are required to adhere to a standard of care to operate their vehicle safety to avoid any accidents. When that standard of care is violated by a factor such as driver inattention and an accident results – the driver and their trucking company may be held liable for negligence if the victim sustains injury. If a death results at the hands of a negligent driver, a wrongful death suit may be filed against the truck driver, as well as, his/her trucking company. If you have been involved in an accident caused by negligent driving, please contact an Illinois personal injury attorney for a free consultation and to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Our Chicago semi truck accident attorneys recently read a news report on Tallahassee.com recounting a sudden semi truck accident that sent a 76-year-old woman to the hospital. The woman was traveling along an Interstate highway when she collided with a semi truck that was turning onto the highway. The woman was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the driver of the semi truck remained uninjured. The driver of the semi truck was cited for failure to yield the right-of-way.

The causation of semi truck accidents has been the basis of numerous studies. The production of these statistics has provided helpful insight into the factors associated with these types of devastating accidents. According to a study conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, there is a statistically significant link between collisions of large trucks and passenger vehicle and the following associated factors:

- Interruption of traffic flow
- Unfamiliarity with roadway
- Inadequate surveillance of roadways
- Driving too fast for roadway conditions
- Illegal maneuver
- Inattention
- Fatigue
- Illegal drug or Alcohol Use
- Illness
- False assumption of other road user’s actions
- Distraction by object or person inside vehicle

When any one of these factors is exhibited by the driver of a large commercial vehicle, the consequences can be deadly. Recently, our Illinois wrongful death attorneys settled a semi truck accident case in which these associated factors played a key role in the collision. Our attorneys obtained a $6.5 million settlement on behalf of the family of a 32-year-old woman who was killed as a result of a semi truck collision. The collision also resulted in the severe injury to the woman’s husband and son. The driver of the semi truck was found to be negligent in operating his vehicle under the influence of marijuana, in addition to, operating an overloaded truck.

Our experienced Illinois accident attorneys handle cases involving semi truck accidents and have obtained successful verdicts and settlements on behalf of our clients. When drivers of semi trucks fail to heed proper safety precautions when operating their vehicle and an accident results, the driver – as well as the trucking company—may be held liable for negligence. If you or a loved one has been involved in a semi truck accident you believe was caused by driver negligence, please contact a Chicago accident attorney to seek what legal rights and representation may be available to you.

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Recently, our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys read a report on Kezi.com detailing a devastating semi truck accident that resulted in the loss of a passenger’s arm. The accident occurred when a passenger vehicle’s tire blew out – ultimately causing the vehicle to swerve into a semi truck. The collision caused the passenger vehicle to smash into a guardrail. The passenger in the automobile had his arm out the window at the time of the accident and it was subsequently severed upon impact. The driver of the automobile was arrested for impaired driving. He is currently held in jail and being charged with: recklessly endangering another person, DUI, reckless driving, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, driving while suspended, in addition to, a probation violation.

While many trucking accidents occur as a result of semi driver error, an increasingly common cause of these accidents is due to unsafe acts by other drivers. According to a study conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, of the 40,000 people killed in motor vehicle accidents each year, about 12% (or 5,000) people were killed in collisions involving commercial vehicles. From these statistics it was deemed that the driver of the commercial vehicle was held responsible for the accident about 44% of the time.

Drivers of passenger vehicles are required to operate with the same operational standard of care as those who drive large commercial vehicles. To avoid such tragic accidents as this one, drivers should always maintain the utmost safety when operating their vehicle and adhere to these simple steps:

Avoid driving in areas where large trucks have little or no visibility

Always use signals when turning or passing

Avoid any lane changes or merges that would require a truck to brake hard

Give semi trucks extra space when operating during problematic weather conditions

Avoid cell phone use when operating any and all types of vehicles

Our Chicago accident attorneys continue to encourage safe driving habits every time a vehicle is operated. Every year, our experienced attorneys handle cases for victims whose lives have been turned upside down as the result of semi truck accidents. When the negligent driving of another vehicle causes severe injury or even death, legal relief can often are sought. Accident victims may be able to seek compensation for their damages including: loss of wages, medical bills, physical and emotional pain, as well as, punitive damages aimed at punishing the negligent party’s wrongful behavior. If you have been involved in an accident, please contact a Chicago personal injury attorney to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Our Chicago semi truck accident attorneys recently read a report on MyFoxChicago.com detailing a fatal semi truck accident that resulted in the fatality of a semi truck driver. The accident, which occurred on northbound U.S. Highway 41 at Half Day Road, involved multiple vehicles – including two semi trucks and four passenger vehicles. While the cause of the accident is currently still under investigations, local authorities state that one of the semis is reported to have rear ended the other – ultimately causing a collision into four other vehicles. The 51 year old semi truck driver that caused the initial collision was pronounced dead at the scene. The other truck driver, as well as, one of the passenger vehicle drivers was taken to the local hospital for their injuries.

Our blogs frequently discuss the increasing epidemic of fatal semi truck accidents. The United States Department of Transportation estimates that over 500,000 truck accidents occur each year. It is important that now, more than ever, drivers operate their vehicles with the utmost standard of care. Various rules and regulations created by federal and state governments establish safe truck driving techniques. These techniques are the minimum standard of care for the safe operation of a truck – according to CrashForensics.com. These standards of care are established to control the dangers associated with operating a large commercial vehicle. When these standards are violated and an accident ensues, the truck driver and their company may be liable for negligence.

Every year, our experienced Illinois truck accident attorneys handle a variety of cases involving semi truck accidents. Given the sheer size and weight of large commercial vehicles, any accident in which they are involved are particularly devastating. Victims of semi truck accidents often sustained serious harm including: broken bones, loss of limbs, as well as, injuries to the brain and spinal cord. If you or a loved one has been involved in a semi truck accident, it is important to seek experienced accident attorneys to help maximize your claim.

Our Illinois personal injury attorneys provide qualified legal representation to those who have been victims of careless and negligent driving accidents. Our attorneys ensure that our clients are properly compensated for their devastating injuries and losses. We hold truck drivers, as well as, their companies liable for their failure to safely operate large commercial vehicles. Victims of these accidents may be able to seek compensation for various damages including: loss of wages, pain and suffering, as well as, punitive damages that punish the wrongdoer’s negligent behavior. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a semi truck accident, please contact a Chicago accident attorney to help evaluate your case.

Recently, our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys read a report on WBIR.com detailing a destructive semi truck accident that resulted in the injuries of three individuals. The accident occurred as the result of a semi truck sideswiping another semi truck along an Interstate highway. Upon collision, the semi truck that was struck barreled into the center median – causing the truck to ignite into flames. The semi truck driver suffered severe burns as a result of the flame induced collision. Debris from the collision also struck a passenger vehicle resulting in the injury of both occupants. The semi truck driver that caused the initial accident fled the scene. Local authorities later located the driver and he is currently charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injury – other charges are still pending.

While the driver in this hit and run cause was located and properly charged, often that is not the case. With a 15% increase in the number of hit and run accidents since 1998 – according to the National Highway Safety Administration – many injuries and fatalities result each year at the hands of these careless drivers. These drivers often share the same characteristics when choosing to leave the scene of an accident. Frequent causes of hit and run accidents include:

Driving Impaired:
- Alcohol
- Illegal Substances
- Drowsy/Fatigued
- Distracted

Un-licensed or Un-insured
- Illegal Immigrant
- Suspended or Revoked

Other:
- Stolen Vehicle
- Scared or Confused
- Road Rage
- Age (Youth Immaturity)

Hit and run accidents are particularly devastating – especially if it is committed by the driver of a large commercial vehicle. Any time a semi truck is operated there are various rules and regulations the driver, as well as, the trucking company must follow to ensure the utmost safety. If the driver or their company does not adhere to these regulations and an accident results, a negligence claim may be made against the wrongdoer. In the event that a semi truck driver flees the scene of an accident, they may be punished with a fine and imprisonment based on the state’s laws and the severity of the damages the accident caused.

Our Chicago accident attorneys continue to fight to the rights of those who have sustained serious harm as the result of a negligent driving. If you or a loved one was involved in an accident at the hands of a careless driver and sustained an injury as a result, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver. In the event that the negligent driving accident caused a fatality, you may be able to file suit against the driver for wrongful death. Please contact a Chicago personal injury attorney to see what legal rights may be available to you.

Recently, our Illinois semi truck accident attorneys read a report on KJCT8.com detailing a fatal semi truck accident that left both occupants of a sport utility vehicle dead. The SUV was towing an attached trailer when a semi truck traveling behind the vehicle collided with the SUV’s trailer. The collision caused both vehicles and their trailers to travel off the right side of the highway -- ultimately causing the SUV to roll three times. Two of the SUV’s passengers were ejected from the vehicle. One of the passengers and the driver were pronounced dead at the scene, while the other passenger was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The semi truck driver was not injured in the crash.

Any collision involving a semi truck is extremely disastrous and can often prove life threatening. In a study conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in 2009 there were a reported 286,000 crashes involving large trucks in the United States. Of that number, over 2,987 resulted in at least one fatality while 51,000 resulted in at least one nonfatal injury. The study also determined that almost 93% of these fatal semi truck accidents involved a collision with another vehicle in transport. In another shocking statistic, fatalities and injuries most commonly occurred for the drivers of passenger vehicles as well as their occupants.

The most common element in fatal or injury-prone semi truck accidents is truck driver error. Although drivers of commercial vehicles are held to strict rules and regulations and are required to complete extensive training, mistakes still occur on the roadways. Large truck drivers are held to an increased standard of care to operate their vehicle carefully and when that is breached and an accident results, they may be held liable for negligence. Some common examples of semi truck driver negligence include:

Speeding
Driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances
Driver Fatigue
Distracted Driver (i.e. cell phone use)
Improperly Secured Cargo
Improper lane changes

Our experienced Chicago truck accident attorneys have extensively handled an array of semi truck accidents. Recently, our attorneys obtained a $6.5 million settlement on behalf of an Illinois family who sustained severe and life-altering damages at the hands of a negligent semi truck driver. During investigation, it was found that the driver of the semi truck was operating an overloaded truck, in addition, operating under the influence of marijuana. The accident caused the death of a wife and a mother and resulted in severe injuries to the father and son.

The Illinois accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti continue to fight for the legal rights of those who have been harmed by the negligent acts of drivers. If you or a loved one has been a victim of a semi truck accident you may be able to seek legal relief for damages incurred. Damages may include: cost of medical expenses, loss of wages, in addition to, physical and emotional pain. Those who knowingly commit negligent acts should be held legally responsible for the various harms they inflict. Please contact an Illinois personal injury attorney to seek what legal action may be available to you.

Recently, BlueRidgeNow.com reported the story of a woman who lost her son in a horrific semi-truck accident and is now seeking justice against those responsible. The accident, which occurred on October 24, claimed five lives after an 18-wheeler semi truck smashed into nine cars on Interstate 26 in North Carolina. The semi-driver had failed to reduce speed after a prior accident had caused traffic to slow down. Witnesses to the accident later noted that the driver of the semi was seen previously driving erratically.

It was also later discovered that the trucking company that employed the driver had been previously written up for major violations during a safety audit. The company passed the audit on the promise to improve their procedures. The audit recommended that the company’s drivers be qualified, both fully and properly, before operating any semi-truck. A safety audit was also completed two weeks after the fatal crash, this time resulting in a total of 14 violations.

During the second audit, it was discovered that the company committed many fraudulent claims in their records. These claims ranged from making a false entry on a medical examiner’s certificate, failing to medically examine drivers, in addition to many other falsified records. The company’s driver is currently being charged with five counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of assault causing severe bodily injury, and having false records.

The accident victim’s mother is currently filing suit against the Federal Motor Safety Administration for $1 million dollars. In addition, she is seeking to have a panel created to review truck safety policies in order to ensure that they are enforced, as well as, strengthened. Luckily, there is currently a bill going through Congress, titled the Commercial Motor Vehicle Advanced Technology Tax Act of 2011, which provides a tax credit of up to 50% for those commercial trucking companies that install high tech safety systems. These safety systems include brake, collision, and vehicle stability warning systems.

Our Chicago accident attorneys send their deepest condolences to those affected by such a devastating accident. Semi truck driver negligence should never be tolerated and commercial trucking companies need to develop more critical guidelines that regulate their drivers. Senseless fatal accidents that affect you or your loved ones can be avoided if proper safety precautions are followed.

It takes a semi-truck up to 40% longer to come to a stop than an average car. Failing to bear this in mind seems to be one of the problems contributing to a collision between a truck and an Amtrak train that occurred on June 24 in Nevada.

Since the accident, several victims have already filed personal injury lawsuits. According to NBC Chicago, the suits were filed by two attendants on the train, one from Worth, Illinois, the other from Evanston, who were injured when the train was struck by a truck driven by an employee of the John Davis Trucking Company of Battle Mountain. According to allegations in the lawsuits, the truck driver ignored the crossing gates and warning signals and braked too late, causing his truck to skid into the side of the train.

Seven people were killed and others injured because of the truck driver’s negligence. Our Chicago truck accident lawyers see many cases involving negligent drivers and understand that these accidents can often result in death or significant injuries such as traumatic brain injury, paralysis, broken bones, and even loss of life. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation – Traffic Safety, in 2008 there were 15,049 truck accidents in Cook County alone. In fact, truck crashes account for one of every eight automobile accident fatalities in Illinois.

In general, trucking accidents occur for one of two reasons: equipment failure or negligence on the part of the truck driver, which is significantly more common. If the latter is the case, a lawsuit can be brought against both the driver and the company who employs the driver. Though at first glance an accident might seem to only be the fault of the driver rather than the company, businesses who employ truck drivers have an obligation to make sure drivers are properly trained, that equipment satisfies required standards, and that conditions are as safe as possible (i.e., making sure trucks aren’t overloaded or oversized for the driver’s level of experience).

Recently, The News Gazette reported two Illinois truck accidents that took the lives of three individuals and injured seven. The accidents, which both involved semi-trailer tractors, happened on I-57 just south of Mattoon, Illinois.

The first accident, which resulted in one fatality, involved the collision of two semi-trailer tractors. One of the semis fatally struck another semi that had pulled off to the shoulder of the road as a result of a flat tire. The semi that caused the collision caught fire, subsequently causing the driver’s death. The driver of the parked semi was taken to the hospital for the injuries he sustained.

The other accident, which occurred only a few hours after the first, resulted in two deaths and six injuries. This accident transpired when a semi-trailer tractor collided with a van that had slowed down due to the traffic caused by the previously mentioned accident. After the semi collided with the van, it proceeded to strike another vehicle, as well as, another semi-trailer tractor. After the eight individuals involved, both drivers and passengers, were taken to nearby hospitals – two did not survive. Ultimately, both accidents caused traffic on I-57 to be re-routed for more than a few hours.

Although lives were lost and injuries were sustained, these unfortunate accidents are almost impossible to predict, let alone regulate. While the specifics of these accidents still remain unknown, the concept of semi-truck driver safety must be addressed. Large trucks account for the sizeable increase in highway deaths. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are many factors that contribute to trucking accidents. Those factors include the breaking capability of trucks (especially if they are carrying large cargo), in addition to, driver fatigue.

Our Illinois injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti cannot stress the importance of driver safety for vehicles of all sizes. The rules of the road must be followed by all drivers, especially those who are operating large trucks. The truth is smaller vehicles have a substantial vulnerability to larger ones that weigh 20-30 times more than an average passenger car. Due to this, lives should not be cut short because of carelessness or negligence.

WGN TV News reported earlier this week on a tragic trucking accident in Kentucky involving a Chicago family.

The truck crash occurred near Elizabethtown, Kentucky on Interstate 65 on Wednesday. The Humboldt Park family was driving back home after attending a wedding in Florida. There were six passengers in the Nissan Pathfinder when the accident occurred.

According to reports the family was traveling in their SUV in the early morning, at 3:30am on an unlit portion of the highway. Unexpectedly their vehicle was hit from behind by a FedEx tractor trailer. That impact caused the SUV to spin out of control. It eventually flipped over—five passengers were ejected from the vehicle during the crash.

When emergency medical crews arrived, three people were pronounced dead at the scene. They included a 26-year old newlywed, and two sisters, one 9 years old and the other 11. The grandmother of the victims explained that the very close family remains in shock. The young girls are described as smart students who had plans to become nurses. Four others were injured in the truck accident, including two other children ages 5 and 2.

No information was currently available on the reasons for the trucking mistake. The truck driver may have taken his eyes off the road, his machine may have malfunctioned, or a number of other causes could have factored into the rear-end collision.

Continue reading "Three Members of Chicago Family Killed in Truck Accident" »

Santa Ynez Valley News reported late last week on the conclusion of the investigation into a deadly truck accident that left a family of three dead. The crash was a community tragedy which has spurred changes in the local safety protocols.

A large semi-truck was traveling on nearby Highway 154 one night last summer when the vehicle’s brakes went out. The driver was unable to stop the fast-moving machine. The truck barreled through an intersection before coming upon the small wooden home where the family of three lay sleeping. The truck crashed through the home, killing each of those inside, including a young 8-year old boy.

Authorities began a long investigation process following the crash in order to determine exactly what happened. The accident has also spurred in-depth study into the safety of winding rural roads.

As a result of that study, hazardous waste is now banned from using the particularly winding stretch of roads on the highways in the area. A “rumble strip” has also been installed in parts of the highway’s center line to alert drivers when they are drifting out of their lane. Trucker warning signs are still being installed in various locations to make truckers aware of new size limits for travel in that area.

Continue reading "Runaway Truck Crash That Killed Three Spurs Changes in Road Safety" »

Many victims of trucking accidents may not fully understand that meaning of buzz phrases like "tort reform," or the fact that it may have implications for their own legal rights. But any attempt to limit access to the justice system may affect victims of all kinds, including those injured by trucking companies.

The war to take away victim rights continued today with the release of a “judicial hellhole” report by a front group for big business. The American Tort Reform Association is an organization propped up by corporate interests like Dow Chemical, Exxon, Pfizer, and others. Their goal is to influence the passage of legislation that will ensure that people who fall victim to their negligence will have less ability to seek justice in the court system.

In a response president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association explains that the latest report is nothing more than a stunt to further the corporate “tort reform” agenda. The fact remains that both victims and potential tortfeasors deserve a fair hearing in the civil justice system. Instead, the big businesses want to stack the deck so that they do not even have to present their case in court. They’d prefer a “free pass” any time that they injure consumers and engage in dangerous or unfair practices.

No community is improved when corporate interests are allowed to meddle with the justice system for its own gain. It is imperative that the common sense political forces stand up to this blatant misuse of business power and influence. Major CEOs and small-town working people deserve the same legal rights. It’s a simple principle that must be preserved.

