Illinois Semi-Truck Driver Faces Criminal Charges Over Traffic Death
Chicago Heights trucker Tinauris C. Wise is facing a negligent homicide in the traffic accident death of Jose Aragon, 60 The Illinois tractor-trailer driver had parked his truck on a shoulder around a curve of Interstate 70, which forced Sharon L. Diaz to swerve her Ford Focus into another lane where it was rear-ended by another vehicle. According to authorities, a number of other vehicles were also forced into the left-hand lane because of the way Wise had parked his semi-truck.
The impact of the rear-end crash caused Diaz’s vehicle to rollover, throwing Aragon from the vehicle. Diaz and Aragon were both airlifted to the hospital.
Wise, 33, had placed reflective triangles on the interstate after his truck broke down. His truck was parked on the Interstate for nearly eight hours before the tragic traffic crash happened. He told police his son, niece, and nephew were in the truck cab and that he had put cones on the road to block the right-hand westbound lane because “trucks kept passing too close to him and that a motorist hit one of those (cones).” He says that he had waited all day for a tow truck to arrive. According to one State Patrol trooper, this was the first-time the officer had seen a lane closure in such a high-speed area, “let alone a downhill curve,” where motorists were given such a short time to react. Wise is also facing charges of obstructing a highway and reckless endangerment.
Chicago, Illinois Truck Accidents
Tractor-trailer drivers can be held responsible in both criminal and civil courts if their negligence, carelessness, or recklessness contributed to causing an Illinois 18-wheeler truck collision where personal injuries or wrongful deaths were involved. In Cook County, Will County, Lake County, and DuPage County, Illinois, contact our Chicago, Illinois truck accident law firm.
Cops say traffic cones he placed contributed to interstate wreck, GJSentinel, July 1, 2010
Trucker faces charges in fatal I-70 crash, Denver Post, June 30, 2010
Related Web Resource:
Improving Highway Safety, FMCSA
