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Chicago Truck Accident Attorneys
With six major interstate highways running through Chicago, the risk of being in a motor vehicle accident with a truck is high. In fact, thousands of people in Illinois are injured in truck accidents each year.
In 2021, crashes involving tractor-trailers accounted for 3.5 percent of all motor vehicle accidents in the state and 14.6 percent of serious injury collisions. The state had 11,178 crashes involving tractor-trailers, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The state defines a serious injury as one that prevents the victim from walking, driving or performing everyday activities that they were capable of before the crash occurred.
Truck accidents are far too common in Illinois. The enormous size and weight of commercial trucks make them extremely dangerous for passenger cars and other smaller motor vehicles. In truck accidents, more than 70 percent of the injuries and fatalities are suffered by automobile drivers and their passengers rather than the driver of the truck.
In 2021, approximately 2000 people were injured in tractor-trailer accidents, the majority of which were occupants of other vehicles. Fatal tractor-trailer accidents killed 118 people that year.
There are many different causes of truck accidents. However, there is one statistic in particular that jumps out. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, driver negligence is to blame for around 87 percent of truck accidents. Driver negligence is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of poor driving behaviors such as speeding, distracted driving and driving while fatigued. Vehicle defects are generally responsible for 10 percent of truck accidents, while poor road conditions cause 3 percent of crashes.
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