Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

Lorraine McNeil, 69, and her daughter Kathleen Wilcox, 45, died last week in an Illinois semi-trailer crash on Interstate 80. The two women, who are both from Ottawa, were pronounced dead at the truck accident site. The accident took place at the County Highway 15 and Morris Road intersection a mile south of Marseilles.

According to the Morris Daily Herald, while there are rumble strips and stop signs at the intersection on Morris Road, there are no stop signs on CH 15. Investigators are trying to figure out whether traffic control devices were a factor in the deadly crash. Marseilles Police Chief Jim Hovious calls the intersection where the semi-trailer accident happened a dangerous one where several traffic crash deaths had already occurred.

Police are trying to determine exactly what happened.

Illinois Truck Accidents
If the truck driver did anything that contributed to causing the collision, the women’s family may be able to file an Illinois truck crash claim against the trucker, the trucking company, and other parties involved with the truck, such as the owner of the truck, or the company that is using/leasing the truck. A lot of it will depend on who/what caused the collision.

Time and again, our Chicago tractor-trailer accident lawyers have seen the devastating injuries that can come about from this type of crash and the impact it has on surviving loved ones. We are not afraid to go up against large trucking companies to make sure that you obtain all of the personal injury or wrongful death recovery that you are owed.

Mother, daughter die in Wednesday crash, Morris Daily Herald, April 21, 2011

Two Ottawa women die following crash, MyWebTimes, April 21, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Truck Safety Coalition

Continue reading " Mother and Daughter Killed in Illinois Semi-Truck Crash " »

Trucker Bradley Conkle is dead following an Illinois truck accident involving three semi-trucks on Highway 34. The multi-vehicle collision occurred at around 3am on Monday and the road had to be shut down for several hours so clean up crews could do their job.

According to investigators, Conkle appears to have lost control of the white 1996 Kenworth dump trailer that he was driving, which caused the semi-truck to overturn. The semi-truck driven by trucker Danny Brown then crashed into the dump trailer, which was also struck by a semi-trailer operated by James Farmer. Conkle was pronounced dead at the Illinois truck crash site while Farmer and Brown were treated at the hospital for their injuries.

Truckers Getting Injured in Illinois Truck Crashes
Our Chicago truck crash lawyers work with truck drivers that have suffered serious injuries in large truck crashes that were caused by other parties negligence or carelessness. Even with their big rigs, truck drivers can also get hurt in traffic crashes, sustaining traumatic brain injuries, head trauma, broken bones, internal injuries, spinal cord injuries, severed limbs, and burn injuries.

It is a good idea to speak with an experienced Illinois truck crash firm about how recover your compensation from all liable parties. Some common causes of Illinois truck accidents:

• Distracted driving
• Drunk driving
• Drowsy driving
• Truck defects
• Faulty maintenance
• Poor road conditions
• Poor weather conditions

Our Chicago truck accident lawyers are experienced in dealing with trucking companies, their insurers, big rig truck owners, and other parties that could be liable for your injuries. We also have Illinois workers’ compensation lawyers to make sure that injured truckers receive all of the work injury benefits that their employer owes them.

One killed in pileup that closed highway, KFVS 12, April 18, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Fatality Analysis Reporting System

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

More Blog Posts:
Distracted Driving a Factor in Illinois Tractor-Trailer Crash Causes Multi-Vehicle Collision on I-77 That Sends Two to the Hospital, Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

Appeals Court Affirms $23.75M Will County Tractor-Trailer Accident Award Over Man’s 2004 Illinois Wrongful Death, Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, April 9, 2011

Tractor-trailer driver James T. Kruger was cited for failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident after allegedly causing a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 77 on Wednesday. Six vehicles were involved in the Illinois 18-wheeler truck accident.

According to police, Kruger didn’t notice that traffic had stopped until it was too late because he was reaching down to throw something in the trashcan. The semi-truck struck and drover over a car that was being towed on the back of the U-Haul, rear-ended the truck, which then hit a Nissan and a Honda. The cars then struck a Mercury Marquis. The impact of the crash lodged the tractor-trailer and U-Haul together, and the two vehicles kept going into the median. Two people were transported to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries from the chain-reaction crash.

Distracted Driving
Once again, distracted driving has likely played a role in causing a collision that could have lead to serious injuries and minor injuries. That said, even minor injuries can take a toll on a Chicago truck crash victim, who may have to take time off work to recover from a sore back, neck problems, aches and pains, and other “minor” injuries.

Motorists cannot afford to take their eyes off the road or their mind off the task at hand. A few seconds of distraction is all that it takes for a catastrophic Illinois traffic crash to occur.

According to the US Department of Transportation, there are three main kinds of distraction:

Visual—eyes are off the road
Cognitive—mind is not on the task at hand
Manual—hands off the steering wheel

Any non-driving task that a driver engages in while driving is distracted driving.

Truck driver cited in wreck that snarled I-77, Statesville Record & Landmark, April 14, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Distraction.gov

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Continue reading " Distracted Driving a Factor in Illinois Tractor-Trailer Crash Causes Multi-Vehicle Collision on I-77 That Sends Two to the Hospital " »

The Third Appellate Court has decided to affirm the $23.75 million Will County, Illinois semi-truck crash verdict awarded over the 2004 multi-vehicle traffic accident on Interstate 55 when a 40-ton tractor-trailer loaded with potatoes that crashed into stopped traffic. The 10-auto collision involved a number of large trucks. The total verdict amount is for three separate causes of action that were consolidated into one civil trial.

The family of Thomas Sanders was awarded $8.5 million. The jury awarded Naperville resident Joseph G. Sperl's family was initially awarded $7.25 million, although the trial court later lowered that amount to $7 million. Aurora resident William Taluc, who was critically injured and broke 17 bones during the Will County tractor-trailer accident, was awarded $7.7 million.

DeAn Henry, the trucker blamed for causing the multi-vehicle pileup, was sentenced to two and a half years probation after she pled guilty to the charges that she falsified her logbook and didn’t slow down her truck to avoid causing an accident. She also had to give up her commercial truck driver’s license for two years. Henry, truck owner CH Robinson Worldwide, and her employer Todd L. Dragonfly were the defendants of this Will County, Illinois semi-truck collision case.

Our Chicago 18-wheeler truck crash lawyers covered this case last year on our blog site. It is so important that victims injured in an Illinois semi-truck collision and their families receive the Will County personal injury or wrongful death damages that they are owed. So much is lost when a loved one dies unexpected. Obtaining injury won’t bring your loved one back but it can provide some relief.

Appellate Court affirms $8.5 million trial verdict, MyWeb Times, April 8, 2011

$24 million award upheld in fatal ’04 crash, Sun-Times, April 5, 2011

Will County Jury Awards $24 Million Illinois Truck Accident Verdict to Families of Victims and Crash Survivor with Serious Injuries, Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, March 23, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

More Blog Posts:
Did a Weak Rear Guard Play a Role in Your Loved One’s Chicago Tractor-Trailer Crash Death?, Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, March 31, 2011

Illinois Truck Accident Lawsuit Filed in Pedestrian Death, Chicago Truck Accident Lawyer Blog, March 24, 2011

Illinois Wrongful Death Lawsuit and Personal Injury Lawsuits Filed in Semi-Tractor Trailer Accident, Chicago Injury Attorney Blog, January 29, 2009