Illinois has numerous interstate highways running through it. With those major highways comes enormous truck traffic. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports on trucking accidents every year. Despite authorities attempting to keep the highways safe, accidents involving trucks continue to occur in Illinois and throughout the country. The massive weight of these big rigs, particularly at highway speeds, can lead to collisions that result in death or catastrophic personal injury.

The NHTSA reports that one out of every eight traffic fatalities in the country in 2005 resulted from a collision involving a large truck. That means that some 442,000 large trucks were involved in traffic accidents in the United States; 4,932 of them resulted in deaths. Tragically, 5,212 people died and another 114,000 were injured in those crashes. In Illinois alone, there were some 1,361 vehicle fatalities in 2005 with 191 of these being large truck accidents, according to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the NHTSA. It should be noted that these statistics deal with large trucks that are defined by the national government as those that carry a gross vehicle weight greater than 10,000 pounds. Tractor-trailer trucks are different and separate statistics are kept for those vehicles. For example, the total number of tractor-trailer crashes in Illinois was 16,860 with 2,593 involving injury and, unfortunately, 148 leading to deaths. The NHTSA reports the greatest number of trucking accidents involving large trucks occurs in California, Texas and Florida.

The Illinois Department of Transportation has found that fatal crashes between trucks and other vehicles occur most often on Tuesdays through Fridays between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. when the weather is clear and the road is dry. Most truck crashes are due to speed or improper lane usage.

Clifford Law Offices has been representing victims of serious truck and vehicular accidents for 30 years. The attorneys’ experience at the firm combined adds up to hundreds of years of personal injury and wrongful death work. A Clifford Law Offices’ truck accident attorney examines the cause of the crash. It can be an issue of truck maintenance, driver fatigue, driver negligence, speed, alcohol use, failure to inspect, improper loading, tire blowouts, sudden braking, brake failure, unsafe safety systems or warning devices, failure to yield the right of way, tailgating, extensive work shifts, jackknifing or unsafe road conditions. The law firm also will examine truck accident victims’ losses that include medical expenses, lost wages, future earnings, future medical care, pain and suffering, grief, sorrow and mental suffering, loss of quality of life and other possible damage claims.

Federal law requires commercial vehicles traveling in interstate commerce to carry insurance for bodily injury and property damage. In addition, most states also impose minimum insurance requirements on trucks.

Some of the cases that the firm has handled include a $38.3 million verdict, the largest transportation verdict in the country in 2005 as reported by The National Law Journal, on behalf of a Chicago suburban family involved in a tragic trucking crash on an Illinois interstate highway. Kevin Durkin and John Karnezis tried that case before a jury in Cook County Circuit Court. Also, Robert Clifford reached a settlement for $3 million in 2005 on behalf of the family of a woman who was killed when a pick-up truck crossed the center line of traffic and struck her car. Kevin Durkin and Tom Prindable reached a settlement with a trucking firm after its driver lost control of his vehicle and struck the car of a young mother of two in Indiana, killing her. That case settled in 2006 for $2.25 million. Richard Burke settled a case for $1.65 million on behalf of the family of a 26-year-old man who was killed on a Chicago expressway when he was stopped behind a jack-knifed truck and a second truck rear-ended him, forcing him into the first truck.

All of these are tragic crashes and all of them required experienced truck accident lawyers. The drivers and the truck companies must be held accountable for their negligent actions. Clifford Law Offices represented these families and got answers for them that they deserved. Please call Clifford Law Offices, experienced truck accident attorneys, at 312-899-9090.

Chicago truck accident lawyers with Clifford Law Offices have successfully handled many cases from truck wrecks and are available for consultations.