10 Hurt In Chicago Fire Truck Accident

It has been drilled into our heads from the moment we begin studying to get our driver's licenses: the law requires that you yield the right-of-way to emergency vehicles who are traveling with lights and sirens. But as simple as this rule sounds, it does not always play out that way in the real world - and sometimes, the results are heartbreaking.

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A total of 10 people were injured when a fire engine collided with a passenger car in Chicago’s fire truck accident on Tuesday evening. Shortly after 6:15pm, Engine No. 62, with lights flashing and sirens blaring, was traveling south on Halsted Street in the city's West Pullman neighborhood. A sedan was stopped at the intersection of 128th place and Halsted, which is between Vermont Street and the Joe Louis Golf Course. The driver of the fire truck thought that the car had stopped for the fire engine, but then the sedan inexplicably pulled out in front of the emergency vehicle. The fire truck crash caved in the passenger's side of the sedan.

The car's six occupants had to be taken to a hospital in Oak Lawn; and five of them, including the 18-year old male driver and three children, were trapped and had to be extricated from the sedan. In addition, four firefighters in the truck sustained slight injuries and were transported to a medical center in Blue Island in good condition.

One news source is reporting that the teenaged driver may have been intoxicated at the time of the crash. Even if alcohol were not involved, it appears from the information given that the man was at fault in the fire truck accident. That means he could be named as a defendant in a personal injury lawsuit filed by the sedan's passengers and/or their parents (unless they are all part of the same family).