Continue reading "Big Business Attempt to Take Away Legal Rights" »

WZZM News reported on a terribly truck accident tragedy last week that took two lives. Last Tuesday morning an SUV driven by a young woman was headed south on a local highway. The woman’s young three year old child was buckled up in the car as well. The mother had just dropped off an older child from school.

The SUV was traveling through an intersection in which traffic on the other road had a stop sign. At the moment that the SU V was crossing the intersection, a large semi truck was traveling down the other road. However, the truck driver was not paying attention and he failed to stop at the intersection as required. The result was a crushing collision. The female driver of the SUV was killed on impact. The young infant boy was rushed to a nearby hospital, but hospital personnel were not able to save him.

The local sheriff explained with a heavy heart, “All indications are the semi driver failed to stop. Here we go again. He failed to stop and it resulted in the death of two more people. It’s very heartbreaking.”

It is accidents like these that send chills down the spines of most observers. Few things are more tragic than two lives cut short by the negligence of large truck driver. Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti remain saddened by each example we hear of death and destruction caused by poor driving. If you or someone you know has ever suffered because of bad driving by a truck driver please contact a truck accident lawyer to preserve your legal rights.

The Republican American reported yesterday on a unique Monday afternoon truck accident involving several vehicles. While driving on steep local roads, a propane truck carrying 1,000 gallons of the combustible fuel likely lost its brakes as it was descending a particularly steep spot.

The truck, with a driver and one passenger inside, ultimately slammed into a line of parked cars at the end of the hill—luckily missing a nearby building by mere feet. The driver and passenger suffered minor injuries, and the parked cars hit by the truck were all destroyed. Other bystanders were not around the accident at the time. Emergency crews admit that it was very fortunate that others were not around; otherwise there likely would have been many more injuries.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys continue to warn all drivers and passengers to remain vigilant while on the road. Of course when they woke up Monday morning those caught in this particular truck accident never dreamed that they would be trapped in a runway propane truck. Odds in each particular case are always minimal in car and truck accidents. However, in the aggregate chances are much higher that all of us will be involved in some type of accident on the road at some point in our lives.

That is why it remains vitally important for drivers to pay close attention when behind the wheel, be well-versed in roadside emergency processes, and understand that there remains a legal component to these crashes.

Be sure to contact a truck accident lawyer whenever you are harmed in an accident with a semi truck.

Fleet Owner News reported this weekend on the conclusion of a long-running legal battle following an unfathomable truck accident tragedy.

The settlement was reached just one day before trial was set to begin between the families of 8 victims and the owner of the negligent truck, AWG Grocery. Specifically, the victims were alleging that the truck driver was negligent in his driving and the company itself had an inadequate fatigue management program—both of which contributed to the a deadly truck accident.

When the accident occurred the truck driver had just returned from a vacation and was adjusting to a new work shift. While behind the wheel of the big rig roughly 10 hours after his shift had started, the driver came upon backed-up traffic that had been caused by an earlier accident. The driver failed to see the slowed traffic at all, however, and ended up hitting amn SUV at the end of the traffic line. The semi was traveling at 69 miles per hour when the impact occur. That high speed ultimately caused an extreme chain reaction, with the semi itself traveling forward and hitting three additional cars. The other cars crashed into a livestock trailer which then hit another vehicle.

All told 10 people were killed and several others were injured in this terrible truck tragedy. A settlement was reached with families of 2 of those killed, and this last $62.7 million settlement involved the families of the 8 other individuals who died following the truck crash.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti have earned many settlements for victims following harmful truck accidents. The mix of emotions that many families experience following these accidents makes it difficult to consider the legal necessities in the crash’s aftermath. Contacting a truck accident lawyer ensures that experts in the process of dealing with crash investigation, insurance issues, and possible negligence suits are put to work for you and your family.

Please Click Here to learn more about this truck accident disaster.

Truck News is reporting on the beginning of what the sponsors hope to become an annual tradition—Truck Safety Week. The goal is to raise awareness both with truckers and the general public regarding safety on the roadways. The week will include several promotions discussing specific ways that both truck drivers and regular travelers can lessen the risk of dangerous truck accidents.

For non-truck drivers, the tips are similar to those often heard including the importance of leaving space for trucks, avoiding blind spots, wearing seatbelts, and ensuring proper car maintenance.

The week is also aimed at reminding truck drivers of the importance of never faltering from permanent safe driving. In one innovative technique, the promoters of the event will encourage truckers to participate in the “Moment of Safety” card program. It involves truck drivers keeping a small card in the cab of their semi that includes pictures of loved ones. In the program, the driver glances at the card before setting off on the road each day as a reminder of what is at stake when it comes to road safety.

Our Chicago truck accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti support all efforts to raise awareness of safe truck driving. In our decades of experience we have represented many families that have been torn apart following the devastation of a truck accident. It is vitally important for all truck drivers to remain perpetually vigilant about their own safe driving techniques. It is also important for all drivers to understand the special risks that trucks pose. All vehicles need to share our roads and highways in the safest manner possible.

Please Click Here to learn more about this new road safety program.

A truck crash that occurred on the morning of July 31st on I-80/I-94 left seven people injured. The accident occurred when a car was slowing down for traffic and a semi-truck struck the back of the passenger car. Another passenger car also became involved in the accident, and in all seven people, including the truck driver, had to be taken to local hospitals for treatment of their personal injuries. Luckily, everyone involved in the accident is expected to be okay, but according to WGN TV, one of the passenger cars as well as the truck were totaled in the accident. To read more about this weekend trucking accident, please click on this link.

Accidents like this occur all the time, when drivers fail to pay attention to other cars on the road and do not allow themselves enough time or space to slow down behind traffic. This accident shows the importance of always maintaining an appropriate distance behind other vehicles, so when you do need to slow down quickly you will have enough space to slow down without striking another car. In addition to this being important to keep you from getting into an accident, usually when accidents occur for a slowdown in traffic, they lead to a chain reaction crash due to the close proximity of other cars. Illinois injury attorneys ask drivers to always make sure to leave adequate space between your car and the car in front of you and to always stay focused on the road so you will be immediately aware of a quick slow down in traffic.

An Illinois man was killed when his postal truck was struck by a train in Illinois on July 27th. At the time of the trucking accident, the victim who was a mail carrier, was driving his work truck. The section of train tracks where the trucking crash occurred was a spot that did not have crossing gates or flashing lights, and which was only marked by yield signs. According to The Chicago Tribune, little more is known about this accident, including why the man chose to try to cross the tracks at the time that he did. Police say that the truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, after his truck was carried 300 yards along the tracks before the train was finally able to come to a complete stop. To read more about this Illinois truck accident, please click on this link.

While it is not very safe for train crossings to be equipped with only a yield sign, as long as this is the case at certain stops, drivers need to be completely alert and aware of approaching trains if they are driving in an area like this. If you come to a train crossing and there is no other warning measures, other than a yield sign, please both listen for an approaching train as well as look as far as you can see to see if one is approaching in the distance. If you have any thought that a train could be approaching, please wait in order to err on the side of safety.

An Illinois man was involved in a horrible traffic accident on I-70 early this morning, and then proceeded to flee the scene and attempted to steal another vehicle to get away from the scene. The police were able to catch the fleeing man and when they took him out of the cop car, a packet of cocaine fell out of his pocket onto the ground. The Illinois man was then charged with driving under the influence, endangerment, and leaving the scene of an accident where there was property damage. In addition to these charges, the driver received citations for driving with a suspended license and for unsafe lane movement. According to Chicago Breaking News, the accident occurred when the driver attempted to move to the off-ramp of the highway by cutting across the section of highway separating the ramp from the lanes of traffic. As the driver attempted to make this risky maneuver, he struck the side of a semi-truck and caused the truck to jackknife and hit a large concrete barrier which then caused the semi to roll onto its side. Luckily, the truck driver was not injured but the Illinois man, as well as his highly intoxicated passenger, were taken to a local hospital following the accident. To read more about this Chicago crash, please click on this link.

Illinois accident attorneys remind drivers to never flee the scene of an accident, even if you believe you will get in trouble if you stay. Fleeing the scene is a very serious offense and considered a class four felony in Illinois It is important for all parties involved to remain at the scene to assist injured drivers and passengers and help police determine what caused the accident.

A trucking accident occurred on I-57 in Franklin County, Illinois and resulted in the death of two people, and was caused by a truck failing to slow down in time to avoid an accident. The accident involved seven vehicles total, four of which were semi-trucks and three of which were passenger vehicles. One of the people killed in the trucking accident was the semi-truck driver that initially caused the chain-reaction crash. The driver came upon a slowed highway, due to construction in the area, and failed to appropriately gauge the situation and tried to stop too late. The truck driver crashed into another semi-truck in front if his truck, and then was struck by another semi-truck which was in turn struck by yet another semi-truck. The second person that was killed in this accident was the driver of the second semi-truck that crashed directly into the first victim’s truck. The reason that the two drivers were killed in the accident was because the initial truck caught fire and spread to the truck that crashed into it. According to STL Today, no charges have yet been filed in connection with the accident but charges are pending. To read more about this Illinois trucking accident, please click on this link.

Illinois accident attorneys ask drivers to always be extra cautious in allowing yourself time to break and come to a complete stop when approaching slowed-down traffic. The best way to ensure that you will not hit a car when you are slowing down is to leave an appropriate amount of space between you and the cars in front of you so you will always have time to react to even a sudden slow-down in traffic. The general rule of thumb is for every ten miles an hour you are driving there should be one car length between you and the car in front of you to ensure safe distance and reaction time, meaning that if you are driving at 60 miles an hour on a highway the car in front of you should be at least 6 vehicle lengths ahead of you. Please follow this simple tip and hopefully help avoid an accident!

A trucking accident occurred on the I-65 on July 23rd in which all the northbound lanes of the highway, in the section where the accident occurred, had to be shut down for several hours. The accident only involved one semi-truck that other drivers on the highway reported was swerving for some time before the crash. When the police caught up with the swerving truck, the truck was already overturned in the middle of the highway lanes. The truck had been transporting cars and a couple of them rolled out of the truck in the midst of the trucking crash and further obstructed the highway lanes. According to WLFI, no one was injured in the crash but the roads had to remain closed for awhile to clean up the crash load and the overturned semi-truck. The truck driver was issued a citation for improper lane movement in connection with the driving that caused the truck accident. To read more about this I-65 trucking accident, please click on this hyperlink.

At this time it is unknown what caused the driver to be swerving prior to the accident and what it was that actually caused the truck driver to crash. However, many truck drivers drive when they are too fatigued to be behind the wheel and it leads to unsafe driving and often times can lead to trucking crashes. Truck drivers often times take certain measures to try to stay awake, whether it be taking excessive amounts of caffeine or of drugs to try to keep them alert, however this usually does not result in keeping a person that is overly tired alert and ends up being a danger to the driver and to others on the road. Illinois injury attorneys ask all truck drivers to keep in mind themselves and others that they will encounter on the road, and to always make sure to not get behind the wheel when they are overly tired or do not feel like they are alert enough to safely drive at the given time. Given the huge size of semi-trucks, a truck driver falling asleep or failing to pay attention poses a much bigger threat and risk to other drivers than the a driver of a passenger car likely would.

While a recent study of Chicago accident deaths shows improvement, there is still a long way to go. Around 300,000 accidents occur each year in Chicago and the surrounding areas, and about one fatal accident occurs each day. Of these accidents, many were trucking accidents. Certain safety features that have been added to roads in recent years, are believed to account for the reduction of close to 200 less deaths each year in the area. One of the safety features that has led to less fatal accidents are the addition of cable median barriers in certain areas. These barriers are high-tension steel cables that are aimed to prevent vehicles that are out of control from traveling into other lanes or flipping over into oncoming traffic. These barriers are especially useful for out-of-control trucks because a flipped over truck blocking the roadway can not only lead to many accidents and often fatalities, but can also block traffic for a long stretch of time. These barriers have helped keep trucking accidents much more contained and less dangerous than they would have been in areas without reinforcements. The areas that have these barriers are mostly in more densely populated areas and the number of fatalities in these areas is decreasing more dramatically than in areas with more rural roads that lack these types of safety features. Additionally, areas where the crash rates are reducing at an even higher rate, have added more highway dividers and pavement markings that also aim at keeping vehicles in their own lanes. These improvements are especially useful for trucks which often lead to such dangerous conditions when they flip over for crash into another lane of traffic.

One of the factors that the study cites as still being a big problem for Chicago drivers is the high incident of late-night driving accidents. This is especially relevant for trucking accidents because of how many truckers drive on overnight trips. According to Chicago Breaking News, the reasons that the study cites as leading to more late night crashes are things like impaired drivers, tired drivers, faster speeds because of less traffic and slower reaction times when driving at night. Chicago accident attorneys remind truck drivers of the danger of driving late at night when you are overly tired. Tiredness is the cause of many traffic accidents and whenever you feel like you need more rest of the road, please make sure to pull over and rest before getting back on the road. This is one way that individual drivers can help reduce the number of tragic accidents, and if everyone does their part to make sure they do not driver when impaired, tired or distracted, the number of traffic accidents each year will greatly decrease. To read more about this reduction in traffic accidents study, please click on this link.

An Illinois trucking accident that occurred on July 15th on I-57 in Southern Illinois resulted in the death of two truck drivers. The truck crash involved a total of seven vehicles, including four semi-trucks, a Jeep and two pickup trucks. According to The Pantagraph, Illinois State Police have reason to believe that the accident was related to a slow-down in traffic due to construction in the area. Two of the semi-truck drivers were killed as a result of the personal injuries they suffered in the accident, one other person involved was airlifted to a local hospital, and one other person involved had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Other people were also involved in the crash but did not have to go to the hospital because any injuries they had were minor enough to leave untreated or were able to be treated at the scene. Following the accident, several fires started because of the semi-trucks that were involved in the trucking accident. The local firefighters had to be called and it took awhile to get all the flames under control, and there were even explosions resulting from the accident. The Hazmat team also had to be called to the scene, because two of the semi-trucks were carrying loads of hazardous material that spilled onto the road at the time the trucking accident occurred. Given the immensity of the accident and the commotion it created, the entire section, all lanes in this section of the road way, of the I-57 were shut down for around 57 hours. To read more about this disastrous trucking accident, please click on this link.

We often see accidents that are caused when traffic slows or comes to a stop suddenly because of accidents, construction or other stoppages. In this case, one of the semi-trucks failed to come to a stop fast enough, initiating a chain-reaction crash. This case illustrates the importance of paying attention to the road at all times in order to protect your safety and the safety of those around you. Staying alert will help to give you ample time to slow down when traffic slows. By slowing down early, you also warn drivers behind you that a slow-down is occurring, giving them time to slow down or stop as well.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been settled and the mother of the victim of the accident will receive a settlement of $5 million dollars in connection with the wrongful death lawsuit. The trucking accident that is the reason for the lawsuit allegedly occurred when the trucker driver, who suffered from diabetes, failed to test his blood sugar and blacked out while driving his truck and crashed into the young victim's truck, killing her and one other young man. The truck driver previously had pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter in the criminal case involving this accident, but the lawsuit currently being settled is the civil wrongful death lawsuit that the family of the victim filed against the trucking company that owned the truck the driver was driving and that employed the driver. The family of the victim wanted the trucking company to have some accountability for their drivers, however initially the trucking company refused to support legislation to make companies held more responsible for their driver's mistakes, but have since been able to come to an agreement somewhere in the middle. The company agreed to pay the victim's family $5 million dollars as well as have the settlement recorded as a judgment rather that a confidential settlement. The reason that this is an added plus to the victim's family is that the judgment is public record and any other family of a victim from an trucking crash involving the same company would be able to look up the settlement and it paves the way for that family having an easier time reaching a settlement. This added plus, aside from the money, was important to the victim's family because they wanted the company to take some responsibility for what happened and wanted to help make sure that other families did not have to go through what they went through to put the awful tragedy behind them. To read more about this trucking lawsuit settlement, please click on this hyperlink.

A trucking accident occurred earlier today in which a semi-truck crashed into the side of a Metra train at the extremely accident-prone intersection of Nagle and Avondale. This exact intersection has been the location of five train accidents over the course of four years and has been named one of the most accident prone intersections in northeast Illinois. The cause of the accident, according to Chicago Breaking News, was that the semi was struck in traffic passing through the intersection and when the truck driver realized the train was coming he was unable to move forward and was also unable to back up because of the traffic behind him. Luckily, no one suffered any serious injuries as a result of this train-truck accident. To read more about this Illinois trucking crash, please click on this link.

Interestingly enough, this specific intersection had just been named one of the most dangerous in Illinois, and the article was published shortly before this accident occurred. Chicago Breaking News, earlier this morning and prior to the accident, posted an article discussing the most dangerous railroad stops in Illinois and specifically discussed how dangerous the Nagle and Avondale crossing had become. The main reason that many believe this intersection is so accident prone is that traffic is often stopped, waiting for a light next to the intersection to change to green, in the middle of the tracks. While this seems like an obvious danger and not something drivers would subject themselves to, many drivers are found waiting on the tracks all the time. A better system for traffic in this area, or at least stronger deterrents against waiting in the intersection, are not only greatly needed but would hopefully prevent more of these types of truck crashes in the future.

A trucking accident occured on July 7th in Troy, Illinois which resulted in the closure of Illinois Route 162. The trucking crash occurred when a truck was traveling on the I-55/70 which then crossed under the bridge, and the truck then struck the outside edge of the bridge, causing damage to the bridge itself and to the road that crossed over the bridge. According to The Telegraph, the reason the bridge has to be closed following the truck crash is because the trucking accident loosened some concrete and the Illinois Department of Transportation wanted to inspect the damage to insure that it was still safe for cars to drive across without any additional repairs. Work is currently underway on the bridge to replace the damaged areas and to make sure the bridge is back up to the appropriate safety standards before reopening the road. To read more about this Troy trucking accident, please click on this link.

The Department of Transportation makes it their goal to close roads after accidents in cases where drivers could be placed in danger if they remained open. This includes situations, like the one mentioned above, where the roadway itself may have suffered some structural damages as well as other types of disruption such as a spill on the road resulting from a commercial trucking accident. Illinois accident attorneys point out how helpful and important these preventative measures are, because if a potentially dangerous stretch of road is left open following a car or trucking accident it is far too likely that another accident will occur in that same spot. Department of Transportation workers also realize how much of a delay closing the roadways can be and do their best to fix the issue and reopen the road as soon as possible.

A former Kenawee mayor was killed in a fatal trucking accident after the truck that he was driving in crashed head first into another truck. The accident occurred near Geneseo, Illinois on Highway 6 on July 7th. At this point not a great deal is known about the accident, however it is clear that the former mayor was killed as a result of the personal injuries he suffered in the accident. Two other people that were riding in the other truck did not suffer major injuries in the accident. A friend of the victim who had seen the former mayor earlier that morning actually passed the accident once the police had arrived and had no idea that it was his friend that had been involved in this tragic accident. According to WQAD, the friend, as well as many other Kewanee residents, had nothing but kind things to say about the former mayor, including what a wonderful and devoted family man he was and what great things he had been able to do for the community. To read more about this Illinois accident, please click on this link.

