Clifford Law Offices Files Petition in Flying Ice that Results in Tragedy on Chicago Area Highway

Statement of Peter Morano

Clifford Law Offices filed a Petition for Discovery on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 on behalf of an Aurora man who was struck by a large block of ice that was knocked off the top of a truck last week.

Peter Morano suffered tremendous facial injuries that will require numerous surgeries to repair damage to his nose and left eye when the ice struck him as he drove his car in the opposite direction.  Doctors are working to see if they can restore his vision in that eye.

“We are asking for any witnesses who may have seen what occurred or who may have more information to help us locate the truck and truck driver,” said Timothy S. Tomasik, partner at Clifford Law Offices.  “We will need to make that company’s drivers more aware of the dangers involved in not clearing ice and snow off the tops of trucks and other vehicles before they take off at high speeds and pass under viaducts.”

Part of Morano’s mission is to create a greater awareness among drivers in the hopes of changing laws in Illinois and throughout the nation, requiring drivers to clear the snow and ice off of their trucks, as is the law in New Hampshire.

The Petition filed today names Fed Ex because one of its primary distribution facilities and depots is just blocks away from where the incident occurred on Butterfield Road.  Tomasik said that the filing of the Petition will allow Clifford Law Offices to obtain information from that facility, including records on the ingress and egress of trucks that day, and it is likely outfitted with multiple outdoor cameras that monitor traffic on Butterfield Road as well of as of its parking lots that would indicate the condition of their white trucks, which may help in determining who may have caused this tragic incident.  Witnesses said the truck that caused Morano’s injuries was white.

The weather was cold that day, Monday, Jan. 4, freezing more than a foot of snow that had fallen in the days prior to the incident. Tomasik said the law firm’s investigators are looking into how far the truck would have traveled, given that the truck at issue could not clear the viaduct.

PHOTOS

Viaduct on Butterfield Road

Morano Press Conference - Photo 1

Morano Press Conference - Photo 2

Morano Press Conference - Photo 3