COOK COUNTY, Ill. – An incident unfolded on Friday night in Elk Grove Village, resulting in the death of a man. The accident occurred at the intersection of Devon Ave. and Nicholas Blvd.
Eyewitnesses at the scene reported a collision where the victim’s truck went under a semi-trailer, leading to a violent impact. Debris from the crash was scattered across the roadway.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the victim as 25-year-old Ricardo Gonzalez Jr. of Des Plaines. In the aftermath of the collision, authorities immediately addressed the situation. Devon Ave. was temporarily closed to traffic from Busse Rd. to Elmhurst Rd. to facilitate the investigation and clear the debris from the scene. The closure was still in effect as of 9 p.m.
Local law enforcement agencies are working to piece together the events leading up to this accident.
No further information was immediately available.
The actions of the trucking company and driver will need to be investigated to properly identify fault in this crash.
4,714. That’s the number of people who died in crashes involving large trucks (or semi-trucks) in 2021 — a 17 percent jump from 2020, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The law requires commercial trucking companies and their drivers to adhere to strict guidelines and regulations. When trucking companies fail to abide by these special rules, they put the lives of innocent motorists in danger, causing them serious injury and even death.
The purpose of the law is to hold those responsible for an accident accountable for the loss of life that occurred because of their actions. While we do not have all the facts, it appears that the driver of the semi-truck may have cut off Mr. Gonzalez’s lane of travel. This is unacceptable, and an investigation will need to be conducted to determine why this happened. Was the driver distracted, fatigued, or lacked proper training? If so, the trucking company, too, may be partially responsible for placing the driver onto the road.
Trucking companies have an obligation to train their drivers to drive safely and follow the rules of the road. When trucking companies fail to train their drivers properly, accidents happen. The trucking company is oftentimes responsible for the actions of its drivers. Did the trucking company provide adequate training? Was the driver overworked? Answers to these questions will help determine all parties at fault.
As lawyers who handle cases across the country involving commercial truck companies, we see firsthand the devastation that failing to comply with the rules can bring. There is no reason a family should grieve the loss of their loved one due to a party’s negligence. The responsible parties must be held accountable.
We call on truck companies everywhere to implement the processes and procedures needed to ensure their drivers adhere to basic safety rules and protect innocent motorists on our roadways.
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The Ammons Law Firm represents clients nationwide in truck accident cases, with extensive experience in dealing with commercial truck accidents.
Disclaimer: This post is not legal advice. Information contained in this blog was compiled from third-party sources or is the opinion of the author. Please inform us immediately if false or misleading information is contained in this post.
