Illinois woman dies in car accident when truck rolls onto car

The family of a 51-year-old woman is grieving the loss of her life after an accident that occurred on a recent Thursday morning. In addition, they have to cope with the trauma of arranging a funeral and burial, with accompanying high costs. The freak car accident that caused her death happened on Illinois Route 140, and she was declared dead by an investigator in the Madison County Coroner’s office.

The fire department reported that a call came in around 10:30 a.m., reporting an accident involving a semi-truck rollover. They proceeded to the accident scene and found an overturned milk truck on top of a car. The deceased woman was the driver of the car that was crushed by the milk truck.

The semi-truck driver explained that he was eastbound on Route 140 when a dump truck, traveling west, lost its tailgate. The tailgate reportedly landed in the middle of eastbound traffic, sliding underneath the semi-truck. The driver of the semi-truck apparently lost control as his truck left the road, rolling over and landing on top of the deceased’s car. A spokesperson for the company that owns the dump truck asserted that its vehicles are subject to regular inspections and no faults were noticed during the last inspection. The accident investigation is underway, and charges were reported to be pending.

Illinois residents who have lost a loved one in a car accident that was caused by the negligence of another party retain the right to file a wrongful death claim in a civil court. In this case, if the investigation determines the dump truck driver to be at fault, both the driver and his employer may be held liable. If the claim is presented successfully, the court may award monetary damages to ease the financial implications of the tragedy.

Source: The Telegraph, “Overturned semi truck on Illinois Route 140 leaves one dead”, Nathan Grimm, May 15, 2014