A Carthage, Illinois trucking accident occurred on July 3rd on Illinois 94 and left the truck driver with minor personal injuries resulting from the accident. The teenage driver was driving in Illinois 94 when for an unknown reason his truck left the highway and overturned before coming to a stop on the roof of the truck. According to The Whig, the driver was ticketed for failing to reduce speed in order to avoid a car accident and failing to wear a seat belt. To read more about this Illinois truck accident, please click on this link.

This accident involved a driver who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Luckily, he was not severely injured, but he would likely have been injured even less had he been wearing a seat belt. It is not only against the law to drive without a seat belt, but it can often mean the difference between suffering injuries in the event of a car accident and can even be the difference between life and death. Many people feel that because they are good drivers, or because they are only traveling a short distance, that they do not need to wear a seat belt. However, as Chicago accident attorneys remind readers, many accidents can occur very close to home on a short trip and no matter how safe of a driver you may be, there are others you may encounter on the road that are not as safe of drivers. Because you cannot be sure of what you will encounter while driving, it is important to always be safe and wear your seatbelt any time you are driving. In addition to always wearing a seat belt when you are driving, please make sure that any passengers are also buckled up so that they are protected in the event of a car accident.

An Illinois man is behind bars after causing a car accident that resulted in the death of one man on June 29th. According to NBC News, the trucking accident occurred when the driver of a passenger car crashed into another passenger car while trying to avoid emergency triangles placed on the road by the truck driver whose truck had broken down. The reason that the truck driver is being charged for the man's death is because he should not have placed the triangles in the road to show that his truck was broken down on the highway, but rather they should have been placed behind the broken down truck on the shoulder of the highway. The reason for this specific placement requirement is so the emergency triangles will hopefully not cause more cars to be placed in danger and risk getting into accidents, and will hopefully provide them adequate warning of a broken down vehicle in the vicinity. Please click on the link to read more about this tragic trucking accident that resulted in one man's death.

This trucking accident shows the importance of truck drivers being aware of the rules of the road and the safety precautions that are to be taken in order to alert other vehicles, but also keep them safe in the event of a broken down vehicle on the highway. In this case, had the truck driver known the correct protocol, the man would likely not have been killed and the truck driver would not be taken in on these charges in which be could face serious jail time under the criminally negligent homicide charge. Illinois accident attorneys remind truck drivers that even when a safety precaution may not make sense to them or may not seem important enough to follow exactly as it is supposed to be, that there is a reason for all of these measures and that following them exactly may make the difference in saving a life.

A recent study conducted by the Large Truck Crash Causation Study found that about 13 percent of all trucking accidents were the result of the truck driver being overly tired, or fatigued, at the time the accident occurred. It is very dangerous for truck drivers to be driving when they are too fatigued to be on the road and it ends up being a danger to other drivers on the road as well as to the drivers themselves. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has several tips that can help insure that drivers are not too tired to be driving. The first recommendation that is offered is to make sure to always get enough sleep before going on a long trucking trip. While this may seem like an obvious point, many people overlook this very important tip and do not actually get the appropriate amount of sleep they need in order to function properly behind the wheel. A second tip, that may be overlooked often, is the importance of having a healthy well-balanced diet before embarking on a long truck trip. The reason for this is that eating healthy meals at the appropriate times can actually help a person stay less fatigued, meaning you should never skip meals or have too heavy on a meal before setting out on a trip. The third tip is to take a nap whenever you do start to feel too tired or not alert enough to drive. This can help restore your energy when you do feel better to get back on the road, but make sure to give yourself around 15 minutes to get back to normal after the nap before driving. Additionally, never rely on caffeine, turning the radio up loud, or opening the window as a method to stay awake when you feel too tired to be driving. These tricks are not likely to help if you really are fatigued and you need to stop driving until you feel alert again. Similarly, do not drive on long trucking trips when you are taking a medication that is known to lead to drowsiness. One of the best tips to remember is to know what the signs are that you are too tired to be driving and should stop in order to avoid a trucking accident. These signs may be different for different people, but often include symptoms such as yawning, having blurred vision and a feeling that your eyes are starting to get heavy. Illinois accident attorneys remind drivers that these rules are not only useful to truck drivers to help avoid accidents, but to all drivers. Please click on this link to read more about truck driving fatigue and ways to avoid trucking accidents.

A common cause of trucking crashes are truck drivers driving at speeds which are too fast given the road and weather conditions. Trucks are much larger vehicles than passenger cars and often times need to travel at a slower speed in order to maintain control of the truck at all times. A recent study conducted by the Large Truck Crash Causation Study found that 23 percent, or in other words almost a fourth of all trucking crashes, were caused by truck drivers driving at a faster speed than the conditions called for. Examples of conditions that might require a truck driver to need to travel more slowly than usual could be weather issues, such as wet roads or low visibility, or road work, such as construction zones which may have large equipment near the road or uneven roadways. These are just a couple types of conditions that would make a lower speed necessary, and if truck drivers are aware of the need to slow done in any kind of changed condition, the number of trucking accidents that occur each year would probably decrease dramatically.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has come up with five useful tips for truck drivers to always keep in mind and that can help them remember when they need to slow down and be extra cautious of their speed. The first tip is to reduce speed in the event of any adverse weather conditions. Even if the weather does not seem to be bad enough to affect one's ability to drive, it is always best to err on the side of caution and remember that on slick roads, or in hard to see conditions, a truck driver can easily lose control on the truck if going too fast. The second tip offered is to enter all curves slowly. The reason this is so important is that trucks are such big vehicles, and if a truck driver takes a curve too fast it is very easy to lose control of the truck and cause a trucking accident. Similarly, the third tip offered is to always reduce your speed when entering or exiting a highway and this is because these ramps are a very likely place for a truck to rollover if the truck is traveling at too fast of speeds. The fourth tip is to always drive more slowly when driving with a loaded trailer because trucks with loaded trailers have a shifted center of balance and are up to ten times more likely to rollover than a truck with no trailer or an unloaded trailer. The final tip that is suggested is to always slow down in work zones. The reason for this is that work zones often result in sudden slowdowns or stops and if a truck is traveling at too high of a speed, the driver may not be able to stop in time to avoid a trucking accident. To read more about the importance of maintaining an appropriate speed while driving a truck in order to avoid a trucking accident, please click on this link.

A trucking accident on the I-94 on the Northwest side of Chicago left the truck driver injured and the highway temporarily closed for a couple of hours following the crash in the early morning hours of June 22nd. The truck driver was driving a load of about 1200 cases of beer and then crashed and the truck overturned, spilling the load all over the highway. According to the Chicago Sun Times, at this time police are not aware of what caused the driver to crash and the truck to overturn, but they do not suspect that alcohol or drugs were a factor that was a contribution to the crash. The driver suffered some personal injuries in the accident and was taken to a local Park Ridge hospital for treatment of these injuries. Following the accident and the spill, the highway did have to be closed for a little while, but the lanes were reopened later that morning. To read more about this Illinois trucking crash, please click on this link.

Trucking crashes that involve trucks carrying large loads can often lead to the area where the crash occurred having to be shut down for clean-up. This means that even if a trucking accident is minor, traffic could still be backed up for awhile if the truck's load spills. In some cases, when the truck involved in an accident was transporting hazardous material, a special team (the HAZMAT team) has to be called in to clean up the spill. The reason a special team is necessary in this type of trucking accident is that the spill needs to be contained a certain way to ensure that people and the land near the accident do not get exposed to the hazardous material. Because of the possibility of load spill, trucking accidents can often lead to extreme back-ups around the site where the accident occurs.

A trucking safety coalition hopes to have the hours of service that truck drivers can drive in a day reduced by 27 percent, in accordance with the new hours of service law that has recently gone into effect. According to The Trucker, the document filed by the Truck Safety Coalition argues that there should be no more that eight hours of consecutive driving per shift and cites information that after this threshold is when most trucking accidents occur. Additionally, the Coalition suggests that the maximum driving hours per seven day week be 40, and the maximum number of on-duty hours per seven day week be 60. The document also suggest that their be at least 48 hours of off-duty time between each five day stretch of working. This document was filed in connection with the recent hours of services rule, and the people proposing the rule say that the newer law calls for these restrictions in trucking driving hours. To read more about the new hours of service law and what it requires of trucking companies and drivers, please click on this link.

The reason that limiting the number of hours that a trucker may drive consecutively, and how many days in a row drivers may drive, is because without any restrictions many trucking companies encourage, or truck drivers themselves choose to, drive when they are exhausted and when it is not safe for the drivers to still be on the road. Illinois accident attorneys ask trucking companies to take this into consideration and to follow the new rule setting out hours of service in order to hopefully help reduce the number of trucking accidents that occur each year due to driver fatigue.

The administrator for the estate of a woman that died from the personal injuries she sustained in a trucking accident in May, has filed a lawsuit against the driver of the truck that caused the accident, as well as the trucking company that he drove for. The truck accident complaint alleges that the truck driver was driving too fast, was driving on the wrong side of the street, and was not in control of his truck at the time that he caused the accident. According to the State Journal, the truck driver fled the scene of the accident and did not call any help to assist the victim whose car he had just struck. The truck driver was charged with leaving the scene of a trucking accident that resulted in death, and also faces criminal charges in connection with this fatal trucking accident. To read more about this truck accident lawsuit, please click on this link.

This lawsuit is an example of the fact that trucking companies are often sued as additional defendants in addition to the truck driver that caused the accident. Illinois accident attorneys remind trucking companies of the importance of insuring that all drivers are adequately prepared before getting on the road and are fully aware of the safety precautions they should always take when driving trucks, and to keep track of drivers and make sure they are in fact driving safely all of the time. The importance of this is not only to help keep trucking companies from getting sued in the event of a trucking accident, but also to help reduce the number of victims that die, or are injured, each year as a result of truck driver's not driving safely and not being fully aware of their surroundings.

A truck accident lawsuit has been filed against a truck driver who allegedly crashed into a passenger car while the truck driver attempted to change lanes. The plaintiff in the lawsuit was the driver of the passenger car that was involved in the accident. The complaint alleges that because of the truck driver's negligence the plaintiff has suffered serious and permanent personal injuries of which she is suing for compensation. The truck driver apparently failed to keep his truck under control, was driving at too fast of a speed, was not keeping a proper lookout, was not maintaining a proper distance between other cars on the road, as well as multiple other driving infractions that the plaintiff alleges were what contributed to the trucking accident. According to The Madison Record, the complaint is seeking over $100,000 in damages in connection with the accident. To read more about the Madison County trucking accident and the lawsuit that has been filed in connection, please click on this hyperlink.

All of the allegations that the Plaintiff makes against the truck driver in this accident lawsuit stem from the driver not being cautious or aware enough while behind the wheel. It is extremely important for truck drivers to not only know all the safety precautions that they should take while driving, but also to actually follow through and make sure they are driving in the safest manner possible. Illinois truck accident attorneys remind all truck drivers of the importance of being an alert aware driver, always obeying safety rules in all circumstances. Aside from the fact that these rules are created for a reason and should be followed because of that, trucks are such large and potentially dangerous vehicles in the event of a crash that this provides drivers extra-incentive to stay safe while on the road. Additionally, it is good for truck drivers to be defensive drivers because even though the truck driver may follow all safety laws, other drivers they encounter may not, and if the truck driver is prepared they can hopefully avoid an accident that another unsafe driving may have been about to cause.

An Addison, Illinois trucking accident that happened on June 16th near I-290 left the tollway shut down for about an hour and a half in the location where the accident occurred. The accident occurred when a semi-truck and a box truck collided, causing the box truck to roll onto its side and spill the load it was carrying. The spilled load is what caused the lanes to have to be shut down following the accident, so the clean up crews could make the roads drivable again. According to ABC Local News, the semi-truck driver was ticketed for improper lane usage, which in turned resulted in the trucking crash. Luckily, neither driver suffered any major personal injuries in the accident. If you want to read more about this two truck Illinois accident, please click on this hyperlink.

This accident occurred in a construction zone, which likely means that the truck driver's citation was for more money than if the accident had occurred on a normal stretch of the road. The reason that the fines can be significantly higher in construction zones is to further deter drivers from behaving in risky or illegal ways when driving, because of the higher danger present in construction zones. Often times there are construction workers present or dangerous construction equipment present in construction zones that create a more dangerous environment for drivers. Illinois accident attorneys encourage all drivers to remember this and always obey any signs in construction zones, whether they warn you of workers, remind you of increased fines in the area, or create a temporarily reduced speed limit for that area. Following these rules can help keep you from getting high penalty fines and will make driving safer for you as well as for any construction workers that may be present in the construction zone.

More and more states are joining the fight against distracted driving by making texting while driving illegal for all drivers including truck drivers in order to try to reduce the number of automobile accidents. At this point 28 states, plus Washington DC, all have anti-texting laws for all drivers on their books. As many as 32 states have included a distracted driving section in their driver license education manuals, showing that even more states realize the importance of educating drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. According to Trucking Info's website, 35 states are working with state agencies and other companies within the state to help address the problem of distracted driving and to try and reduce the number of car and trucking accidents that occur as a result of this problem. For example, the state of Illinois has created the Distracted Drivers Task Force which was created in order to learn more about the growing issue of distracted driving and to try to find a solution to this problem. To read more about the efforts that different states are making to try to make a difference in the number of trucking accidents that occur each year by addressing the distracted driving accident problem, please click on this link.

Distracted driving does not only mean texting while driving but also any other form of using a cell phone, eating or drinking, talking to other passengers, reading a map, changing the radio, or doing anything else that takes your eyes and focus off of the road while you are driving. According to the government's statistics on driver distraction close to 6,000 people were killed in accidents caused by distracted drivers in 2008, with the percentage rising significantly from several years before, and the most common driver in these types of accidents were inexperienced drivers under the age of twenty years old. Illinois accident attorneys hope all drivers realize the prevalence of this problem and take it upon themselves to always pay attention to the road and not allow distractions while driving, so everyone gets where they are going safely!

A Williamson County trucking accident occurred on June 13th and left six people with serious personal injuries resulting from the crash. The accident occurred when a semi-truck crashed into four others cars that were slowing down for construction in the area. The truck then crashed into another semi-truck which then hit a construction vehicle. Three more cars were then involved in this chain reaction crash when they were unable to stop in time to avoid the accident. Six people that were involved in this accident had to be taken to local hospitals for treatment of the injuries they sustained in the accident. According to KFVS News, the driver of the original semi-truck that caused the accident has been cited with failing to reduce speed in order to avoid a car accident. To read more about this Illinois trucking accident, please click on this link.

The trucking industry has recently been trying to make changes and adjustments in order to help reduce the number of trucking accidents like the one above and make the trucking industry a safer place overall. The trucking industry has become noticeably safer in recent years, with a marked decrease in truck accident related fatalities, and hopefully will continue in this fashion. One of the measure the industry has taken to increase safety is the creation of new technologies which help truckers drive safer and be more aware of their surroundings, and these include anti-rollover safety equipment, lane departure warning systems, and blind spot and collision warning systems. Another important stand that the trucking industry has taken on safety, is that they are strong advocates of limiting highway speeds for large commercial trucks, seeking a national speed limit of 65 miles per hour. A third very important safety measure that trucking companies have recently enactedare the implementation of a national Roadcheck, which was sponsored by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and in which at the first check trucks were pulled over at random to check that they were in compliace with all safety requirements. All of these measures taking by the trucking industry have helped tremendously make the number of trucking crashes decrease and make the roads safer for everyone.

An Illinois trucking accident left one man dead on June 10th, when the concrete mixer he was driving rolled over as he tried to exit the highway. According to WGN, the accident occurred on the Bishop Ford expressway when the truck crashed into a van and then rolled over. The driver of the cement truck was killed as a result of the personal injuries he sustained, but the driver of the van was not injured. At this time the Illinois State Police are still investigating what the cause of the fatal accident may have been but it does appear that the truck driver may have been speeding at the time the accident occurred. To read more about this Pullman trucking accident, please click on this link.

It is important for truck drivers to always remember to drive the appropriate speed given the speed limit and the conditions on the road around them. This means that if the weather is bad or if the road conditions are dangerous, that truck drivers should even drive below the speed limit and at a comfortable speed. This way, they have the appropriate time to react if something happens and it helps to keep their truck under control. Trucks are large vehicles which can make them much more difficult to control or to stop in the event of an emergency. Illinois accident attorneys ask truck drivers to always remember the danger of speeding in a large commercial truck and the danger it can pose not only to the driver and passengers in the truck but also to other drivers and passengers on the road.

When truckers take to the highways, there are a number of safety precautions to consider. On long trips, one may be motivated to drive without a safety belt, but this decision can lead to devastating personal injuries should an accident occur. Therefore it is important to remind drivers and truckers alike to buckle up at all times.

A recent study entitled the Large Truck Crash Causation Study found that in trucking accidents about 23 percent of truck drivers were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. Many truckers feel that in a big truck and on a long ride, the seat belt may be too uncomfortable and the large truck cab space will offer enough protection in the event of a crash. However, seat belts are just as important in large trucks as they are in passenger vehicles and they can often be the one small safety measure that saves a life in the event of a traffic accidents. One of the main benefits of a seat belt in a car accident is that it can be what keeps a driver from being ejected from the vehicle. The seat belt will often stop the driver, or passenger, if the force of the crash would normally have caused the person to be thrown from the truck or car. To read more information on the importance of seat belt usage and seat belts can make such a crucial difference in a car accident, please lick on this link.

Chicago accident attorneys remind all truck drivers that they should always wear a seat belt, no matter the length of the trip or how safe a driver they feel they are. Even a short trip can result in an accident, and even the safest driver can encounter a dangerous driver or situation that would lead to an accident. This is why it is so important to make sure to always buckle up no matter what!

An Illinois trucking accident that occurred near Lake Springfield on June 8th left a teenage girl with serious personal injuries. The accident occurred when the teenage victim got into an accident with a truck, spun around and was struck by another truck, causing the car to end up in a ditch. According to The State Journal-Register, at this point in time police are not sure which driver caused the truck accident and therefore no citations have been issued. The driver of the passenger car and her passenger were taken to a local hospital following the accident, and the teenage driver is still hospitalized. Neither of the semi-drivers were injured and did not need to go to the hospital following the accident. To read more about this Springfield trucking accident, please click on this link.

Teen drivers are at a higher risk of getting into traffic accidents than any other age group, and according to the National Safety Counsel, teenage traffic accidents account for about 44% of teenage deaths each year. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, teenage inexperience is a major factor in accidents involving teens and this issue is likely not helped out by the fact that the process for getting a driver's license is not a very difficult or demanding. Like any other skill, learning to drive well and safely takes time and practice. This is one of the reasons that teenage drivers are at such a higher risk for accidents. Illinois accident attorneys remind adults to help young drivers learn the rules of the road and help make sure that teenage drivers get plenty of practice with experienced drivers before they are on the road alone.

