Two FedEx employees died after being struck by a third trucker along I-80 near Joliet early in the morning on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
One of the FedEx drivers had pulled over onto the roadway’s right shoulder earlier that morning after his truck began experiencing mechanical problems. It wasn’t too long after a second FedEx driver arrived on the scene to render assistance that a third trucker, a 48-year-old male with West Side Transport, veered onto the shoulder, striking the two FedEx trucks in the process.
The force of the crash resulted in an immediate fireball. Although emergency responders arrived quickly on the scene of the crash, it was too late to save the two FedEx drivers. As for the Chicago man who struck them, he was transported to Loyola Medical Center with burns about his body.
Police kept the highway closed for 10 hours as they attempted to put out the fire that had started and then as they reconstructed the accident. After completing their investigation, police charged the third trucker, who was believed to have caused the accident, with reckless driving, a failure to his reduce speed and improper use of a lane. He’d apparently been charged with speeding and erratic lane changes previously in 2013 and 2015.
When tractor-trailers strike other vehicles or trucks, the potential for a victim to suffer significant injuries or die goes up significantly, relevant to the size of their load, speed and other factors. If you’ve been injured or have lost a loved one in a truck crash, then a Chicago motor vehicle accident attorney can advise you of your options to file a lawsuit in your case.
Source: ABC 7 Chicago, “Driver in fatal I-80 truck crash has previous convictions,” Chuck Goudie, Sep. 30, 2017