I-90 Accident Information on Injuries and Fatalities

The truck accident attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC can help you pursue a freeway commercial vehicle accident lawsuit, financial compensation, and justice. Our legal team at (888) 424-5757 can ensure you or a loved one holds those at-fault accountable for everything you have endured.

Let's discuss your compensation claim with a Chicago, IL truck accident lawyer who will protect your rights and obtain the compensation you might be entitled to receive.

Interstate 90

Interstate 90 (I-90) is the longest United States transcontinental freeway traversing east to west. The freeway starts just south of downtown Seattle, Washington, and ends in Boston, Massachusetts, at Day Square, a few miles away from the Atlantic Ocean.

Construction started in 1956, with the last freeway section completed in 1983 between Bellevue and Seattle, Washington.

The freeway incorporates numerous existing roads, including the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, Chicago Skyway, Ohio Turnpike, Indiana Toll Road, New York State Thruway, and Massachusetts Turnpike.

A portion of I-90 merges with I-80 just south of Chicago in Gary, Indiana, through Toledo, Ohio, until just west of Cleveland, Ohio. The freeway travels through major metropolitan areas: Spokane, Washington, Butte, Bozeman, and Billings, Montana, Rapid City and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Rochester, Minnesota, Madison Wisconsin, Rockford, Elgin, and Chicago, Illinois, Gary and South Bend, Indiana, Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio, Buffalo, Schenectady, Albany, and Syracuse, New York, and Newton, Massachusetts.

The freeway enters Illinois at Rockford before merging with I-39, running east-southeast into Chicago along the James Addams Memorial Tollway. In the Chicago metropolitan area, the freeway has three additional monikers: the Chicago Loop (a portion of the Dan Ryan Expressway), Kennedy Expressway, and O’Hare International Airport.

South of Chicago, the freeway becomes the Chicago Skyway Tollway before entering Indiana west of Gary. Long-haul truckers, 18-wheelers, large commercial vehicles, and semi-tractor-trailers travel millions of miles across the United States every year on I-90 near Chicago.

Commercial truckers tackle adverse road hazards and weather conditions from coast-to-coast on I-90. Hazards include the cool and wet climate of Northern Washington across the Rocky Mountains into the upper Midwest's freezing air and over the Appalachian and Pocono Mountain ranges.

What Truck Accident Victims Should Know

The 2018 Illinois DOT truck accident statistics revealed 13,071 accidents resulting in 122 deaths in 2235 injuries that year. Car accidents involving commercial semis often result in severe injuries due to the massive weight and size difference of all vehicles involved.

Typically, an injured victim suffers life-altering damages involving hospitalization, medical treatment, and time lost from work.

In serious accidents, the victims are permanently disabled or die from their injuries. Any family that has lost loved ones through a preventable accident can seek compensation under the wrongful death statute.

Semi-tractor-trailer accidents on freeways cause significantly more damage than fender benders. These cases are typically complicated for numerous reasons and require the skills of a personal injury attorney who specializes in large vehicle accidents.

The complications involve:

• The commercial vehicle is likely operated by a company other than the truck driver who works as an employee,
• The at-fault trucking company employs high-priced attorneys that work to minimize the business’ liability,
• These lawyers use the law to deflect the responsibility of the accident away from the company toward the victim

The defendant's attorneys use effective strategies that identify a company-employee truck driver as an independent contractor to minimize their liability. The strategies involve respondeat superior doctrines.

An attorney working on behalf of the plaintiff (injured victim) will build a case by collecting valuable evidence to prove the claim. The evidence might involve the truck driver’s logs, drug testing results, fuel and maintenance receipts, black box information (ECM – electronic monitoring system), and the State Highway Patrol’s reports.

Truck Accident Reports: I-90 Near Chicago

News reports reveal the hazards of traveling in adverse weather conditions and congested traffic on the nation’s freeways. According to the US Department of Transportation, thousands of people are injured and killed every year.

Many crashes involve semi-tractor-trailers, commercial trucks, and 18-wheelers, crashing the passenger cars, causing severe harm and death.

Some of the accidents posted online include:

January 14, 2021 – A multi-vehicle crash near Roscoe involved a semi-tractor-trailer rollover causing a road closure for hours. State troopers reported injuries and the need to extricate accident victims from the crash scene. The crash reportedly happened after 6:00 PM near the median on westbound I-90 near Rockton Rd.

April 15, 2020 – News reports indicated that adverse weather conditions with snow and black ice made driving in Rockford, Illinois, hazardous. One crash involved a semi-tractor-trailer slamming into a squad car on westbound I-90.

In some areas, drivers were restricted to one lane before the accidents occurred. State Patrol troopers stated that a semi-tractor-trailer blocked an eastbound off-ramp.

December 30, 2019 – A Pace Bus was involved in an eastbound crash on I-90 (Jane Addams Memorial Tollway) in Rosemont because of snowy conditions. Illinois State Police officers arrived on the scene on I-90 near milepost 77.5 in the late afternoon, closing the road for hours.

The troopers closed multiple lanes of traffic, and the bus driver was transported to the local hospital. A news report indicates that a Ford-150 pickup driver lost control near the median due to hazardous snowy conditions before sideswiping the bus in the center lane.

January 3, 2021 – A portion of I-90 near Erie, Pennsylvania, was closed due to a semi-tractor crash near Springfield Township. The accident occurred after 3:30 PM.

State troopers indicate that the commercial vehicle traveling on eastbound I-90 rear-ended another vehicle.

First responders transported the injured victim to the local hospital for a diagnosis and care. Police closed on parts of the interstate for around two hours while the area was cleaned up.

October 22, 2020 – Sweet Grass County Sheriff’s office asked drivers to avoid I-90 as multiple accidents closed all lanes. A portion of the freeway just southwest of Bozeman was hit hard by icy weather conditions before the crashes happened.

June 16, 2020 – The Highway State Patrol responded to an accident on eastbound I-90 near exit 16 (Girard/Platea) because of an accident involving multiple semi-tractor-trailers. Early reports indicate that one 18-wheeler was leaking diesel fuel on one lane.

The accident affected eastbound and westbound lanes for about two hours.

Hire a Semi-Truck Accident Injury Attorney to Resolve Your Compensation Claim

Our freeway injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can provide advice and counsel to file and resolve a personal injury claim for maximum compensation.

Our law firm accepts all injury cases through contingency fee arrangements. This agreement ensures you only pay for our services after we have resolved your compensation case.

Were you injured, or was a loved one killed in a commercial vehicle accident? Contact our truck accident lawyers to schedule a free consultation to discuss your legal rights. Call us at (888) 434-5757.

Did the negligence of another take the life of your loved one? You can file a wrongful death lawsuit to pay for your monetary damages, lost earnings, grief, 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 truck accident attorneys currently follow CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines on Covid-19 social distancing to maintain 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 law firm currently represents injured clients throughout Illinois in Cook County, Dupage County, Lake County, Peoria County, Sangamon County, Will County, Winnebago County, Aurora, Chicago, Joliet, and Schaumburg, and Waukegan.

Resources:

• Chicago Traffic Accident Reports