Another major issue affecting teenage drivers is distractions that take teens attention off of the road. According to ABC News, distractions while driving can be as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Distractions range from talking on a cell phone, sending and receiving text messages, adjusting the radio, eating while driving, to other teenagers in the car that cause the driver to become distracted. To combat this issue, please talk to your teens about how dangerous it can be to lose focus from the road and how important it is to not let these distractions in while driving. One of the best ways to show teens how to not let distractions become the cause of an accident is to set an example and make sure not to allow distractions to take your focus of the road when you are driving with the teens in the car.

A chain reaction truck accident resulted in the death of three people on May 31st. The Illinois truck crash is believed to have occurred when drivers were trying to merge into one lane because of construction and a crash occurred in which nine vehicles were involved, including a semi-truck. This Mattoon area accident is believed to have primarily been the result of driver distraction and at this time there is no evidence that drugs or alcohol played a factor in the fatal accident. According to The Herald Review, the accident occurred on I-57 which was closed for about 7 hours to clean up from the multi-car accident. To read more about this tragic trucking accident, please click on this link.

Many accidents occur everyday as a result of distracted drivers. Distracted drivers can be as dangerous as drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol and the results can be very severe. Our Illinois accident attorneys remind drivers of the importance of always keeping an eye on the road and being aware of your surroundings and of other drivers while behind the wheel. Please make sure to limit cell-phone use with a hands-free device. Do not try to send or respond to text messages while you are driving because even taking your eyes off the road for one second can lead to a serious crash that can harm you, your loves ones, or others on the road. While there are rules in certain parts of Illinois that ban cell phone usage to different degrees, it is best to error on the side of caution and avoid potential distractions. Taking this one safety measure can make all the difference in preventing an accident.

Sleep apnea is a serious problem for truck drivers and may be an underlying cause of many trucking accidents. According to Trucking Info, around three out of every ten truck drivers suffers from some level of sleep apnea, which leads to high rates of truckers driving while tired. Given the prevalence of this disorder among trucking drivers, many believe that sleep apnea will become a factor in proving negligence in trucking accident lawsuits. Plaintiffs attorneys could even use health reports to show that the trucker had symptoms of sleep apnea to help further their clients case against the trucking companies. Chicago injury attorneys remind companies that this could be a major problem for them and encourages letting this information lead them to address the severity of the problem and implement some kind of testing or regulation to ensure that their drivers are not on the road overly fatigued. One company that has taken this problem into their own hands reports that in a study done before and then after a fatigue management system was put into play, the percentage of crashes went down thirty percent. The way that this company handles the issue is by screening all applicant drivers and it they test positive for any level of sleep apnea to get them treatment and follow up with them for up to ninety days, if that amount of time is necessary given their issue. To read more about the connection between sleep apnea and trucking crashes, and what can be done to help fix this unnecessary problem, please click on this link.

Holiday weekends can easily be a time in which many more car and trucking accidents than usual may occur. According to The Chicagoist, one of the main reasons for this is the huge increase in traffic, especially during this holiday weekend because it is the first three day weekend of the summer and many people are taking road trips out of the city. In Chicago this weekend, there is added congestion because the President is in town and a great deal of construction is going on since the weather is warming up. It is important for all drivers to remember that there will likely be an increase in traffic and plan accordingly, and to be extra cautious and alert to avoid any accidents on your holiday weekend.

In addition, a recent study shows that Chicago is home to three of the top ten worst bottlenecks, including the actual top two worst. A bottleneck is an area of highway where the lanes get smaller and this inevitably causes a huge amount of traffic congestion and back up. This leads to a great deal of truck congestion in the Chicago area and can lend itself to a higher amount of trucking crashes. The number one worst bottleneck in the country is the junction between the Eisenhower Expressway and the Dan Ryan Expressway in downtown Chicago. To read more about the bottleneck problems and other congestions problems that can lead to higher number of car and trucking accidents, please click here.

These congestion issues can make Chicago driving more prone to accidents even at times other than holiday weekends. Chicago accident attorneys ask you to please make sure to always allow yourself plenty of time to get to your destination and never to rush or drive unsafely to try to get somewhere on time.

A trucking accident that occurred on May 22nd has left one young woman dead. The accident occurred when a semi-truck driver attempted to make an illegal u-turn and struck a passenger car. The truck driver has been cited for making the unsafe and illegal u-turn and may face additional charges in connection with the fatal trucking accident once more investigation has been conducted. According to The Quad-City Times, the victim was the front seat passenger in the car that was struck by the semi-truck, which was then rear ended by another car. The driver of both the passenger car and the second passenger car, as well as the backseat passenger of the original car were fine and only suffered minor personal injuries. The truck driver that was responsible for the fatal accident has been linked to previous accidents in which he was driving in an unsafe manor. To read more about this tragic trucking accident, please click on this link.

Illinois accident attorneys remind truckers and trucking companies the importance of always being alert and driving safely and obeying the laws of the road. Even minor accidents with semi-trucks can have devastating results, so it is important to always make sure to be driving as safely as possible. Trucking companies can be sued when their drivers are involved in accidents, so trucking companies need to ensure that their truckers understand the importance of taking all safety measures and being extra cautious while driving trucks. Being a little more aware and cautious while on the road can make all the difference in saving a life!

Recently, federal laws have gone into effect limiting the number of hours that truck drivers can be on the road consecutively. The goal of these new laws is to try to make the trucking industry safer for the drivers and other people on the road, by reducing the amount of overtired and fatigued drivers and hopefully reducing the overall number of trucking accidents that occur every year. These new regulations place certain restrictions on the number of hours a truck driver can drive at a time, and depend on the type of vehicle, on how many consecutive hours and days the driver has worked, and require a certain number of hours to be taken in the sleeper berth. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, these new regulations were determined after in-depth studies and analysis to help ensure that the new laws would improve trucking safety as much as possible. To read more about these hours of service federal laws to help reduce the number of trucking crashes, please click on this link.

The American Transportation Research Institute was recently hired to conduct a study to see how effective these new hours of service trucking rules were and if they were actually resulting in a reduction in trucking crashes. The recent study used data from 2003 and 2004 to see if any significant changes were present compared to the recent accident statistics. The study looked at both the overall number of accidents, as well as in what hour of driving the accidents occurred. The study indicated that the overall collision rate had decreased close to twelve percent and that preventable accident rate had decreased over thirty percent. This study seems to show that the new hours of service rules are making strides in making the trucking industry safer and that these new federal laws are successful in what they are aiming to do.

A Chicago trucking accident that occurred earlier this morning resulted in the personal injuries of two people. This Chicago accident occurred on the Eisenhower Expressway, in the east bound lanes of the I-290, and while it is not currently known what caused the accident, it is known that four cars and a truck were all involved in this accident. According to The Chicago Sun Times, of the two people that suffered injuries, one is in serious but stable condition and the other person is listed in good condition. To read more about this Chicago trucking accident, please click on this link.

Chicago accident attorneys want to remind all drivers, of both cars and trucks, of the importance of always being alert and aware to your surroundings when driving. Always try to keep the distractions to a minimum and always allow plenty of distance between your car and other cars when driving, in order to allow yourself reaction time in the event of a sudden slow down in traffic. This tip is especially important when traveling on highways, because the faster the speed that you are traveling the longer it will take you to slow your vehicle down in the event that you need to slow down suddenly. Staying aware of what is going on around you while driving and always injuring that you have adequate space from the cars around you is a great way to help avoid car and trucking accidents. Taking a few simple steps every time you get behind the wheel can make all the difference in staying out of car accidents, so please stay alert and aware at all times!

The truck involved in a tragic trucking accident that occurred in March of this year and resulted in the death of the driver and of 10 other people was found to have had no electronic recorder on board at the time the tragic trucking accident occurred. According to The Courier Journal, the reason this is significant is because these recorders are a way of determining how long a driver was on the road, letting investigators know if a violation occurred. This driver kept a handwritten log which was unfortunately destroyed in the fatal accident. To read more about this tragic trucking accident, please click on this link. Electronic recorders are not required but there is a big push for them to help regulate and control truck and driver safety, because they create a better way to ensure that drivers do not go over the required amount of hours that the law sets out as safe. According to Trucking Info, a new requirement was just recently enacted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Commission which will require that trucking companies who have been found to be in violation of the hour requirement at least ten percent of the time will be required to install electronic monitoring systems. Chicago accident attorneys remind trucking companies that this law will not go into effect until June 1, 2012 allowing the nearly 5,700 trucking companies that are affected to comply with this new law. The goal behind this new law is to increase safety by making it much more difficult for trucking companies that may lie about or be unclear about their driver’s hours to do this. An electronic recording system, as opposed to a handwritten system is much more precise and does not leave room for driver or trucking companies to change their actual hours.

A fatal truck crash occurred near Chicago earlier this week and tragically killed a 21 year old married man who had a young daughter. At this point the cause of the accident is still under investigation, however it appears that the car that crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer never tried to stop. Both cars were moving at the time of the accident but the passenger car was moving at a much faster speed when the accident occurred. According to My Fox Chicago, the accident occurred when the passenger car drove into the back of the truck which resulted in the death of the driver instantly. While it is unknown why the driver never stepped on the brakes, it is believed that he was distracted from something at the time of the crash. The evidence shows that he was not on his cell phone at the time of the crash, because it was found in his pocket following the accident. It is a possibility but still unknown if there may have been a medical condition or issue that caused the driver to be unable to stop the car to avoid the fatal accident. To read more about this fatal trucking accident, please click on this link.

Illinois accident attorneys want to remind drivers the importance of staying focused while driving and to make sure to keep the distractions away and always keep your attention on the road. This can be done by making sure never to use your cell phone to search for numbers, send texts, read texts or do anything else that will take your attention off the road.

A truck crash where a truck driver slid out of his lane and crashed into 22 cars that were waiting at the Chicago Skyway Toll Plaza was found to be the result of the driver falling asleep at the wheel. According to My Fox Chicago, toxicology tests revealed that the driver tested positive for having cocaine in his system at the time the trucking accident occurred. To read more about this trucking accident, please click on this link.

After reading this report, we felt it was necessary to address the issue of substance abuse among truck drivers. A recent study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration suggests that some truck drivers depend on drugs to help them stay awake and cope with the stress of the long trips on their own. Many trucking companies are beginning to take steps to combat this problem by requiring drivers to submit to drug-testing before getting behind the wheel.

Unfortunately, not all trucking companies have drug-testing currently in place. The company that employed the driver involved in the previously mentioned crash is one of the 120 Illinois trucking companies that have been found to fail to conduct these required drug tests. In addition to the 120 that fail to comply with mandatory drug testing for truck drivers, 55 other trucking companies failed to test new drivers before sending them out onto the road. A study which looked at 120,000 large trucking crashed between 2001-2003, identified about 3,000 crashes caused by truckers using illegal drugs and about 1,000 caused by truckers who had been drinking when the trucking accident occurred. Our Chicago accident attorneys hope that more companies in Illinois and throughout the country will take steps to implement mandatory drug-testing for drivers. These tests will help to protect the lives of truckers and passenger-vehicle drivers alike.

An Illinois teen was killed in a trucking accident that occurred on Illinois Route 48 on May 6. The Taylorville girl was driving when she went off the road, crossed the center line and crashed into a semi-truck that was traveling the other direction. According to The Herald Review, the Illinois accident occurred early in the morning and a third car was involved as well. The only person that suffered any personal injuries was the young teen who unfortunately had too severe of injuries to recover and died as a result of the accident. If you would like to read more about this tragic Sangamon County trucking accident, please click on this hyperlink.

While it is unknown at this point exactly what caused the teenage driver to lose control of her vehicle, teenage drivers often tend to be more involved in car accidents than older and more experienced drivers. One main reason for teenagers being involved in more accidents is that they are younger and less experienced than older drivers and often lack the ability to judge situations on the road in order to avoid accidents. Additionally, younger drivers tend to be more likely to allow distractions to get the best of them while on the road. This can include talking to friends while driving, listening to and changing the radio, texting while behind the wheel, talking on the phone while driving, as well as other distractions that can take the young drivers focus away from where it needs to be, on the road at all times. The combination of the lack of experience and the many possible distractions that teenage drivers face are the leading causes of the higher rate of teenage accidents.

Recently, many have wondered if the structure in which trucking drivers are paid encourages them to drive beyond the amount of hours that is safe and could actually be responsible for more trucking accidents. The way truck drivers are paid is by mile as opposed to by how long they are working, which leads drivers to often times drive more miles and longer hours than what may be safe for them to be driving. Additionally, drivers are not paid for the as many as 30-40 hours per week that it takes to load and unload their trucks. According to The Rolla Daily News, many people within trucking organizations and truck drivers feel that a change in the structure of paying trucking drivers would not only be more fair to the drivers but would also increase overall safety within the entire trucking industry. However, on the opposite side of the debate from the people that feel that truckers should be paid for the hours they work, many say that if truckers are not paid for miles driven it could encourage drivers to lose the incentive to get a lot of miles in and instead cause them to relax possibly too much on the job. So while there are two sides to this issue, it is pretty apparent that something likely needs to be done to increase safety among trucking drivers. There are new hour limits being put into place to try to encourage safe driving, but since these restrictions are pretty new it is still hard to tell how successful they will be in increasing safety and reducing truck crashes. If you would like to read more about the issues facing truck drivers and the way in which they are paid, please click on this link.

A trucking accident that occurred in March of this year in which eleven people were killed has been connected with the truck driver using his cell phone. The truck driver that was one of the people killed in the trucking accident was driving over the speed limit and did not have his truck in control and crossed the median and struck a van going in the opposite direction. According to Google, the report created during the accident investigation says that the truck driver was using his cell phone at the time of the accident and that this distraction is partially what caused the fatal accident. The report does not specify if the driver was using the phone at the exact moment of the crash but it is known that he was at least using it right before he crossed the median. To read more about this fatal trucking accident, please click on this hyperlink.

Cell phone usage has proven to be a very dangerous distraction to drivers and it is important to be aware of just how distracting phones can be while on the road. Many states have made it illegal to talk on the phone while driving unless you are using some type of hands-free system and recently many states are also making it illegal to send or read text messages while driving. The city of Chicago currently has banned talking on cell phones while driving as well as texting while driving. This is an important step to take in cutting down on the number of unnecessary traffic accidents caused by distracted drivers.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been filed by a truck driver following an accident that he was involved in. The plaintiff claims that the trucking company negligently allowed a truck to be driven that had a defective wheel, because the wheel detached from the back of the tractor-trailer he was driving and then hit the front of the truck. The Illinois accident occurred on Illinois Route 127 in Bond County back in 2008. The driver and his wife filed the lawsuit seeking damages for medical bills as well as pain and suffering damages. The lawsuit is against the trucking company for failing to properly inspect the truck before allowing it to be used by their employees. According to The St. Clair Record, the trucking crash lawsuit seeks over $600,000 in monetary damages.

Trucking companies are often held liable when their truckers get into car accidents. Even if the truck itself has defective parts, the trucking company that employs a driver that gets into an accident may face a lawsuit for failing to properly inspect and perform the proper safety tests on the trucks they have for their drivers to use. Trucking companies need to not only insure that their drivers receive proper safety training and follow certain safety precautions, but also need to insure that the trucks they are using are safe and okay to be driven under the conditions that these trucks are often forced to undergo. To read more about this Bond Country trucking accident lawsuit and the trucking accident itself, please click on this link.

An Illinois trucking accident occurred on May 3rd when a semi-truck crashed on the highway. The trucking accident occurred on I-55 near Springfield, Illinois and the Illinois State Police were required to close down all but one southbound lanes while the truck’s load was cleaned up from the road. Luckily, the truck was not carrying hazardous materials so the accident spill was not as dangerous as it could have be been. According to The Pantagraph, the accident did not leave anyone with any serious personal injuries and no one had to be taken to the hospital following the Springfield area trucking accident.

Trucking accidents are often more disruptive that other types of car accidents because of the load that the truck is carrying. When trucking are carrying hazardous materials and get into a trucking accident it can be extremely dangerous if those materials spill. In situations where hazardous or other dangerous materials are spilled, the hazardous materials (Haz-Mat) team will be called in to clean up the spill immediately because of the danger that is created when hazardous materials are unintentionally released. Even when dangerous materials are not spilled in a trucking accident any spill can hold up the traffic. In this accident the spill has of aluminum coils, and while these were not dangerous they blocked the highway and required the highway to be almost entirely closed while the spill was cleaned up. To read more about this Illinois trucking accident and the road closure caused by this accident, please click on this hyperlink.

Given all the construction that is done during the warmer summer months, it is important for drivers to be aware of all the workers present and to obey all posted signs that are intended to keep the workers and the drivers as safe as possible. According to Trucker News, there are certain tips for truckers and trucking companies to keep workers safe as well as save the company time, money, and help to avoid trucking accidents. One trucking company loss prevention director says that for their company they teach this safety in initial training, in refresher courses, and have signs and newsletters and other reminder handouts to help keep the truckers aware of the importance of construction zone safety and how to best insure this safety.

One big safety issue for truckers is to make sure to keep the speed at the construction zone speed limit. These limits are posted and are lower than the usual speed limit in the area and our intended to keep the area safer for workers. Speed is the biggest safety issue for truckers in construction zones and if truckers would obey the construction speed limits many accidents could be avoided. Additionally, truckers need to lookout for signage, workers and equipment. Being in a truck it can be hard to see all of this, so drivers need to make it a point to be constantly looking around and watching out for construction equipment. Another tip for drivers is to plan driving times to stay out of known construction areas during the prime time they are being worked on. This can be done by choosing to drive through that area during off peak hours. Following these simple tips can safe lives and avoid fatal accidents. Please click on this link for more information on how truckers can avoid construction accidents.

While the trucking industry has been working hard at improving safety standards and reducing trucking accidents, many in the industry admit that there is still a lot that can be done to further increase trucking safety. According to ETrucker’s website, the American Trucking Association further states that the most important things to remember and keep in mind when working on trucking safety programs is to deal with the risk of trucking accidents and with the causation of trucking crashes. While any safety precautions are clearly better than nothing, the trucking association considers dealing with risk and causation as the only real ways that the trucking industry will be able to continue getting safer. In terms of risk, the new federal rules that establish a limit of how much time truck drivers can be on the road are aimed to help with this problem, as well as the suggestion by the trucking association that the maximum speed limit be reduced to 65 miles per hour. In terms of changes affecting the causation problem, the trucking association recommends holding individual drivers accountable for accidents they are involved in. Right now, individual drivers are not always held individually accountable for accidents and often times the trucking company alone is held liable. The idea behind the causation safety initiative is that by holding drivers accountable, there will be more incentive for drivers to be safer and that will increase the overall safety of the trucking industry. To read more about the American Trucking Association’s recommendations for reducing trucking accidents, please click on this hyperlink.

