Articles Posted in Trucking Accidents

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A recent Cook County trucking accident settlement raises some interesting question about driver responsibility. The Cook County wrongful death lawsuit was brought by the family of a 47 year-old Illinois auto worker who was killed in a collision with a truck.

The surviving truck driver was not fluent in English and admittedly could not read English. The truck driver therefore was unable to read highway signs warning drivers that an accident had occurred up ahead and advising them to slow down. The truck driver did not slow down and crashed into the rear end of the decedent’s pick-up truck, which was then propelled forwarded and pinned against the median wall. The decedent was trapped in the vehicle as it ignited in flames.

The decedent’s estate claimed that the truck driver was an employee of Ford Air, Inc. and that the company knew or should have know that the driver could not speak or read English. Federal law requires truck drivers to have enough knowledge of English to be able to converse with a police officer. The idea is that in the event of an accident those with commercial driving licenses should be able to provide details about the chain of events. The truck driver in this case clearly did not meet this federal standard, which the estate claimed contributed to the Cook County trucking accident.

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Despite having a preexisting back condition, a plaintiff driver received $2 million from the defendant driver for a back injury sustained in an Illinois trucking accident. Prior to settlement, the Chicago personal injury case was pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

In the 2004 truck accident, a box truck driven by the Illinois plaintiff was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer driven by the defendant. The defendant tractor-trailer driver admitted responsibility for the rear-end crash. Following the Illinois truck accident the plaintiff driver experienced significant back pain and eventually required a spinal fusion. However, despite the surgery he has been unable to return to work as an HVAC specialist since the accident due to the high level of pain and subsequent physical limitations.

It is actually fairly common for auto accidents to aggravate prior conditions to the point where they interfere with the victim’s life, especially in rear-end accidents. In this case the plaintiff had a prior back condition that was aggravated by the collision and causing it to become symptomatic. So even though the plaintiff had no prior back pain, his underlying problems were already present at the time of the collision.

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A Cook County jury recently returned a verdict awarding over $25 million to an Illinois resident who suffered a severe spinal injury after being involved in a truck crash. The then 38 year-old plaintiff was left as an “incomplete paraplegic” and has been unable to return to work since the 2004 accident. The defendant driver was also left paralyzed after the truck accident.

The Illinois truck accident occurred when the plaintiff’s SUV collided with a truck being driven by an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) employee. At the time the plaintiff was heading to a Schaumburg construction site when he collided with the IDOT driver at the intersection of Frontage Road and the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway. Both drivers alleged that they had a green light and that the other driver’s signal was red. The local Illinois police attempted to reconstruct the Illinois truck accident, but were unable to determine which driver was at fault.

In cases like this accident reconstruction can be extremely difficult and oftentimes might not result in any definitive conclusions. Without witnesses who can testify as to which version of the events is correct it is hard to determine what happened. However, when there are other factors to consider, such as an intoxicated driver, or poor weather conditions, then the process becomes much easier.

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Now that the road construction season is upon us in Chicago and Illinois it is important to remember to drive safely and cautiously when in a construction zone. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study, between 1995 and 2002, almost 900 road construction workers died from on the job injuries, with over half of those fatalities resulting from being struck by a vehicle.

However, a recent settlement in a Chicago construction injury case highlights that not only drivers and commuters need to be more careful, but that co-workers also need to practice on the job safety. The case in question involved a 21 year-old construction employee who had been assigned to dig trenches. After completing one trench and preparing to dig a second one, the worker was crushed when a truck driven by a fellow construction worker backed into him.

The decedent’s surviving family members claimed that the driver of the construction truck was negligent and had received inadequate training for the specialized truck he was driving, which was a combination back hoe and end-loader. Furthermore, the family claimed that the construction company was also negligent for the work-related injury because they had not carefully supervised this driver to ensure that he operated the truck in a safe and proper manner.

The defendant, employer of the construction truck operator, claimed that the decedent was negligent in failing to keep a proper lookout for his safety. The decedent was survived by his wife and a two-month old son. The case was settled for $4.5 million after a mediation with a former Cook County Circuit judge.

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The Commercial Motor Vehicles Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA) was passed by Congress to regulate interstate trucking. The CMVSA aimed to improve highway safety by making sure that all truck and bus drivers on the road are qualified to operate those vehicles. Prior to the passing of the CMVSA there was not any uniform testing or licensing standards for bus or truck drivers.

In order to increase the safety of its highways Illinois adopted portions of the CMVSA. However, despite these measures trucking accidents continue to occur. After a trucking crash takes place it is imperative to investigate the accident to determine its cause. A key part of this investigation involves preserving information and evidence that could provide helpful clues in evaluating the occurrence.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) § 395.8 requires the driver to keep a complete record of his or her on/off-duty status at all times. And when a trucking accident has occurred, FMCSR § 395.8(k)(2) requires that truck drivers retain a copy of the on/off-duty status for the seven consecutive days prior to the accident.

