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Interstate Truck Crashes

Interstate truck crashes in Illinois can cause serious injuries on roads such as Interstate 90 and Interstate 94. High speeds, large vehicles, and heavy loads can leave people in smaller vehicles with life-threatening injuries. A crash may also affect several lanes of traffic, putting other drivers and passengers at risk.

Victims have the right to pursue compensation if the truck driver, trucking company, or another party caused their injuries. Work with a Chicago truck accident attorney to review who should pay for your losses.

Why Do Truck Accidents Happen in Chicago, IL?

Chicago’s regional importance means a constant flow of traffic moves into and out of the city and surrounding areas. These vehicles, ranging from tractor-trailers to tankers, can carry up to 40 tons when fully loaded. That may be as much as 20 times the weight of a passenger vehicle. That size makes any deviation from following safety rules potentially devastating.

Causes of interstate truck crashes can include:

Other parties may also be responsible for truck crashes. For example, a truck may crash into you after another driver cuts that truck off. Road conditions can also play a role in driver safety.

Where Interstate Truck Crashes Frequently Occur in Chicago

Chicago and its surrounding communities depend on trucks to move goods between businesses, warehouses, and customers. It’s home to thousands of businesses, industrial operations, warehouses, and manufacturing plants, all of which depend on commercial vehicles. With such a large commercial trucking industry in the city and surrounding areas of Illinois, it is not hard to see why these accidents happen.

Interstate truck crashes can happen on any of the area’s roadways. Interstates serving Chicago and its surrounding communities include:

  • I-94
  • I-88
  • I-290
  • I-90
  • I-294
  • I-55
  • I-80

Each one of these roadways involves high speeds, significant traffic congestion, and truck drivers trying to meet deadlines. If you are in a crash with a truck on the interstate, hire a truck accident lawyer in Chicago to review your case to determine who is at fault.

Who Is Responsible for Interstate Truck Crashes in Illinois?

One of the most important services your truck accident attorney will provide to you is uncovering all parties responsible for your injuries and losses. The trucking company or another party may also share responsibility, depending on what caused the crash. Your Chicago truck accident lawyer will look at all parties who contributed to the wreck to seek fair compensation against those parties for their actions.

Some of the parties that may be at fault in your truck accident, based on evidence, include:

  • The truck driver: For speeding, distraction, or reckless operation
  • The truck company: Including hiring unskilled or unlicensed drivers, not following up on safety requirements, or failing to maintain company-owned vehicles
  • Truck owners: Leased or shared trucks that are poorly maintained and break down, causing injuries, could be the owner’s responsibility
  • Third-party maintenance workers: Any party that fails to adhere to expected maintenance tasks or methods, or uses inferior components to repair the vehicle, causing the accident
  • Cargo loading companies: For improper securement of cargo or overloading vehicles

Your Chicago truck accident attorney will help identify each party involved, outline their role, and seek compensation from all parties found to have contributed to your injuries or who were liable for the accident.

What Evidence Is Needed to Prove Fault in an Illinois Interstate Truck Crash?

Fault determination is based on all available documentation, evidence, and industry knowledge. Your truck accident lawyer’s ability to seek out hard-to-find or lesser-known evidence could help substantiate your case.

Some of the evidence your truck crash attorney will likely seek includes:

  • Accident photos and videos from dash cameras, local surveillance, and traffic vehicles
  • Cell phone records to demonstrate distraction
  • Commercial black box data showing the truck’s speed, braking, and other recorded information
  • Medical records showing the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration or other physical impairment making them unsafe behind the wheel
  • Trucking company records of maintenance and vehicle repairs
  • Cargo company records
  • Truck driver logbooks showing driving hours, along with inspection and maintenance records that may help identify safety violations

All of this information helps create a clear picture of what went wrong and will allow your truck accident lawyer in Chicago to seek a claim for your losses from all parties who contributed.

What Damages Can You Recover After a Truck Crash in Illinois?

Truck accident victims may pursue compensation for all losses they have against the at-fault driver. Once you prove negligence, you can seek damages such as:

  • Medical expenses from emergency care
  • Ongoing rehabilitative care, surgeries, medications, and long-term treatment
  • Future expected medical costs for follow-ups or nursing support
  • Pain and suffering
  • Lost future income or reduced future income
  • Lost wages
  • Loss of quality of life
  • Emotional trauma and mental anguish

The value of each of these depends on evidence. That includes any receipts and bills you have, as well as statements from loved ones and your own journal. You can document inability to work through medical reports, doctor statements, and employer records. An early settlement offer may leave out costs you will face later. Your truck accident attorney can review the offer against your records and expected treatment needs before you decide whether to accept it.

Interstate Truck Crash Statistics

The Illinois Department of Transportation’s 2024 Crash Facts report records 1,085 fatal crashes statewide. Crashes involving tractor-trailers accounted for 3.7% of all crashes and 8.4% of fatal crashes. These are statewide figures across road types, not a count of interstate crashes alone. A fatal crash can involve more than one death, so crash totals and the number of people killed describe different measures.

Seek a Free Consultation with an Interstate Truck Accident Lawyer in Chicago

Put your trust in Taxman, Pollock & Bekkerman, and speak to us about your rights, the implications the truck accident has had on your life, and your trauma. Our Chicago highway accident attorneys can investigate what happened, identify potentially responsible parties, and build a claim supported by the evidence.

Request a free consultation or call (312) 586-1700 to schedule a time to discuss your case with our truck crash lawyers in Chicago. If you don’t win your case, you don’t pay our attorneys’ fees.