A Hardin County, Illinois trucking accident that occurred on April 23rd left one man dead and another seriously injured. The accident occurred on Route 34 when a passenger truck tried to pass a semi-truck and collided with another semi-truck as it attempted to pass. Unfortunately, the driver of the passenger truck suffered such serious personal injuries that he ended up dying at the scene of the tragic trucking accident. The driver of the semi-truck involved did suffer some personal injuries but refused to be taken to the hospital for treatment following the accident. The area of Route 34 where the accident occurred was closed temporarily to clean up after the semi-truck’s load spilled into the road. To read more about this fatal trucking accident, please click on this link.

Attempting to pass other car on a two lane highway is extremely dangerous and can easily result in a head on car accident. Even in areas where passing is allowed, please remember that it is very hard to determine how long it will take a car coming from the opposite direction to approach and to always err on the side of caution. If you feel like you need to pass a car in an area that allows passing, make sure to only pass if there if there are no cars coming in the opposite direction. If you are not sure if there is time to safely pass a car, please do not attempt to because of the serious risk and danger of a car accident resulting from attempting to pass when there is not enough time to safely get around the car in front of you.

A trucking company filed a lawsuit against a truck manufacturing company, in which they claim installed a defective exhaust system which leaked toxic fumes into the truck and caused a truck driver serious brain damage. According to The Madison Record, the complaint alleges that the owners of the truck took the truck in multiple times for various defective parts to the company that manufactured the truck, but that the trucking company failed to ever properly identify the problem. The plaintiffs argue that the trucking company in failing to fix the problem, put not only the driver at risk but other drivers on the road as well in the event of a trucking accident. One of the owners of the trucking company that is suing the truck manufacturer was the driver of the truck as well and has suffered serious and permanent brain damage as a result of the alleged faulty exhaust system.

To read more about this defective truck lawsuit, please click on this link. If you or a loved one owned a vehicle in which you feel there was a defect in the design of something that caused a car crash or put you in serious danger, please call an Illinois accident attorney to discuss your options and if you may have a valid claim against the car manufacturer. It is important for car and truck manufacturers to ensure that all safety precautions and standards are met when manufacturing any vehicle, and if a company fails to meet these standards, the consumer should be entitled to relief for the company’s failure to provide a safe vehicle.

The driver of a truck that struck and killed a small child and injured four others and then fled the scene has been charged with five felonies in connection with this tragic hit-and-run accident that occurred in Cartage, Illinois in December. The hit-and-run prison sentence has not yet been determined but the driver responsible can face up to 15 years in prison in connection with the hit-and-run felony. The accident occurred when the defendant was driving a pickup truck with a trailer towed behind it and the trailer broke of the truck and crossed the center line striking an oncoming vehicle. According to The Whig, the driver turned his truck around and passed the accident and drove away after causing the terrible accident. To read more about this Illinois trucking accident, please click on this link.

In Illinois, it is a serious offense to leave the scene of an accident. According to Illinois driving laws, any driver involved in a car or truck accident where people are injured or property is damaged is required to stop at the scene, exchange information and provide help if needed. If a person in Illinois fails to stop after damaging property it is considered a misdemeanor hit-and-run (Class 4 felony carrying up to $25,000 in fines and up to 3 years in prison) and if a person is injured and a negligent driver leaves the scene, they can be charged with a felony hit-and-run (Class 2 felony carrying up to $25,000 in fines and up to 7 years in prison). If a person is killed during the hit-and-run, the charge is a Class 1 felony carrying up to a $25,000 in fines and up to 15 years in prison. While it may be scary to be in a car accident and leaving is scene of an accident is never the right choice. Always make sure if you are involved in an accident that you stay and make sure that everyone is okay and that information is exchanged.

On April 14th two North Aurora teens were killed in a fatal accident involving their passenger car and a garbage truck. According to the Chicago Tribune, the trucking accident occurred on Illinois Highway 47 in the early afternoon near Waubonsee Community College. According to the truck driver the accident happened when he was driving on IL 47 and the passenger car turned into a driveway in front of his truck. Aside from the two teenagers that were killed in the crash, a man was also injured. It is unknown if this was the truck driver or another person that was in the passenger car. To read more about this tragic accident, please click on the link.

Unfortunately teenage drivers are the age group with the highest fatal crash rates as well as the highest traffic violation rates. Several of the factors that are believed to contribute to the high number of teenage accidents is that teenagers are the most likely to take risks, to have a low risk perception, to have poor hazard detection, to lack driving skill and to be distracted while driving. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles website, in 2008 there were 164 fatalities in the state of Illinois that were either teenage drivers, passengers of teenage drivers, or people that were killed as a result of a teenage driver. One way to helpfully lower these statistics is to impose stricter driving rules and driving education for teenage drivers and with that hopefully there will be less of these tragic teenage trucking accident.

An Illinois woman has filed a trucking accident lawsuit in connection with an accident that the complaint alleges left her sick, sore, disordered and disabled. The trucking accident occurred when the plaintiff claims she was driving on I-55 and a tractor that was traveling on the same highway struck her car. The lawsuit claims that the Defendant caused the accident by failing to keep a proper lookout, that he failed to stop to avoid a collision, and that he failed to keep his vehicle under proper control. According to the St. Clair Record, the plaintiff is seeking over $150,000 in damages. If you would like to read more about this trucking lawsuit, please click on this link.

Often times plaintiffs involved in a trucking accident will sue the trucking company as well as the driver. In this case it is known that the defendant was working for a trucking company, but is unknown whether the plaintiff will name the trucking company as an additional defendant in the lawsuit. Being that trucking companies may face liability for their drivers, it is important for companies to make sure that not only safety programs are offered and required for all drivers but that drivers are actually driving safely on the roads and not causing trucking crashes. If you or a loved one have been involved in a trucking accident and feel that the driver and/or the trucking company were at fault for the damages incurred, please contact an Illinois accident attorney today so you can discuss what options are available to you.

A Southern Illinois man was killed in a trucking accident on the morning of April 12th. The victim was an elderly man, 95 years old, and the accident occurred when he failed to yield at a stop sign causing his car to be struck by a tractor-trailer. The truck flipped on its side but the trucking driver only suffered minor personal injuries and is expected to recover fully according to WSIL TV. The elderly man was killed as a result of the injuries he sustained from the accident. The area of Route 148 where the fatal accident occurred was shut down for most of the day to clean up the gasoline spill from the tanker truck. To read more about this Williamson County trucking accident, please click on the link.

Many accidents, like the one above, are caused by elderly drivers whose reaction times may make it difficult for them to drive. If you are a elderly driver or have an elderly family member that is still driving, it is important to look for warning signs that may mean that you should not still be behind the wheel and be aware of safety tips for elderly drivers. Some of the things to look out for and be aware of how they can affect your driving are visual decline, hearing loss, limited mobility and increased reaction time, overall drowsiness, dementia and affects that medication may have on driving ability. All of these changes that often come with age can affect driving and it is very important to remember to respect these changes and make sure you are safe to drive. Certain tips are offered by Help Guide’s website to help elderly drivers make sure they are safe while driving and they include making sure that the car is right for you and that you are comfortable driving it, driving slowly and on familiar routes and maintaining distance from other cars, avoiding distractions that might take away from your concentration, and avoiding uncomfortable driving situations such as new areas, crowded streets, and weather problems. To read more about elderly drivers and tips to help avoid car accidents, please click on this hyperlink.

A trucking crash that occurred several weeks ago was caused by road rage and left two men facing attempted murder charges. The incident involved a dump truck and a passenger car and got so dangerous that the passenger car driver ended up firing shots into the truck. While the exact details are unclear, at this point multiple witnesses of this rush hour road rage incident report that the truck driver began intentionally hitting the car and pushing it into the guardrail on the side of the highway. According to The Washington Post, the incident occurred over the course of 20 minutes with the rage in the drivers rising and shots eventually being fired. While luckily no one was hurt, both drivers are being charged with attempted murder. The driver of the passenger car is also being charged with reckless use of a firearm, shooting a missile into an occupied vehicle, and child endangerment because the driver’s two year old daughter was in his car while he participated in this horrific incident. To read more about this road rage trucking accident, please click on the link.

Aggressive driving or “road rage” is a very dangerous condition that can greatly endanger both the driver and others on the road. Aggressive driving occurs when a driver gets so upset at something that occurs while they are driving that they take out their rage on other drivers and act irrationally on the road. According to AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety, over 1,500 people are injured in car accidents that are caused by aggressive driving each year. It is important to remember how dangerous it can be to let your anger get the best of you. If another driver is provoking you, ignore them and do not retaliate. Remember that giving in to road rage cannot only hurt you, but other people on the road as well.

The Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA 2010) is a new federal truck safety program that will be introduced nationally this summer. The new program aims to use trucking safety data in a more productive way that will hopefully improve safety regulations in trucking companies throughout the country. This new change has been in the works for several years, with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration creating a system that will make safety regulations more streamlined and effective, hopefully reducing the number of trucking accidents. The way that safety regulations for truckers currently works, and the reason this new system is needed, is that compliance reviews which are the main component to truck safety systems are being done in a way that allow only less than two percent of all trucking carriers to be tested each year. Given this small percentage of carriers that can be checked each year, and the importance of maintaining safety standards among trucking companies on a federal level, a new system and more effective way of regulating trucking companies was definitely necessary.

According to Trucking Info.com, this new program has been tested in several states prior to the introduction of the program this summer. The reason for this early testing is to understand how the program will actually work and how effective it can be. So far the test states have reported that the truck drivers involved in the test programs have been getting prepared and are using the new program as a way to increase driver safety awareness. No test state has said that there has been any negative feedback so far and those involved feel that this program is definitely a positive thing and will hopefully reduce truck crashes nationally. To read more about this new trucking safety program, please click on this hyperlink.

Given the danger of truckers driving too many hours without enough rest, and the number of semi-truck accidents that occur each year and could easily be avoided, the federal legislature is introducing a law that will require trucking companies that have had issues with time limits to have tracking devices in their trucks. Many horrific accidents have occurred when truck drivers are overly tired and fatigued and cannot focus on the road leading to an accident. Several weeks ago, a particularly awful trucking accident occurred in which a truck crossed the center line of the highway and crashed into a van heading in the opposite direction, killing eleven people. To read more about this horrible trucking accident, please click on this link. While losing control or falling asleep at the wheel is dangerous in any situation, it can be exceptionally dangerous when it involves a tractor-trailer truck.
This new law will only affect trucking companies and truck drivers that have previously been found to not comply with the limit on number of work hours, and in turn will only affect about 1-2% of all trucking companies. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website, lays out the hour limit for drivers for all different situations. The trucking company involved in the tragic accident a couple weeks ago was one of the companies that have received a deficient rating when undergoing a safety check, and this new law would be aimed at targeting companies of this sort. The law will not go into effect until mid-2012 in order to allow time for the electronic monitoring system to be fully developed and tested. To read more about this new monitoring system enacted to try to prevent fataltruck crashes, please click on the link.

A tragic trucking accident that occurred on March 26th resulted in the death of eleven people. The accident occurred when a truck crossed over the highway median and crashed directly into a church van that was filled with a group of people on their way to a wedding. According to Boston.com, among the victims were the truck driver, and ten passengers in the church van. Two child passengers of the church van survived the terrible accident. To read more about this car crash, please click on the link.

The trucking company that owned the truck that was involved in this accident had repeatedly failed safety checks and had received poor safety rating from federal regulators of trucking companies. According to Google, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board has stated that they will be investigating the trucking company as part of the accident investigation, looking at their safety culture, training, accident history, and how they handle driver fatigue. This accident serves as an unfortunate reminder of the importance of trucking safety and the reason trucking companies need to always be on top of safety for their trucks and drivers. To read more about the unsafe trucking company that caused the trucking crash, please click on the link.

Luckily, two children that were involved in this horrible accident did survive the crash. The evidence shows that that the children were riding in safety seats, which are required by law for all children under a certain age. This tragedy goes to show the importance of following these child safety laws and making sure that anytime small children are riding in a car, that the car is properly equipped with safety seats for the young children. While it is unknown at this time if the adults in the accident were wearing their seat belts, the safety precautions taken for the children were likely what saved their lives.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been filed in connection with a trucking accident that occurred back in 2008. The accident occurred when the victim was driving on I-70 and was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer. The accident left the victim in a coma and her husband has filed this lawsuit on her behalf. The complaint alleges that the victim has incurred over $600,000 in medical expenses in addition to lost wages she has suffered and will continue to incur. According to The St. Clair Record, the husband of the victim names the truck driver for causing the accident and states that he was negligent in that he failed to keep a proper lookout and failed to slow down to avoid an accident. To read more about this Illinois trucking accident lawsuit, please click on this link.

Often times when a trucking crash occurs, the trucking company may be held liable for the driver’s actions. Because trucking companies can be liable, it is important for all trucking companies to try to insure that their drivers are properly trained and are very safe and cautious when on the road. Trucking safety is very important to trucking companies and truck drivers and this extended safety effort can be seen in the number of trucking accidents decreasing in recent years. However, these accidents do still occur too often and if you or a loved one were involved in a trucking accident that you feel the truck driver or trucking company may have been at fault in causing, please contact an Illinois accident attorney to further discuss your options.

On March 29th a trucking accident left one trucker dead and two others with severe personal injuries. The fatal trucking accident occurred on I-65 in the wake of another trucking crash that had slowed down traffic tremendously. While traffic was slowed one truck was rear-ended by another truck which was then struck by a third truck, which was then hit by a fourth truck. According to JC Online, this chain reaction crash left the driver of the fourth truck stuck in the cab of the truck and he had to be extricated by emergency workers. Unfortunately, the fourth truck driver’s injuries were so severe that he died of the injuries while at the hospital. The drivers of the second and third truck were hospitalized from their injuries, but the driver of the first truck was left unharmed. No one was injured in the earlier crash that slowed the traffic down leading to the four-truck crash. To read more about this fatal trucking crash, please click on this link.

It is very important to be alert and cautious at all times when driving. Traffic accidents often occur when traffic suddenly slows down due to an accident or a construction zone. While a sudden change in traffic can be startling and hard to prepare for, if you are always being alert and driving at the appropriate speed there should be enough time for you to react and avoid a car accident. To help prepare yourself for this type of situation make sure that whenever you are driving you are watching the cars around you The Illinois Department of Transportation website offers useful tips for driving in construction zones as well as general defensive driving tips, such as if you see cars up ahead seeming to be slowing down or you see brake lights ahead, start slowing your car down so you don’t have to slam on the brakes when it could be too late. Taking these small steps could be what keep a chain reaction crash from occurring.

Videotape has been released showing the trucking accident in which an Amtrak train crashed into a fire truck. This accident occurred while the train was traveling to Chicago on March 1st and a fire truck was stopped on the train tracks. According to NBC’s website, the fire truck and a police car were in the area because they were responding to another trucking accident that had occurred in the area. The videotape shows that that a warning siren went off before the crash occurred and that the police car was moved just in time to avoid the accident. While luckily no one suffered any serious personal injuries as a result of this accident, an investigation is underway as to why the firefighters parked the truck on the train tracks instead of somewhere else in the close area.

It is important for safety and emergency vehicles to be careful and aware when dealing with other drivers in the same way that any passenger vehicle driver would. Emergency vehicles should make sure they are stopped in a spot that is not directly in the way of other vehicles that will not be able to avoid an accident. Emergency vehicles can obstruct traffic when they need to park somewhere to get to an emergency but should always try to stop in the safest spot that they can, given the situation. In this case, little information is known as to why the firefighters chose to stop on the tracks directly rather than somewhere else nearby, but it is likely that less destruction would have occurred had they parked the fire truck off the tracks. To read more about this trucking crash and the ongoing investigation, please click on the link.

An Illinois trucking accident lawsuit has settled in connection with an accident that occurred back in 2006. The trucking accident occurred when a passenger car struck a tractor trailer that was backing out of an office building lot. The lawsuit that was just settled was brought by the wife of a passenger in the car that died several weeks after the crash as a result of his injuries. According to The Madison Record, the amount of the settlement is confidential. To read more about this Illinois trucking accident, click on this link.

Many accident lawsuits arising from car and trucking accidents involve many defendants and bring a suit under many different causes of action. Often times when companies are named in lawsuits, they may try to reach a settlement instead of having to go to trial to handle the situation. Additionally, parties may be added to the lawsuit if the facts of the accident reveal along the way that someone else may have been at fault. If you or a loved one has been involved in a car or trucking accident and want to file a lawsuit, please call an Illinois accident attorney to further discuss your options.

A Chicago trucking accident that occurred in the morning of March 23rd left four people with personal injuries. According to The Chicago Sun Times, the accident occurred on the Dan Ryan Expressway near the South Side of Chicago when a semi truck rear-ended a car and then another semi struck the back of the first semi. Luckily, even though this accident caused a fire, none of the people injured suffered any burns. Four people to taken to local hospitals following the truck crash, but all are expected to fully recover.

In this truck crash both semi drivers were at fault, the first for rear-ending a car that was stopped because traffic had slowed and the second for following too closely. It is important for all drivers to pay attention to the road whenever they are behind the wheel, so if the traffic patterns change they have an appropriate amount of time to react, hopefully avoiding accidents. In this case both semi drivers were likely not paying close enough attention and were unable to react quickly enough to avoid hitting another vehicle. To read more about this Chicago trucking accident, please click on this link.

An Illinois trucking accident left a 6 year old boy dead and his father seriously injured. The accident occurred in Pilsen on March 19th when the young boy and his father were crossing the street on their way home from the boy’s school. According to The Chicago Sun Times, the area where they were hit had no traffic lights or stop signs and they were struck by a semi truck as they were crossing the street. Both victims were taken to Stroger Hospital following the truck crash, but unfortunately the little boy’s injuries were too severe and he died. The truck driver has been ticked with hitting a pedestrian. To read more about this tragic pedestrian accident, click here.

It is important for drivers of any type of vehicle to make sure to always yield to pedestrians, who always have the right of way. Even if there are not traffic signals or stop signs, drivers must always yield to pedestrians. According to the National Highway Traffic Association, in 2005 close to 5000 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle accidents in the United States and pedestrian deaths are more common in urban areas. Given the high number of pedestrian deaths that occur each year, we must remember to always stay alert and watch out for pedestrians!

A trucking accident that occurred on March 17th in Joliet left three Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) workers injured. The accident occurred when the victims were in their truck on the shoulder of the I-80 in Joliet and were struck by a passenger vehicle. According to WBBM, the driver of the car has been cited with several violations, but at this time it is unknown if texting or cell phone use was a factor in the crash. All three of the victims were hospitalized because of their personal injuries but are expected to recover fully. To read more about this IDOT trucking accident, please click on this link.