In addition, the trucking companies are required by federal regulations to maintain all records and supporting documents regarding the status of each of its drivers for at least a six month period. In the case of an Illinois trucking accident these records can be obtained by making a written request.

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There’s two sides to every story and trucking accidents are no different. Typically when two vehicles are involved in an accident the vehicle drivers’ stories vary in some way. Law enforcement officials and insurance companies are left with the job of sorting through the facts to come up with an accurate picture of what happened, which is not an easy job.

Fortunately, when an accident involves a truck there is often an Engine Control Module (ECM), commonly known as a black box, to help establish what happened during the trucking accident. The data stored on the black box can be downloaded to serve as undisputed evidence of the crash events.

Most truck tractor manufacturers put some sort of ECM in the tractor to monitor the engine performance and various driver variables. How the data can be obtained from the black box varies by model, but typically the computer records all incidents of hard brake, engine revolutions, and if the truck’s clutch was engaged. Newer tractors may also be equipped with devices to monitor driver fatigue and to assist in avoiding rollover prevention. ECMs may also keep track of all vehicles driving ahead of the tractor and those driving in the truck’s blind spot. All of this information can prove invaluable when investigating an Illinois trucking accident.

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Last summer on Missouri Highway 40, an Alabama trucker plowed into stopped traffic on Highway 40 in St. Louis County killing 3 people. He is now being held at the St. Louis County jail in Clayton, MO after being charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter as a result of the truck accident.

The truck driver was behind the wheel of a 2005 Freightliner loaded with scrap aluminum. According to reports the truck driver was on his cell phone at the time of the incident. Apparently the truck driver was distracted by his cell phone when he ran into and over a line of ten vehicles that were backed up on eastbound Highway 40 West of Interstate 270 in St. Louis County.

The Missouri Highway Patrol report indicates that the driver admitted to an investigator that he was distracted by his cell phone use at the time of the truck crash. Two of the crash victims were from Northeastern Missouri who were headed to a funeral in Tennessee.

The Missouri trucking accident raises the question of whether or not cell phones should be allowed on the road, an issue that has been debated every since cell phones became so popular.

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New reports show that even licensed truck drivers and bus drivers in Illinois may be unqualified to drive their respective vehicles because of inadequate testing in other states. Some of these unqualified drivers are threats to the public utilizing Illinois highways and can even lead to tragic trucking accidents and bus accidents. In fact, a link has been found between unskilled drivers and an increase in Illinois trucking accidents.

The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA) was designed to stop these abuses by prohibiting drivers from holding more than one state license. The CMVSA is addressing the problems caused by unqualified truck drivers and bus drivers by creating a nationwide system that prevents the issuance of multiple licenses.

The CMVSA is also cracking down on the past practice among some unqualified drivers who had multiple licenses from different states to spread around their traffic convictions using different licenses from different states. A new system allows states to exchange information on traffic violations, making it easier to remove problem drivers from the road. In addition, truck drivers who violate the law are subject to tougher penalties.

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Trucking accidents in Illinois linked to unskilled truckers have spiraled upward in the last several years, which is in part a result of many unskilled truck drivers have actually receiving their trucking licenses fraudulently.

In the last five years, the US government has uncovered licensing fraud in 24 states, including Illinois. Thousands of truck drivers nationwide have received licenses under suspicious circumstances. One licensing scheme involves third-party examiners who the state hires to perform the driver testing for truckers.

An Illinois trucking license scandal helped shed some light on the widespread problem of fraudulent driver’s licenses. A federal judge in Chicago remarked during a license fraud case that some of these truckers can be likened to “10-ton torpedoes”.

The judge’s comments came in a case related to a federal and state investigation launched 8 years ago in Illinois involving the sale of trucker’s driver’s licenses that led to the conviction of former Governor George Ryan on federal corruption charges. It was discovered that trucking licenses in Illinois were essentially for sale regardless of results on driving exams. That probe showed that unskilled truck drivers on Illinois highways lead to at least the deaths of 9 individuals.

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Car and truck manufacturers have largely ignored the product defects causing insufficient occupant protection and rollover crashes until recently, relying instead on inadequate minimum government standards. However, this is changing in light of increased pressure from a consumer-friendly government coupled with years of having to compensate victims of rollover deaths and personal injuries. These manufacturers are now taking steps to protect the public.

In 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed an upgrade to the 1973 version of the federal roof crush standard for automobile manufacturers. At that time, the standard was so weak that most occupants in a rollover would be severely injured or killed. That standard merely requires a vehicle roof resist a static force of 1.5 times the empty weight of the vehicle or 5,000 lbs., whichever is less. This kind of standard does not reflect the dynamic forces that a vehicle typically experiences in an actual rollover. In virtually every rollover, the roof makes contact with the ground on one side or then the other.

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