When a three-day weekend arrives, many people in Illinois like to jump in the car and take a road trip; and lots of those vacationers try to leave town as early as possible. Naturally, this meant heavy traffic on highways on the Friday night of this past Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, congestion increased drastically on one Winnebago County highway because part of the road was shut down for a time due to an Illinois truck accident.
Around 9:30pm Friday night, a minivan was traveling westbound in the left lane on U.S. 20 on the southeast edge of Rockford. Just before it reached the interchange with Interstate 39, a tractor-trailer tried to switch lanes and wound up forcing the minivan off the left side of the roadway. Two people in the minivan had to be transported to a nearby hospital, but their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Even though the 18-wheeler did not actually make contact with the minivan, it appears from the information given that the truck driver will still be held completely or mostly responsible for the accident and the injuries to the two victims. Should they choose to do so, the injured occupants could file personal injury lawsuits against the driver of the big rig. Since Illinois law states that trucking companies are responsible for the actions of their drivers, the truck driver’s employer could also be named as a defendant in the suit.
The plaintiffs could ask a jury to order the defendant(s) to reimburse them for ambulance charges, hospital expenses, and even physical therapy costs. If the injuries are serious enough, the victims may be entitled to damages for pain and suffering and/or compensation for lost wages from missed time at work. However, the defendants probably cannot recoup money related to any vacation plans that were spoiled by the Illinois truck accident.