It is important for all drivers to obey the rules of the road when driving and more specifically the rules that apply to driving in construction zones when appropriate. According to the Illinois Department of Safety website, in Illinois, a driver can still get a ticket for failing to obey the posted laws in a construction zone even when no workers are present. The restrictions place lowered speed limits in construction zones not only to protect the workers but also if the event that there is equipment or other things that would be dangerous if the normal speed limit was allowed. The fines for a first offense in a construction zone is at the minimum $375 and a minimum of $1000 for the second offense. If the second offense is within two years of the first offense, a mandatory suspension of the driver’s license is required. These construction zone laws in Illinois are taken very seriously and are in place for the protection of both workers and the drivers and should be taken very seriously and obeyed at all times by drivers.

An Illinois motorcycle accident occurred on March 17th on the Kennedy Expressway when a motorcyclist tried to change lanes in between two semi-trucks and hit the back on one of the trucks. The motorcyclist was luckily wearing a helmet, but did still suffer critical injuries and was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. The truck driver that was struck was questioned after the accident and his truck was inspected following the truck crash to see if he had disobeyed any laws and if his truck was up to code.

The police at the scene determined that the truck driver had not violated any rules and that the truck driver was not at fault for the trucking accident. According to The Chicago Sun Times, at this point it is unknown whether or not the motorcyclist will be cited in connection with the accident. It is important to remember that not all trucking accidents are caused by truck drivers and that sometimes other vehicles on the road fail to be cautious and respect the fact that they are driving near a truck. It is important to use proper driving techniques and follow appropriate safety precautions at all times. To read more about this Chicago motorcycle accident, please click on the link.

An Illinois man has received a settlement amount of over $10 million in connection with a trucking accident lawsuit. The trucking accident occurred a couple of years ago in Southern Illinois and the victim filed a lawsuit after his car was sideswiped by a truck after the truck driver ran a stop sign. According to The Chicago Sun Times, the victim suffered many ongoing medical problems that have and will continue to create problems for him. The accident caused the man to have herniated discs in both his back and neck and have caused him to need multiple surgeries on his spine.

Victims of accidents are often entitled to compensation that goes beyond the cost of medical bills, and often includes money for lost wages and other compensation to try to best make the victim as whole as possible again in every aspect of their life. This victim suffered spinal injuries which may have left him unable to work and with other severe and permanent medical issues that may leave him in constant pain and require constant attention. Given the amount of this settlement and what drivers can be found liable for when they are found to have acted negligently on the road, it is crucial to always remember how important it is to follow traffic signals and paying attention while driving. To read more about this trucking accident settlement, click on this link.

A recent study has shown that traffic deaths are at an all time low. According to Trucking Info, the reason for the decline is believed to be mostly attributed to certain factors such as safer roads, safer vehicles and an overall drop in the number of drivers. Additionally, certain campaigns have increased driver awareness and overall more cautious driving, such as campaigns that remind of the importance of not drinking and driving and of always wearing a seat belt when driving or riding in a car. To read more about this trucking accident study, click on the link.

While the decrease is clearly a step in the right direction, it is only the a step. These numbers are still high and need to drop further. The fight for driver safety will continue until people stop dying in traffic accidents. In addition to drivers taking it upon themselves to be safer and more aware on the road, the safety measures must be taken in other ways as well. When it comes to trucking accidents, to make sure they are less likely, the trucking companies have to take the initiative to encourage truck safety and driver safety and help insure that their trucks and drivers are safely on the road. Hopefully, if everyone can take it upon themselves, and trucking companies can take the steps to make safety a priority, the number of fatalities in car and trucking crashes will continue to decrease.

A trucking accident that occurred on March 7th injured 13 people. The south side Chicago trucking accident occurred near Loomis Street and Cermak Road when a semi-trailer truck and a CTA bus crashed into each other. According to Chicago Breaking News, twelve people on the bus suffered personal injuries as well as the truck driver. Luckily, only one of the injuries was severe enough to be considered critical. At this point there is no word on what caused the accident and if either driver will be facing any kind of charges. To read more about this South Side trucking accident, please click on the link.

Many accidents occur each years involving Chicago Transit Authority busses and trains. If you or a loved one were involved in a Chicago accident where you were a passenger on a bus or train and feel that you may be entitled to damages for injuries, please contact a Chicago accident attorney to discuss your options. Many times the accident may be caused by a negligent driver on either the bus or train, or in a car that crashed into one of these, and the passengers involved may be entitled to compensation.

An Illinois trucking accident lawsuit has been settled and the family of the victims have been awarded $4 million dollars. The LaSalle County trucking accident occurred two years ago when a semi-truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and caused an accident that involved seven vehicles in total. According to My Web Times, the wrongful death lawsuit that was just settled was in connection with an elderly couple that were killed in the chain reaction accident, and another young woman also died as a result of the accident and several others were hurt. The court found the truck driver guilty of failing to reduce speed and following too closely and after the court found the driver negligent the jury was asked to determine what damages should be awarded to the estate, and they came up with $2 million per person or $4 million dollars total. To read more about this trucking accident lawsuit, please click on the hyperlink.

Following too closely and failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident are common causes of both trucking and car accidents. When following too closely or driving too fast for the conditions it can make it difficult or even impossible for drivers to stop in time to avoid an accident. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website, trucking accident account for about 12% of all motor vehicle accidents and the best way to prevent more accidents is to make sure you are a defensive driver. This means that you are always aware of what is going on around you while driving, of other vehicles on the road, follow speed limits and drive slowly when conditions require it, are always alert while at the wheel and maintain your distance from other vehicles. Being a cautious and defensive driver can be all it takes to reduce the number of trucking and car accidents and can make the road a safer place to be.

A national trucking company has recently announced that in 2009 they saw a large reduction in their trucking accident rates, with about a 13 percent decrease in accidents from the 2008 rates. The trucking company also reports that over the past five years their safety records have gotten better with each year, with 2009 showing the safest numbers yet. In addition to the decrease in accidents over the past several years, the trucking company has received more than 70 safety awards in the last year. These number are a great improvement to the trucking world and show the commitment to safety that some companies are choosing to make and what a remarkable difference that choice can make. To read more about these trucking crash statistics, click on the link.

The Chicago trucking accident attorneys at Levin & Perconti are pleased to see this reduction in trucking accidents and the care that some companies are putting into their safety efforts. We hope that other companies will choose to follow this lead and make their safety standards higher, causing their trucking accident numbers to decrease as well. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website offers several ways in which trucking accidents can be avoided, such as assuring that drivers drive no faster than the posted speed, that drivers never drive while they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, that drivers are always well-rested when driving and that drivers always where their seat belts when driving to protect themselves in the case of a trucking accident. If other trucking companies can take these precautions into their training and find ways to ensure that drivers follow these simple precautions, the number of trucking crashes should continue to decrease.

A recent article by Business Insurance magazine has roused attention surrounding the issue of sleep apnea among truckers. The article cites a study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that revealed that the percentage of commercial truck drivers with sleep apnea is very high. The study showed that about a quarter of commercial truck drivers suffer from some type of sleep apnea, however many people do not know that they have this sleep disorder. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which a person’s airway is constricted while sleeping, which causes constant waking up during the night and interrupted sleep. The symptoms sound like snoring or gasping in one’s sleep. Sleep apnea is most common in people with a body mass index of over 30 and a neck circumference of higher than 17 inches and have other health issues related to weight, and is seen mostly in obese individuals. To read more about sleep apnea and trucking accidents, click on the hyperlink.

The reason that this high percentage of sleep apnea in truck drivers can be so dangerous is that a common effect of sleep apnea is daytime drowsiness, due to interrupted sleep during the night. Studies have shown that drivers suffering from sleep apnea are 2.5 times more likely to be involved in a car accident than drivers that are not suffering from this condition. Given the high number of truck drivers that are believed to have sleep apnea, this is clearly a problem with truck drivers, in that they need to be alert and aware when driving so as to avoid trucking accidents. Many trucking companies are not aware of the prevalence of sleep apnea among their drivers and therefore are not taking any actions to try to reduce sleep apnea among drivers.

According to USA Today, one way in which the trucking companies may try to curb this problem is by suggesting that truck drivers undergo a sleep study once they hit a certain weight. The goal here is to try to detect sleep apnea in drivers and get them treatment for the condition before allowing them back on the road. Treatment options range from surgery to certain types of devices that can clear the breathing passage while the person is sleeping. This is a problem that needs to be addressed in order to hopefully try to limit the number of truck crashes.

A Motor Carrier Transportation Truck Safety study that was conducted recently found that there are certain precautions that drivers can take when on the road with large commercial trucks to help avoid dangerous trucking accidents. The reason that it is so crucial for drivers of passenger cars to be aware and careful around trucks is because it is 15 times for likely for someone in a passenger car to be killed than it is for the truck driver to be killed.

In order to stay safe while on the road with trucks, our Chicago accident attorneys recommend that you always leave more space than you would behind a passenger car. Additionally, make sure to never cut off trucks and do not tailgate trucks. Also make sure to follow the speed limit because speeding is another leading cause of serious trucking accidents, as well as other types of traffic accidents. To read more about safety measures drivers can take to avoid truck crashes, please click on the link. Making an active choice to be cautious and around trucks can result in fewer trucking accidents and safer roads for passenger cars.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been settled in connection with a 2007 trucking accident that resulted in the death of a couple. The trucking accident occurred when a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and struck an Illinois woman’s vehicle, causing a chain reaction in which the couple was killed along with the Illinois driver. The case required the jury to decide what damages couple's sons should receive, because the trucking company conceded liability early on in the wrongful death lawsuit. The jury awarded $4 million to the couple's sons. To read more about this trucking accident settlement, please click on the hyperlink.

According to Trans Scan, almost half of long-distance truck drivers interviewed admitted to nodding off at the wheel at some point in their career and about twenty percent of all truck-drivers interviewed reported either an accident or near accident due to nodding off at the wheel. Given these high statistics and the extreme danger caused by fatigued truck drivers, it is important for trucking companies to enforce maximum driving hours and have safeguards in place to help keep tired drivers off the road. In addition to the horrible accidents that can result from tired drivers, trucking companies have added incentive to keep their drivers alert because the companies can be held liable for accidents that are caused by their drivers.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been filed in connection with a December accident when a truck driver veered over the center line of the highway striking a passenger car head on. The family of the victim has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in connection with the accident against the trucking company, because it is believed that the company knew of the medical condition that caused the truck driver to black out at the time of the truck crash and kill the victim. According to Justice News Flash, the lawsuit alleges that since the company was aware of the driver’s medical conditions and had previous reports of his driving record, they should have respected these issues and should not have allowed him on the road alone. To read more about this trucking accident lawsuit, click on this link.

Wrongful death lawsuits may be filed against a person or corporation that can be held liable for the death of someone. Each state’s wrongful death claims are controlled by statute, laying out the requirements for filing a suit, but they are usually filed by a close relative of the victim. This is the appropriate recourse when a company is responsible for someone's death. In this case, the trucking company is being charged with wrongful death because they were aware of the driver’s condition that caused the fatal crash. To contact a Chicago wrongful accident attorney, please click on the hyperlink.

A trucking accident that occurred on the Dan Ryan Expressway on February 20th left an Illinois adult and two children seriously injured. The accident occurred when the van they were traveling in blew a tire and crashed into a semi-truck. The man and two of the children were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident and were ejected from the vehicle, and are all listed in critical condition at local hospitals. According to The Chicago Sun Times, two other adults and one other child were involved in the crash, but luckily they were wearing their seat belts and therefore were not ejected from the car. If you would like to read more about this Chicago trucking accident, please click on the link.

Drivers and their passengers should always wear their seat belts whenever they are traveling in a car. Wearing seat belts have been found to be the best way to reduce injuries in car accidents. As this accident shows, accidents can occur even when you are paying attention to the road and driving cautiously, in the event of a tire blowing out or some other car malfunction. Because these types of accidents are possible, and because even though you may feel that you are a safe driver but you can never know about the other drivers on the road with you, it is crucial to always wear your seat belt. For seat belt safety statistics, please click on the link.

A Chicago trucking accident occurred on February 16th at the intersection of Ogden and Sacramento when a car tried to speed through traffic that was stopped for an approaching fire truck. According to WGN, the speeding car crashed into the fire truck, injuring three people that were in the fire truck. The firefighters had to stop and help the victims at the scene of the accident. To read more about this fire truck accident, please click on this link.

Illinois law requires that all drivers pull to the right side of the road if an emergency vehicle is approaching. This applies to both emergency vehicles that are behind or in front of the driver. In addition to this being the law, it is very important to always yield to emergency vehicles because they are trying to get somewhere quickly and if cars do not yield, an accident is likely.

The family of a man who was killed in a trucking accident has been awarded a $3.6 million settlement for their wrongful death lawsuit. According to About Lawsuits, the fatal trucking accident occurred in June of 2005, when the driver was crushed to death after a cradle of propane cylinders fell on top of him. The court found that the trucking company was negligent in allowing four layers of propane cylinders, when only three layers were safe. Another driver for the company testified that the company allowed for this dangerous load because they wanted to get the cylinders loaded into the truck as quickly as possible, and that the driver that was killed had no idea that these safety precautions were ignored. To read more about this tragic accident and the settlement, please click here. According to The Times Reporter, the trucking company is planning on appealing the verdict citing Motor Carrier Safety Regulations as their reason for fighting the case, specifically that the safety issue in question is supposed to be under the truck driver’s watch and is the driver’s responsibility. To read more about the trucking company fighting this claim, please click here.

It is important to remember that trucking companies can often be found liable for trucking accidents. It is important that companies take all appropriate safety precautions to keep their drivers and trucks safe for the road and to keep the number of trucking accidents to a minimum.

An Illinois man was killed when he was involved in a fatal trucking accident on February 10th, in which 50 vehicles were involved. According to WPXI, the trucking accident involved 30 tractor-trailer trucks and 20 cars and is believed to have been caused by the dangerous weather conditions in the area at the time of the accident, and started when one truck jack-knifed causing a domino effect on all the vehicles behind the truck. At this point it is known that at least 18 people were injured, but no more is known on the extent of the injuries. To read more about this multi-vehicle crash, please click on this link.

It is extremely important to remember that winter weather conditions can make the roads a much more dangerous place to travel. Even slight weather can greatly effect the conditions of the road and drivers ability to control their vehicle. Please always be aware of the road and extra cautious when driving in icy, snowy or even rainy conditions, and always drive a slower speed if necessary and leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been filed by the family of a trucker who was killed this past October when the coal truck he was driving crashed. The trucking accident occurred when the truck went off the road, into a ditch, hit a tree and then rolled over. According to The Oak Ridger, the trucking accident lawsuit names the coal company as the Defendant, after investigations revealed that the independent contract driver that hired the trucker had not provided initial mine training and that the engine brake accelerator on the truck has not functioning properly at the time of the crash. The wrongful death lawsuit seeks $17 million dollars in damages. To read more about this tragic accident, please click on this link.

This type of trucking accident is completely preventable, and it is the responsibility of trucking companies to make sure that their trucks are completely safe and up to speed and that their drivers are prepared for the road. Trucking companies can be held responsible for their vehicles and drivers if it can be found, like in this case, that the trucking company was acting negligently in fulfilling the duties they owe to the driver. It is important for all employers, including trucking companies, to be able to ensure a safe and reliable environment for their drivers to work in.

The family of the victim of a trucking accident has settled their wrongful death lawsuit. The trucking accident occurred almost two years ago when a dump truck crossed the center line of the highway it was traveling on and crashed into a school bus, killing one teenager and injuring 10 other children. The lawsuit alleged that the dump truck driving was driving too fast on a curve, which caused the tragic trucking accident. According to the KY Post, the state lowered the speed limit by ten miles per hour following this accident as well as another fatal accident that occurred less than one month later. To read more about this trucking accident, click on this link.

Recently, a increase in the speed limit for truckers has been put into effect, with the intention that allowing trucks to travel at the same speed as other vehicles would be safer overall for all of the drivers. This law has been very controversial because while the uniform speed could have benefits, allowing large trucks to be traveling at a faster rate of speed could easily be very dangerous as well. While the law is new, it just went into effect at the beginning on this year, it is difficult to determine what the actual result will be. To read more about this new law and the different views on its enactment, please click on this link.

A trucking accident in Effingham occurred when a train crashed into the side of a garbage truck on February 8th. According to WJBD Radio, a Dietrich man was driving a garbage truck and attempted to cross train tracks, but did not have enough time to safely cross the tracks and the garbage truck was struck by a train. The driver of the truck was thrown from the truck and suffered severe personal injuries but luckily was conscious and alert when emergency vehicles arrived. To read more about this trucking accident, click on this link.

In this accident there were no gates at the crossing to alert drivers when a train was coming. When there are no gates at the crossing it is important to take extra care and be extra cautious before crossing a train track in order to avoid an accident. Please click on this link for some safety tip and information about train tracks.

Each year many crashes occur and lead to many deaths and many dangerous road spills. According to a compiled list of trucking crash statistics, in 2008, over 4000 fatal large semi-truck accidents were reported resulting in even more deaths than accidents. Close to 130,000 non-fatal accidents were reported in 2008. In that same year over 2,500 collisions involved Hazmat spills. To read more trucking accident , statistics please click on this link.

Given the high number of trucking accidents it is crucial to take steps to try to reduce these accidents and the dangers associated with them. Fatalities are so high in these types of accidents because of how big the trucks are compared to cars that the accidents often involve. The road spills can be very dangerous to people in the surrounding areas as well very difficult to clean up, often causing the road where the trucking crash occurred to be shut down for great lengths of time. Given the dangers that arise from these accidents, it is very important for truck drivers to be very cautious and for other drivers to also be alert when driving around large trucks. Hopefully, the recent bann of text messaging for truck drivers while operating their vehicles will reduce the number of injuries and deaths that occur on our roadways.

Earlier this week the federal government passed a ban which forbids truck drivers (as well as bus drivers) from text messaging while driving. This ban goes along with the trend that many states are following that ban text messaging while driving in passenger vehicles. The reason for these bans going into effect is because how many car and trucking accidents have been directly linked to drivers not focusing on the road while being distracted from their cell phones. The intent of these bans is to cut down on the number of accidents that are caused by distracted drivers.

According to USA Today, this recent ban does not address passenger vehicles and only sets a federal ban for operators of vehicles carrying at least eight passengers. While many people feel that this is a definite step in the right direction, advocates of the texting ban feel like the federal government needs to go a step further. While many states individually ban passenger vehicle texting, there is no federal law against texting while driving on a passenger vehicle level. Some Senator advocates propose taking away up to a quarter of a state’s federal highway funds to states that do not impose a texting ban.

