Fiery 6-vehicle truck vs. auto accident kills 3 on Interstate 80

When traffic slows down in areas of road construction on the interstate, it only takes one distracted driver to cause an accident with devastating consequences. It is not uncommon for multiple vehicles to be involved in a truck vs. auto accident, particularly when there are big rigs involved. Six vehicles got mixed up in a recent wreck on Interstate 80 that claimed the lives of three people.

An incident report prepared by the Illinois State Police notes that the chain of accidents occurred in LaSalle County shortly after 1 p.m. on a recent Monday. Allegedly, the first collision was caused by the driver of a fully loaded gravel hauler who failed to slow down when approaching slow traffic in a construction zone. That truck smashed into a passenger car that was pushed under a semi-truck in front of it. A fire broke out, and both occupants of the car were killed.

The forward motion of the two trucks and the car continued and struck a tire-laden truck which also caught fire as it was pushed into another semi-truck. The driver of the tire truck also died in the accident. The driver of the gravel hauling truck reportedly suffered only minor injuries that did not require hospitalization.

Sadly, the lack of concentration of one driver appears to have caused this avoidable truck vs. auto accident that took the lives of three individuals. The surviving family members of the deceased victims may now pursue claims for financial relief by filing wrongful death claims in an Illinois civil court. Negligence will have to be established, but both the driver and the owner of the truck may be named as defendants in a claim in which a commercial truck driver is deemed to have been responsible.

Source: bcrnews.com, “Interstate 80 crash; 3 fatalities confirmed“, Aug. 3, 2016