Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Blog

Tragedy struck the family of an Antioch teenager who was killed earlier this month when a semi-truck slammed into her Jeep.

According to news reports from the Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times, Elizabeth Collins, 19, was on her way to a hair appointment just as a nasty snowstorm was beginning. The storm may have been a factor in a three-car pile-up on the Interstate, just north of Deerfield, that troopers say the semi-truck driver was swerving to avoid.

That large truck, in turn, hit Collins' vehicle, a new college student and children's gymnastics instructor.

She died the next day, with her family saying she donated every organ possible, giving life to others, despite that her own had been cut far too short.

Our Chicago car accident lawyers know that drivers of smaller vehicles are at greater risk of injury when involved in a crash with large trucks.

This is true across the country, where the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that accidents involving large trucks - defined as those weighing over 10,000 pounds - were responsible for nearly 3,400 fatalities in 2009.

And most of those victims weren't the truck drivers. Seventy-four percent were the occupants of the other vehicles. Another 10 percent of those victims were non-occupants, meaning they were pedestrians or bicyclists.

Those figures don't take into account those injured by large trucks - a whopping 74,000 across the country.

It's not just that truck drivers are on the road for longer stretches than the average motorist. The NHTSA indicates that large trucks are more likely to be involved in multi-vehicle fatal accidents than other vehicles on the road. In fact, 81 percent of fatal accidents involving large trucks also involved more than one vehicle. Compare that to 58 percent of passenger vehicles.

In Illinois, the administration reported there were 1,301 fatal accidents in 2009. Of those, 90 involved large trucks.

As a result of these startling figures - and tragedies like the one on I-94 - some advocacy groups are lobbying for lowered weight limits for large trucks.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, for example, insist that bigger trucks compromise safety. That group reports that trucks weighing 80,000 pounds are twice as likely to be involved in a fatal accident as those that weigh 50,000 pounds. Further, the group reports that large trucks need, on average, 25 percent more time to slow down or stop than the average passenger car.

But as there is not likely to be a change in laws anytime soon, motorists must share the road with these large and potentially dangerous vehicles.

As such, our attorneys want to remind you that the National Traffic Safety Institute has outlined the following safety tips for drivers:

--Remember that large trucks do not drive like regular vehicles. They have large blind spots and need more room to make turns. If you can't see the driver in their rearview mirror, he or she probably can't see you either. Keep that in mind when driving behind or trying to pass.

--When being passed by a larger truck or vehicle, slow down, as debris can be kicked up from the truck's tires and reduce your visibility.

--On the highway, don't put yourself at risk by driving between two large vehicles, which can greatly increase your chances of being injured if there were to be an accident.