Texting while driving is a very serious problem and many car and trucking accidents are caused daily by this distraction. These avoidable accidents can be prevented by making sure not to use your cell phone for texting while you are driving, regardless of whether or not a law exists banning it where you are driving. In the city of Chicago, a texting ban went into effect at the beginning of this year. If you would like more information on this recent federal trucking texting ban, please click here.

A trucking accident occurred a couple of weeks ago in which four people were fatally injured. The fatal trucking accident occurred when a tractor-trailer was driving too fast given the current weather conditions, slid across the highway and crashed into a bus. According to The Washington Post, the bus driver and 3 of the bus passengers, which were residents of a special needs home, were killed and six more passengers were injured in this terrible accident. At this point it is unknown whether criminal charges will be filed or if the family of any of the victims will be filing wrongful death suits. To read more about this accident, please click on this link.

It is very important for drivers of both trucks and passenger cars to always remember to drive at a speed appropriate for the weather. When the weather is snowy and icy, drivers may need to drive much slower than the posted speed limit and want to make sure that they drive at a speed in which they can always maintain control of their vehicle. The added danger with ice and snow is that not only can it be more difficult to see what is around you but the road itself may become icy and dangerous to drive on. If the weather seems to be too unsafe for driving, or if you feel uncomfortable driving in the conditions, please do not drive until the weather clears up and if you need to drive be extremely cautious. Cautious driving can greatly reduce the number of car and trucking accidents and hopefully safe lives.

A tractor trailer accident on January 23rd resulted in the death of two Chicago area residents. The truck accident occurred when a semi struck a van carrying the family, after the truck was reportedly weaving on the highway. The trucking accident resulted in the death of the two family members as well as personal injuries to sixteen other people involved in the fatal accident. According to The Chicago Tribune, samples were taken from both drivers to test to see if they were under the influence at the time of the trucking accident. If you would like more information on this trucking accident, please click here.

A South Pekin woman was killed in an Illinois Route 29 trucking accident on January 20th. According to The PJ Star, the trucking accident was likely due to ice that had just formed on the road causing a pickup truck to skid into a semi-truck. The driver of the pickup truck was killed as a result of the trucking accident. Several other car accidents in the area were also believed to have been due to the icy weather. To read more about this trucking accident, please click on this link.

The victim of a trucking accident that occurred in 2007 is suing the company he worked for as well as the individual that was driving the truck that struck him. The victim was a paramedic and was riding with a patient in the back of an ambulance when the trailer of a truck struck the ambulance after the ambulance driver attempted to avoid the truck with the trailer. According to The West Virginia Record, the victim is seeking over $30,000 in damages. To read more about this trucking accident lawsuit, click here.

The families of the victims of a fatal trucking accident have filed a trucking accident lawsuit against the driver of the truck. The trucking accident occurred in 2008 when the victim’s car struck the trailer of a truck that was stopped across several lanes of traffic while waiting for a traffic light. Both of the people in the front seat of the passenger car were killed and the backseat passenger suffered serious personal injuries. According to The Aspen Times, the trucking accident lawsuit is against the trucking company alleging failure to adequately prepare the rig safely. To read more about this trucking accident lawsuit, click on this link.

A trucking accident that occurred on the morning of January 16th on Illinois Highway 53 in Rolling Meadows, resulted in the truck’s load of milk being spilled. According to Chicago Breaking News, the trucking accident occurred when a vehicle tried to cut over into another lane and a different vehicle was forced to swerve and then hit the milk truck. The driver of the original car has been charged with improper lane usage, but is unharmed. The other two drivers involved in the truck accident were taken to local hospitals, however their condition is non life-threatening. To read more about this Illinois accident, click here.

A trucking accident lawsuit filed by one the people injured in a trucking accident in which a five people died, which occurred back in 2005, has been settled and will not be going to trial. According to Chippewa.com, many other people were injured when the semi-truck struck a motor coach that the Plaintiff was a passenger on. To read more about this truck accident settlement, click on the link.

A trucking accident that occurred on January 15th resulted in the death of two sisters that were involved in the terrible crash. According to ETruth.com, the truck driver was an Illinois resident, and the crash occurred when the truck driver struck a car in which the two sisters were traveling. At this point no citations have been issued in connection with the fatal accident, and to read more about this tragic trucking accident please click on this link.

A trucking accident that occurred earlier this month resulted in the serious injury of an Illinois man. According to Alamogordo Daily News, the trucking accident happened when a tractor-trailer in which the victim was driving veered off of the road and hit a pole, causing the truck to roll onto its side. The victim was able to crawl out of the truck following the trucking accident and is now in a local hospital for treatment of the severe personal injuries incurred in the accident. To read more about this Illinois victim, please click on the hyperlink.

A trucking accident earlier this morning occurred when a semi-truck crashed into a car on the Bishop Ford Freeway on the South Side of Chicago. According to The Chicago Sun Times, at least one person involved in the trucking accident was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center and is listed in critical condition. Not much more is known about what caused the Illinois trucking accident at this time, but to read more please click on this hyperlink.

A Salem trucking accident early this morning left one Illinois woman injured. The trucking accident occurred when the victim was attempting to turn left and a semi-truck driver apparently failed to stop at a red light and crashed into the victim’s car. According to WJBD Radio, the victim had to be extricated from her vehicle but has since been treated and released from a local hospital. To read more about this trucking accident, please click on the link.

A trucking accident that occurred on December 29th resulted in the injury of two people. The Joliet trucking accident was caused by a sports utility vehicle hitting a semi-truck on I-80. According to Suburban Chicago News, the SUV driver failed to stop in time and ended up underneath the semi-truck requiring the driver of the SUV to be extricated from the vehicle. The two people that were seriously personally injured in the trucking accident were the driver of the SUV and the passenger of the SUV. The driver will be cited with failure to reduce speed and possibly may face a DUI charge. If you would like more information on this Illinois trucking accident, please click on this link.

A fatal Interstate 70 trucking accident resulted in the death of four people and seriously injured six other people. The truck accident occurred when an awful snowstorm caused a truck to lose control and crash into a shuttle bus. According to The Springfield News Sun, the shuttle bus was carrying people with developmental disabilities, and all of the people that died in the trucking accident were passengers, and the driver, of the shuttle bus. The six people that suffered personal injuries were also passengers of the bus and were all Springfield residents. The driver of the truck suffered minor injuries and was released from a local hospital shortly after the trucking accident. If you would like to read more about this tragic accident, please click on this link.

A strange trucking accident that occurred in Aurora and resulted in the near death of a driver occurred when a semi-trailer drove under an overpass and ice that was on the overpass got caught on the truck and detached and struck a car driving behind the semi-truck. According to The Daily Herald, while this odd trucking accident seems like a very strange occurrence, several other people have reported similar accidents of this type on this same stretch of highway on Butterfield Road. The most recent of these trucking accidents occurred on January 4th when an Aurora man suffered multiple personal injuries and the ice crushed his windshield sending glass everywhere. To read more about this odd trucking accident problem, please click on this link.

A trucking accident in Champaign caused one lane of Interstate 57 to be closed for several hours on January 4th. The trucking accident occurred when the load of pigs that the driver was carrying shifted in the truck and caused the truck to trip over. The truck then slid into the road blocking both of the southbound lanes. The truck driver was not injured and the veterinary teaching hospital and several students from the University of Illinois program were called in to assist in helping the pigs. According to The News-Gazette, the rescue was rather difficult due to the freezing temperatures and the truck driver was cited for failing to reduce speed in order to avoid an accident. To read more about this Champaign truck accident, click on the link.

A Lake Forest trucking accident on December 26th left two people dead. The trucking accident occurred on Route 60 and involved a semi-truck and a pickup. According to Justice News Flash, the accident occurred when the driver of the pickup lost control of his vehicle due to dangerous road conditions and spun into oncoming traffic, where a semi-truck crashed into the pickup, which caused the two people in the pickup to be fatally injured. If you would like to read more about this fatal Illinois trucking accident, please click on this hyperlink.

An accident that occurred on December 29th that injured a couple and their young children on the Dan Ryan Expressway is believed to have been caused by a semi-truck that then immediately fled the scene. This Chicago trucking accident occurred near 59th Street when, as authorities now believe, a semi-truck caused a pick-up truck to lose control of the car and hit a wall. According to Chicago Sun Times, while the semi-truck is not believed to have made actual contact with the pick-up truck the semi still may have caused the pickup to crash. The truck fled the scene and there were no witnesses to the trucking accident. The three passengers in the pickup were taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County and University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, and all conditions are currently unknown. To read more about this Chicago accident, please click on this link.

A one truck trucking accident occurred on December 21st when for unknown reasons a semi-truck caught fire and became completely engulfed. The trucking accident resulted in major traffic jams, closing off an entire direction of traffic. According to New York Injury News, local firefighters were able to get the fire under control rather quickly and the truck driver had been able to get out of the truck before it had caught on fire. To read more about this fiery trucking accident, click on this link.

A trucking accident resulted in the death of one young boy and injured his two siblings and their parents. According to Savannah Now, the fatal accident occurred on December 27th when the family’s van was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer carrying paper products that was going very fast. The victim’s car had just slowed down due to holiday traffic congestion and the truck had not responded to the slowing speed and when it hit the car, the car was pushed off the roadway. While the truck driver is suspected of driving too closely, at this time no citations have been issued and no charges have been filed at this point. To read more about this fatal trucking accident, click here.

A trucking accident that occurred on December 22nd left one woman dead. The tragic trucking accident occurred when a passenger car lost control, likely because of weather, and crossed into oncoming traffic causing a tractor-trailer to strike the vehicle. According to New York Injury News, the driver of the passenger car was rushed to a local hospital but succumbed to her injuries and passed away shortly following the trucking accident. Many similar Illinois trucking accidents occur in the dangerous weather conditions common at this time of year. To read more about this tragic accident, click here.

An Illinois trucking accident occurred on December 27th, causing three people to suffer from personal injuries. The Illinois accident occurred when the driver of a van tried to pass a tractor trailer semi and the van lost control and hit the back of the truck. The driver of the van was ticketed for failing to reduce his speed to avoid an accident and the truck driver was ticketed for driving with a suspended license. According to the Quincy Herald Whig, all four of the people involved in the trucking accident were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. To read more about this Scott County trucking accident, click on this hyperlink.

Certain laws will go into effect on January 1st that will affect trucking drivers in Illinois. A law banning texting while driving was approved and will go into effect at the start of the new year. Additionally, trucking drivers can be cited for not talking on hands-free devices if they are in a school or construction zone, and other fines have been raised for citations that occur in school zones. An Illinois law is also going into effect raising the speed limit for truckers from 55 to 65 miles per hour because many believe that if the entire flow of traffic is going at the same speed there will be less trucking accidents. Several fees, such as registration and license plates, will also go up at the beginning of the new year. To read more about these new laws going into effect affecting Illinois truck drivers, please click on this link.

A trucking accident that occurred on December 17th in Alton is under investigation as to who was at fault for the accident. The accident, which left an Illinois teenager dead, is said to have been caused by the teenage driver according to police reports but an eyewitness says that the accident was caused by the truck driver. According to The Telegraph, the trucking accident that occurred on Illinois Route 140 occurred when the teenage driver was driving through an intersection and the truck turned in front of the car, and the issue is whether the teenage driver had a green light at the time of the accident. To learn more about this fatal accident, please click on the hyperlink.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been filed by the mother of the victim of a trucking accident that occurred earlier this year. According to the trucking accident lawsuit, the accident occurred when a truck smashed into the car the victim was riding as a passenger in while the car was waiting at a stop light. The lawsuit names both the truck driver and the trucking company as defendants in the lawsuit. According to Sunday Gazette Mail, the complaint alleges that the truck driver was drunk at the time of the trucking accident. The truck driver is currently in custody awaiting trial on drunk driving charges. Please click on the hyperlink in order to read more about this trucking accident lawsuit.

A truck accident that occurred on December 12th and left one woman dead is under investigation to see if the driver of the tractor-trailer that caused the trucking accident was using his laptop at the time that the accident occurred. According to Buffalo News, the state troopers found a laptop in the cab of the truck involved in the accident and tests are being run to see if the laptop was running when the accident happened. The trucking accident occurred when the truck struck the victim’s car causing the driver to die. The victim’s car was on the side of the road because the driver had just been in an accident with a deer and police were wondering why the truck was unable to stop in time to miss the car. To read more about this trucking accident, click here.

A truck accident lawsuit has been filed in connection with a January Maine Township accident. The Suit was filed by State Farm Insurance and alleges that a Maine Township Highway Department truck backed in a car at the intersection of Church Street and Greenwood and was the fault of the truck driver backing up suddenly as the car entered the intersection. According to Pioneer Local, the complaint seeks over $4000 in damages. To read more about this trucking accident lawsuit, please click here.

A Streator man was killed in a trucking accident on December 16th after his car was struck by a semi truck, The trucking accident was caused by the truck failing to stop at a stop sign and crashing into a passenger car in which the victim was driving. According to The Pantagraph, the victim was traveling on Illinois 23 when struck by the truck and the victim appeared to be dead at the scene of the trucking accident. If you would like to read more about the fatal Streator trucking accident, please click here,

The family of the victim of a trucking accident has filed a trucking accident lawsuit in connection with the wrongful death of their loved one. According to the complaint, the trucking accident occurred when the truck driver was following too closely and lost control, striking a median. The impact of hitting the median caused a chunk of concrete to break off and go through the windshield of the victim’s car, killing him instantly. According to Top Wire News, the trucking driver already was been indicted on criminal charges and according to the family’s personal injury attorney the family is worried about aggressive driving and unsafe roads and so they brought this lawsuit. To read more about this trucking accident lawsuit, click here.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been filed in connection with a Kane County accident that occurred that spring in Sugar Grove Township. According to The Daily Herald, a Marengo man was killed after a pickup truck crashed into oncoming traffic and slammed into the victim’s van. The wrongful death suit is against the County because the driver that caused the truck accident had been pulled over just minutes before the accident for erratic driving but then was allowed back on the road. The truck accident lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 in damages and is scheduled for early next year. To read more about this Kane County wrongful death suit, click here.

Recently, a 26-year-old man was killed, and an 8-month-old baby was seriously injured after a tractor-trailer collided with their vehicle. Two other passengers in the SUV suffered critical personal injuries and the truck driver suffered minor injuries. According to Justice News Flash, the driver stopped his vehicle in the center lane of the busy interstate and turned on his flashers. He exited the car for a brief time, and the semi-truck slammed into the back of the SUV just as he was getting back in. The report did not indicate why he exited his car. To read more about this fatal trucking accident, click on the link.

Two Fed-Ex employees from Illinois were injured in the Poconos when the tractor-trailer they were operating drove off an embankment and collided with the front entrance of a vineyard. According to reports, the truck driver lost control of the truck, causing it crash through a guardrail and plunge down the embankment. Local emergency personnel had to free the driver, and both he and his passenger were taken to a local hospital. Fortunately, they did not suffer any serious personal injuries. Read about this Fed Ex trucking accident.

A Mettawa trucking accident injured a Lake Bluff woman who is now in stable condition at a local hospital. The accident occurred on December 3rd on Illinois Route 60 when the driver of the car failed to yield while turning in front of a semi. According to WBBM 780, the trucking accident caused the semi to careen off the roadway, but luckily the truck driver did not suffer any injuries. The accident is still under investigation. If you would like more information on the Illinois trucking accident, click here.

A new Illinois law will raise the speed limit for truckers from 55 to 65 starting at the beginning of the new year. The bill has been in the air for years and just now was passed. According to WSIL TV, many truckers are excited about the increase in speed limit because of the time it takes to cross the state at the lower speed limit. Proponents of the new law claim that the higher speed limit should actually make truck driving safer and lead to fewer trucking accidents because the trucks can now drive more at the speed of other traffic. To read more about this new Illinois trucking law, please click on the hyperlink.

A trucking accident lawsuit recently concluded, resulting in a $1.5 million dollar settlement for the Plaintiff in connection with a trucking accident that occurred in 2005 in which the Plaintiff’s vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer. According to The Morning Call, the complaint alleged that the truck hit the Plaintiff’s car while the Plaintiff was stopped at a light waiting to turn. The plaintiff’s trucking accident attorney sought damages for Plaintiff’s injured back, head, arms, neck and legs incurred in the trucking accident. If you would like more information on this trucking accident lawsuit settlement, click on this hyperlink.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been filed in connection with the death of two teenagers who were killed on November 9th while working on the median of I-75 after a truck driver was driving negligently and veered off the road, striking the two young kids. According to The Examiner, the wrongful death lawsuit seeks $5 million dollars. The trucking accident attorney for the Plaintiff represents the mother of one of the victims’ young daughter. The lawsuit alleges that the truck driver either fell asleep at the wheel, was under the influence at the time of the trucking accident or was texting when the accident occurred. No criminal charges have been filed at this point. If you are interested in reading more about this trucking accident, click here.

A trucking accident that occurred in Monee on November 20th left person dead and one person with severe personal injuries. The trucking accident occurred on I-57 and according to The Herald-News, it is believed to have been caused by the semi failing to observe a traffic stop. One person involved in the accident was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and another victim has to be airlifted to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Citations are supposed to issued, but at this time none have been issued. To read more about this Monee trucking accident, click here.

A trucking accident on December 3rd left a Lake County Road closed down for about two hours. The trucking accident occurred when a semi was traveling west on Illinois Highway 60 and a car collided with the semi. The semi swerved about 30 feet off the road, knocking over a traffic light pole. According to Chicago Breaking News, the driver of the car was taken to Condell Medical Center in Libertyville and at this point the extent of her personal injuries is unknown. The truck driver was also taken to the same hospital, although not for treatment of any injuries but for drug and alcohol testing. At this point no charges have been filed but the trucking accident still remains under investigation. If you would like to read more about this Lake County trucking accident, please click here.

A Vernon Hills trucking accident left a woman injured. The trucking accident occurred on December 2nd at the intersection of IL Route 60 and St. Mary’s Road and seems to have occurred when the woman’s car was trying to turn left in front of the truck and the truck then struck the car. According to Pioneer Local, the woman was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville for treatment of her personal injuries and the driver of the truck did not suffer any injuries in the accident. To learn more about this trucking accident, please click on the link.

A young mother was killed in a trucking accident on November 30th on her way back from a Thanksgiving holiday in Illinois. The trucking accident is believed to have occurred when the young woman fell asleep at the wheel and a semi tried to avoid her but she hit the last set of his wheels and she was killed instantly. According to WNDU.com, the victim’s two children who were in the back seat were fine after the trucking accident and their lives are being credited to the child safety belts. The woman is also survived by her husband who could not go along on the family trip because of work. To read more about this horrible accident, please click on the link.

