I-294 Accident Information on Injuries and Fatalities

The Illinois semi-truck accident lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, have a comprehensive understanding of pursuing and resolving freeway truck accident claims. Let our legal team at (888) 424-5757 carefully review your evidence and help you file a claim.

Your attorney can help determine if another party's negligence caused your damages. Discuss your compensation claim with a Chicago, IL commercial truck injury lawyer who will protect your rights and obtain the compensation you might be entitled to receive.

Interstate 294

Interstate 294 (I-294) is a part of the Federal Highway System, moving traffic through the Chicago metropolitan area from Northbrook (I-94) to South Holland (I-80/I-94). The nearly 54-mile auxiliary route is a toll road bypassing Chicago toward Indiana, stopping at the Calumet Expressway.

Freeway planners proposed I-294 in the early development of Chicago suburbs. In 1993, segments of the highway were widened between 95th St. and Balmoral. The Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority proposed and built a connecting interchange at I-294 and I-57 completed in 2014.

Major junctions shared with I-294 include interstates:

• 55 (Stephenson Highway toward Chicago/St. Louis)
• 88 (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway)
• 57 (I-80 toward Memphis)
• 80 (Kingery Expressway, Indiana)
• 94 (Bishop Ford Freeway, Calumet Expressway, Kingery Expressway, Tri-State Tollway, Indiana)
• 190 (Kennedy Expressway)
• 290 (west to Rockford/Eisenhower Expressway)
• 490 (toll road O'Hare Western Bypass)

What Truck Accident Victim Should Know

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 36,500 people were killed in car crashes in 2018. While this number is horrific, the number of deaths decreased slightly (-2.4%) from the previous year.

The number of freeway accident deaths involving truckers dying in crashes on American freeways dropped to 885 in 2018. Drunk driving deaths dropped to their lowest point in over two decades.

A truck's sheer size and weight colliding with a passenger vehicle can cause horrific accidents with severe injuries and fatalities. A fully loaded commercial vehicle can weigh 80,000 pounds or more, taking significantly longer than a car or truck to stop or swerve to avoid crashing.

Filing a compensation claim to obtain financial recovery for damages is usually a simple process when private passenger vehicles collide. Alternatively, a truck crash case can be complicated when multiple parties might be at fault for causing the collision.

Negligence causes most commercial vehicle accidents where the trucker was distracted, impaired, or lacks the experience to operate the semi safely. Attorneys working on behalf of the plaintiffs (victims) will build a case to ensure their client receives all available compensation.

Often, trucking companies hiring inexperienced drivers to operate their vehicles fail to provide adequate training and supervision to ensure safety.

Many cases involve:

• A collection of significant evidence, including the truckers' driving logs, blood test results, fuel and maintenance receipts, black box (electronic monitoring system) data, and the Illinois State Highway Patrol's report
• The trucking company using high-priced lawyers to use respondeat superior doctrines to decrease liability by blaming the victim for causing the crash
• Trucking companies attempting to identify their trucker as an independent contractor to minimize their liability

Family members who have lost a loved one through others' negligence can file a financial compensation claim or wrongful death lawsuit to recover damages.

Typically, damages include hospitalization bills, medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earnings, funeral/burial costs, grief, emotional distress, pain, and suffering.

Recently Reported Illinois State Police Tri-State Tollway Accidents

The Chicago metropolitan area is a thriving hub of commercial trucking. Every day, thousands of 18-wheelers, semi-trucks, long-haul truckers, and commercial vehicles crowd local freeways, tollways, and expressways, hauling goods in all directions.

Statistics released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reveal truckers cause many horrific accidents with fatalities. The Illinois DOT released fatal truck accident data for 2018, noting 13,071 accidents resulted in 122 deaths and 2235 injuries.

Typical factors leading to a severe accident in the Chicago metropolitan area include:

• Illegal and prescribed drug usage
• Tight deadlines to make the delivery on time
• Unfamiliarity with local roads, streets, and highways
• Trucker exhaustion
• Not adjusting speed (slowing down) during adverse weather and road conditions

Recently reported accidents that occurred on I-294 with severe property damage, serious injuries, and fatalities include:

Chicago Ridge, April 2020 – Illinois State police closed southbound lanes on the tollway after semi-tractor-trailer overturned on the Tri-State Tollway. Officials said the crash occurred on Thursday morning near Southwest Highway after the trucker struck a sound barrier wall.

Preliminary reports indicated that road crews cleared scattered debris from the roadway to open a lane.

Chicago, July 2019 – Illinois State Police closed a portion of the Tri-State Tollway after a fatal hit-and-run accident killed a forty-three-year-old driver struck by an unidentified vehicle.

The early morning accident began when a vehicle hit the decedent's Nissan. The motorist lost control, striking a wall off the right side of the road leading to front-end damage.

According to reports, two people were in the car at the time of the crash. The passenger was not seriously injured. However, the driver was pronounced dead at the hospital.

At the time of the accident, the driver was not wearing his seat belts.

Bridgeview, July 2019 – A horrific accident involving a dump truck closes a lane of the Tri-State Tollway southbound lanes on Monday near Harlem Avenue during rush hour. A preliminary investigation revealed that the man in the passenger vehicle hit a dump truck while changing lanes.

The impact caused the dump truck filled with dirt to roll over, blocking all north and southbound lanes. Illinois State Police investigated the accident scene.

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) transported both drivers to the emergency room for a diagnosis and treatment.

Northbrook, January 2019 – Illinois State police closed all lanes on I-294 near Northbrook after responding to a serious crash involving a semi-tractor-trailer colliding with an SUV.

Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney to Resolve a Truck Crash Case

Did you suffer an injury in a commercial truck crash? Call our personal injury lawyers at (888) 424-5757 to schedule a free consultation to discuss your legal rights and options.

The truck accident attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can determine your case's merits to proceed with a personal injury claim. Our law firm does not charge legal fees until after the compensation case is successfully resolved.

Any family that lost a loved one from a preventable death can file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover all damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, lost future earnings, loss of companionship, funeral/burial costs, pain, and suffering.

All information you and your loved ones share with our personal injury lawyers remains private and confidential through an attorney-client relationship. Our Chicago freeway injury attorneys currently follow CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Covid-19 guidelines on social distancing to ensure everyone's well-being.

Our practice areas include workplace injuries, car crashes, premises liability, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, product liability, and wrongful death. Our attorneys currently represent injured clients throughout the state of Illinois in Cook County, DuPage County, Lake County, Peoria County, Sangamon County, Will County, Winnebago County, Aurora, Chicago, Joliet, Schaumburg, and Waukegan.

Resources:

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – Decreasing Traffic Deaths