A trucking accident on November 30th left a bridge closed for several hours after hydrochloric acid was spilled all over the roadway. The trucking accident occurred when a tractor-trailer hit a barrier and turned over, spilling its load of about 400 gallons of hydrochloric acid. According to KansasCity.com, not only were road closures required but the area has to be evacuated because of the danger of the hazardous materials that had been spilled. The truck driver, two police officers and a construction worker were taken to a local hospital after they inhaled fumes but none of the injuries were life-threatening. At this point in the investigation, speed is believed to have been a contributing factor to the trucking accident. Click here to read more about the trucking accident.

A Belleville personal injury attorney wants a new hearing and monetary damages from an insurance company that the attorney feels bribed a witness in connection with a trucking accident in 2006. According to The Chicago Tribune, the trial has since ended, but the attorney claims that the witness that claims to have seen the driver swerving prior to the accident from her apartment could not have actually seen this because her lease started six months after the trucking accident occurred. If you are interested in more about this possibly fraudulent verdict, click on this link.

Police have released the name of a person killed in a fatal trucking accident that occurred on November 20th. The trucking accident occurred when a tractor-trailer was stopped in connection with another crash and a pickup truck struck the stopped truck. According to RGJ.com, another vehicle then crashed into the pickup truck from behind. The passenger in the pickup truck was fatally inured, and the trucking driver was a Chicago resident and had to be extricated from his vehicle and taken to a local hospital. For more information on this fatal trucking accident, click here.

A trucking driver has been cited for spilling 65 gallons of gasoline onto the Stevenson Expressway on November 27th. The trucking accident occurred near Pulaski Road and the Expressway was shut down in both directions for several hours so crews could clean up the spill. According to Chicago Sun Times, the spill was caused by a trucking accident in which the truck carrying the gasoline collided with a passenger car. The reason that the spill was so dangerous and lanes had to be shut down until all the gasoline was cleaned up was because gasoline is extremely flammable. The truck driver was issued citations for improper overtaking on the right and for disobeying a traffic control device. For more information on this Illinois trucking accident, please click on the hyperlink.

A trucking accident on I-57 near Kankakee on November 24th occurred after the driver of a truck fell asleep at the wheel. According to The Daily Journal, the truck driver lost control after falling asleep and the truck flipped over, causing traffic to be stalled for almost an hour while the truck was removed from the area. The driver was alright following the trucking accident and as of now no charges have been filed. For more on this Kankakee trucking accident, click here.

The Plaintiff in a trucking accident lawsuit has received $600,000 in damages. According to Lawyers and Settlements, the trucking accident lawsuit was initially problematic because the victim has extensive pre-existing conditions and difficult pre-injury medical records, however after it was revealed that the Defendant truck driver has destroyed certain documents in connection with the crash, the value of the case increased greatly. If you would like to find out more about this trucking accident lawsuit, click here.

A wrongful death lawsuit in connection with a 2006 trucking accident resulted in a $5.1 million verdict for the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff was involved in a truck accident in which his wife was killed when their car was struck by a trucker than allegedly ran a stop sign. According to staugustine.com, the Defendant tried to argue that the accident was due to poor signage and not his fault, however the jury found that the Defendant was 60 percent responsible for the accident, the trucking company was 40 percent responsible and the county was not responsible for any of the trucking accident. To read more about this trucking accident lawsuit, click here.

An eight-vehicle Monee trucking accident that occurred on November 20th killed a Harvey man and hurt two others. The truck driver that caused the trucking accident has been cited with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and improper lane usage. The trucking accident occurred while cars were stopped on Monee Manhattan Road from previous accidents and when the truck was unable to stop in time to avoid hitting the cars. According to The Chicago Sun Times, the victim that was killed was pronounced dead at the scene of the truck accident. For more information on this trucking accident, click here.

An Anderson woman was injured on November 16th when she was struck by a tractor trailer heading down I-69. According to The Herald Bulletin, witnesses to the trucking accident claim that they had been trying to calm the woman down but that she then ran in front of the truck in what is believed to have been a suicide attempt. The truck driver had slowed down because he was trying to merge into a different lane. The woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a broken pelvis, leg and arm and a cut to the forehead. For more information on this Anderson trucking accident, click here.

A Rockford trucking accident that occurred on November 20th slowed traffic at the 20 Bypass and I-90 and traffic had to drive slowly along the should to pass. According to WREX, the trucking accident occurred when a semi-truck flipped over and blocked both lanes for about 45 minutes. The trucking accident occurred near Kishwaukee River and luckily no injuries were reported. For additional information on this trucking accident, click here.

A Fulton County trucking accident injured the driver when a deer that was in the air after being hit by another vehicle flew into the truck driver’s windshield. The accident occurred on November 19th on Route 24 and after the deer crashed through the truck driver’s window the semi went off the road and crashed into a guardrail and then into a ditch. Luckily, the truck driver was wearing his seat belt. According to PJ Star, the truck driver was hospitalized with serious personal injuries. Please click here to read more about this Liverpool trucking accident.

A Salem man was seriously hurt in a three-automobile crash on Route 50 on the morning of November 18th. According to WJBD Radio, the trucking accident occurred when the driver of a mini-wan tried to pass a semi-truck and then struck a semi-truck that was headed in the opposite direction. The truck driver had tried to pull on to the shoulder to avoid a truck accident but the minivan struck the back wheels of the truck. The driver of the minivan was ticketed for improper overtaking and the driver and his two passengers were taken to local hospitals for treatment of their personal injuries. To read more about this Illinois trucking accident, click here.

A truck accident wrongful death lawsuit resulted in a $5.1 million judgment for the victim’s family. The truck accident occurred in 2006 when a tractor-trailer ran a stop sign and stuck the vehicle the victim was riding in. The victim was killed in the trucking accident, and her husband was injured but has since recovered. The truck accident attorney for the trucker claims that the signage was bad and the rumble strips needed replacing. The jury found that the trucking accident was the driver was 60 percent to blame and the trucking company was 40 percent to blame. By clicking on the link, learn more about this trucking lawsuit settlement.

A four vehicle collision in the Naperville area earlier this afternoon occurred when a driver that was impaired by diabetes caused a three-car collision and then veered into traffic, hitting a semitrailer truck. The truck then struck an electric pole, causing a the power in the are to go out temporarily. According to Chicago Breaking News, Naperville-Plainfield Road was closed in both directions following the trucking accident. For additional information about this Illinois trucking accident, please click on the link.

A trucking accident lawsuit was concluded and a man that was involved in a trucking accident in 2006 with a dump truck was awarded close to $2 million dollars. The Plaintiff is this lawsuit was riding his motorcycle when he crashed into a dump truck. The Plaintiff suffered was severely injured with many fractured bones and other serious injuries and according to her attorneys, Plaintiff will suffer lifetime disabilities. The car accident attorney for the truck driver allege that the motorcycle driver failed to stop at a stop sign and therefore the accident was his fault. The jury found that the Plaintiff was 20% contributorily negligent in the accident and that the Defendants were 80% responsible for the accident. For more information on this car accident lawsuit and settlement, please click here.

A trucking accident in Christian County that occurred on November 11th resulted in no injuries. According to My State Line, a truck driver claims to have not seen a train coming as we waited on the track for traffic to clear the road ahead, and it was too late to get off the track once he realized and the train drove through the trailer of the truck. Luckily, while there was a mess following the trucking accident no one was injured as a result of the accident. There were apparently no lights or arms at the intersection to warn of possible oncoming trains. For more information on this Taylorville trucking accident, click on this link.

A lawsuit is underway in connection with a trucking accident that killed a teenage girl in May of 2008. The civil trucking accident lawsuit seeks $15 million in damages. According to The Daily Progress, the trucking accident occurred when the teenager’s car was struck by a tractor-trailer. The truck driver has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving in a criminal lawsuit in connection with this fatal trucking accident. The civil suit filed by the family of the victim names the trucking company as the Defendant, claiming that the truck was not maintained properly and that the driving was not following the appropriate procedures at the time of the trucking accident. For more updates on this trucking accident lawsuit, please check back at this hyperlink.

A fatal truck accident occurred on November 9th and left a truck driver dead after his truck plunged over the side of a bridge and into an island. According to The Examiner, the highway patrol is claiming that investigators found that the fatal trucking accident was caused by the truck driver’s excessive speed. However the victim’s family is saying that the detour that is in place on the bridge, and that has resulted in 43 accidents in the past couple months, is to blame for the fatal accident. The actual cause at this time is not yet known, however the driver was going over the posted speed limit at the time of the accident. Information shows that most of the other accidents that occurred at this detour happened when drivers were going at excessive speeds. No trucking accident lawsuit has been filed at this time, and since the driver owned his own truck there is no trucking company that could be sued. Similar trucking accidents occur in Chicago and it is important to ensure that all safety precautions are taken by the city and also that truck drivers follow speed limits. For more in-depth information on the issues that come into play with this fatal trucking accident, click here.

A motorcycle struck a semi on I-74 on November 9th in Carlock and resulted in the death of the motorcycle driver. The victim was a Lexington man and the accident occurred when the driver apparently lost control of his motorcycle and hit the driver’s side of the truck. According to The PJ Star, the motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time of the trucking accident. The accident is still under investigation. For more information on this Illinois trucking Accident, click here.

An investigation into a trucking accident that occurred in April of this year, led to findings that other truck’s within the company were also unsafe. Four other trucks in the fleet were cited within the last 2 years. The trucking accident that triggered the investigation occurred in April resulted in the death of one person. According to Republican American, the trucking company says that they have an enviable safety record and that these trucking accident were not a result of unsafe trucks. For more information on this trucking accident finding, click here.

A verdict was been reached in connection with a trucking accident lawsuit in which the victim of a trucking accident, that suffered from severe brain damage, sued the trucking company and the driver of the truck that was involved in the 2006 trucking accident. The lawsuit found for the victim and rewarded the couple more than $18 million dollars. For more information on this trucking accident lawsuit from KRDO, click here.

An Illinois man was killed after crashing into a semi-truck in an accident that occurred on November 4th on the I-90/I-94. According to WKBT, the details of the trucking accident, such as the speed at which the driver of the car was traveling, are not known at this time. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the trucking accident and the eastbound lanes were closed for hours following the accident. For more information on this Illinois victim and car accident, click here.

A trucking accident trial is underway in connection with an accident that occurred in March of 2006 in which a woman was killed and her husband was seriously personally injured after their car was struck by a truck. According to News-Journal Online, the lawsuit is against the County and alleges that the County failed to warn the motorists of the “unreasonably dangerous” intersection. The cop testifying at trial, that observed the scene following the accident, says that there were no signs that the truck driver attempted to stop at the stop sign at the intersection. The truck driver claims that he did not see the stop sign until it was too late for him to come to a complete stop. The Plaintiff ‘s car accident attorney claims that the lack of rumble strip is another error on the county’s part, but the attorney for the County says that this was not relevant and that the truck accident was the driver’s vault. For more information on this trucking accident lawsuit, click here.

A trucking accident, in which a truck driver was killed on October 31st, occurred when his truck hit a tree on Indiana 157 after the tree had fallen and crossed the lanes of the highway. According to The Trib Star, the driver was a FedEx worker and was driving his FedEx truck when the accident occurred. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. To read more about this fatal trucking accident, click here.

A high school student was killed in a trucking accident on October 29th that occurred on IL Route 9 near Hoopeston. The victim was the passenger in his friend and basketball teammate’s pickup truck on their way to morning practice when the driver lost control of the truck which entered the path of on oncoming semi-truck. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene of the crime and the driver and friend was issued a citation for improper lane usage. According to The Commercial-News, fellow students and teammates at Hoopeston Area High School were mourning the loss of a friend and said that he had a lot of friends. For more information on this tragic Illinois trucking accident, click here.

An Illinois truck driver and trucking company have been sued in connection with a trucking accident that occurred early last year, by a man who was rear-ended by the truck driver on Interstate 270. According to the complaint, the victim was stopped because of weather and traffic and the truck driver failed to stop in time and struck the back of the victim’s car, causing the victim to then rear-end other vehicles. According to The St. Clair Record, the trucking accident lawsuit seeks more than $300,000 in damages. For more information on this Illinois trucking accident lawsuit, click here.

A trucking accident occurred on October 26th at the intersection of IL 47 and Nelson Road. According to The Morris Daily Herald, the accident involved a semi-truck and a livestock trailer and was caused by the driver of the semi driver failing to stop and colliding with the pickup pulling the livestock trailer. The semi driver was ticketed with failure to reduce speed to avoid a trucking accident.

A rule in which truck drivers are allowed to drive up to 11 hours straight is being reconsidered, in response to the outcry by safety advocates who worry that this extended length of driving time may be the cause of many trucking accidents. The rule is relatively recent and added an hour of driving time to what was previously the maximum, as well as cut down on the minimum rest time at the end of each week. According to Google, the Transportation Department has agreed to try and develop a rule that maximizes safety. For more information on where the current rule stands and what the proposed changed for the rule to try and minimize trucking accidents, click here.

A trucking accident in Coal Valley occurred today when an SUV and dump truck collided and the truck burst into flames. According to WQAD News 8, the accident occurred on IL 6 earlier this evening and the driver of the dump truck was able to get out of the truck in time and did not suffer serious personal injuries from the truck fire. The driver of the passenger car had to be cut from his vehicle and is currently in the hospital. The Illinois State Police are still investigating this Coal Valley trucking accident.

A trucking accident involving three semis occurred on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago on October 23rd. The accident occurred early in the morning near Addison Street and the lanes near the accident were closed at least temporarily. According to the Chicago Sun Times, it is not yet known if anyone suffered any personal injuries in thisr Cook County trucking accident.

A motorcyclist was killed in a trucking accident on the Dan Ryan Expressway in downtown Chicago on October 21st. According to The Chicago Sun Times, the accident involved a semi-truck, passenger car and a motorcycle and at this point it is unknown whether anyone other than the motorcyclist was personally injured. The southbound lanes were closed several hours and police are still investigating the fatal Cook County trucking accident.

A trucking accident this morning left two lanes of the Borman Expressway (I-80/I-94) closed down. The truck caught on fire and traffic on the highway was backed up as a result. According to Chicago Breaking News, the fire was extinguished within a half an hour but the lanes remained closed as officials investigating the cause of the fire and the lanes were still shut down seven hours after the trucking accident occurred. Luckily, no injuries occurred as a result of this fiery truck accident.

The mother of three children who were injured in a trucking accident last year has settled in a lawsuit in which she sued the corporation that owned the semi truck that hit the back of the school bus her children were riding in. The trucking accident occurred when a semi truck struck the back of a school bus carrying junior high and high school students, killing one of the passengers. The mother of the girl that was killed in the crash was a separate suit that has not yet settled or concluded. According to Star-Banner, the driver of the truck was suffering from a lack of rest and failed to brake in time to avoid the accident. The lawsuit alleged that the children suffered physical personal injuries as well as mental anguish as a result of being involved in the fiery bus accident.

A police officer from Macon County is back at work after a trucking accident that occurred ten months ago and left him seriously injured, including being immobilized for three months. The accident occurred last November 10th when the officer was traveling northbound on Illinois 48 when a semi-truck turned left onto the street in front of him and the officer did not see a second truck ,following the first truck closely, turn into his path. According to the Herald Review, the officer tried to avoid the truck accident but crashed causing a utility pole to snap. The steering column would have crushed his chest if he had not been wearing a bullet proof vest and he had to be extricated from the car. Although the personal injuries were severe, the officer persevered through his recovery and had returned to his job even though doctors told him he might not be able to do the same type of work again. For more information on this trucking accident, click here.

An elderly Illinois man was killed and four more people were injured in a trucking accident that occurred on I-43 in the town of Belgium on October 15th. The driver of the semitrailer was distracted and struck a car that was slowed down due to lane closures, and the truck then struck another car pushing it into a ditch. According to The Journal Sentinel, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene and his wife, a passenger in the vehicle, suffered serious personal injuries and was taken to a local hospital. Less than an hour after this fatal Ozaukee County trucking accident, another accident occurred very nearby injuring two more people.

A trucking accident in Macomb early on the morning of October 11th led to a diesel fuel spill. According to The Peoria Journal Star, the semi-truck was heading northbound on US Route 67 when a deer ran into the truck’s path and the truck hit the deer. While minor damage was done to the front of the truck, the deer went under the truck, tearing a hole in the truck’s fuel line which caused the contents of the tank to spill. The spill was cleaned up by fire officials following this trucking accident.

A trucking accident lawsuit has been settled, in connection with a truck accident in which a college student suffered traumatic brain injury, for $49 million dollars. The plaintiff was rewarded for past medical expenses, future medical expenses, future lost wages and general damages. According to About Lawsuits, this is likely the largest single-plaintiff personal injury award for that court in the past ten years. The trucking accident that left the plaintiff requiring full time medical care occurred in 2007 when the car he was driving was struck when two tractor-trailers crashed into each other. For more information on this trucking accident settlement, click here.

A Morris trucking accident occurred on the morning of October 10th on a ramp on I-80. The driver of the semi-trailer was trying to turn from the westbound ramp into Illinois 47 when traffic was backed up on Illinois 47. The semi driver struck the back of a pickup truck that was headed northbound on Illinois 47. According to the Morris Daily Herald, no other information is known about this Morris trucking accident.

A trucking accident occurred this past weekend, on October 10th, in which a garbage-hauling truck failed to slow down with traffic and hit a pickup truck on I-65. According to the Post-Tribune, no one was injured and the truck accident occurred when the garbage truck driver temporarily fell asleep at the wheel. At this point it is unknown whether the garbage truck drive was issued any citations. For more information on this I-65 trucking accident, click here.

A fatal trucking accident that occurred on June 1st of this year left the mother of six dead when the commercial lawn mower she was driving was struck by a semi-tractor trailer full of beer. According to My Fox Tampa Bay, the family of the victim are fighting for justice in connection with this terrible trucking accident and are not understanding why criminal charges have not been filed. The semi truck driver was issued a careless driving ticket but the police say that the trucking accident was an accident and that is why no criminal charges have been filed. For more information on this trucking accident, click here.

A trucking accident occurred in Towanda on October 8th when two police cars and two semitrailer trucks got into a crash. The cop cars were on a traffic stop and ended up sandwiched between the two trucks on I-55. According to The Pantagraph, the trucking accident is still under investigation and no information on whether citations have been issued at this point is known. Luckily, no one was seriously personally injured in the trucking accident, but the cars and trucks suffered serious damage. For more information on this trucking accident, click here.

An Illinois man was killed in a trucking accident in which a semi-tractor trailer hit two cars that were slowed down because of lane closures on I-43 in the Town of Belgium on October 8th. According to the Ozaukee Press, the driver of one of the passenger cars struck was killed instantly and his wife, a passenger in his car, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her personal injures. The two people in the other passenger car that was struck by the truck were also taken a local hospital for treatment of their severe personal injuries. The driver of the semi that struck the cars said that he was distracted at the time of the trucking accident and failed to see that the cars were slowed down in front of him. The truck driver was not seriously injured and an investigation is ongoing to see if charges are warranted. For more information on this fatal trucking accident, click here.