As a St. Louis large truck accident attorney, my interest was piqued by a particularly tragic article about a 10-year-old boy who was killed by a semi-truck in Bloomington, Ill. According to the article, Travell Arrington was riding his bike to the store with his friends when he was hit by a semi truck turning into a driveway. The article said he and a friend were trying to beat the truck across the driveway. According to the coroner, this little boy died “as a result of severe head injuries due to being crushed by a tire.”
Arrington’s death deeply disturbed the community in Bloomington. A total of 250 people attended his memorial service, where his mother and others called for an investigation into the safety of traffic patterns in the high-density area. The truck driver was questioned by the police, of course, and his blood was tested for unsafe drug and alcohol levels, as is routine in traffic accident deaths. The results of that test are not yet available. In addition, an Illinois State Police trooper inspected the tractor-trailer’s mechanical systems for defects, and a city traffic committee thoroughly examined the accident’s site for ways in which its safety may have been compromised.
Unfortunately, results so far have been inconclusive, and the trucker has not been cited with any traffic violations or criminally charged. A follow-up article in the Pantagraph this week said that Bloomington’s city traffic committee had no suggested changes for the area. The police, too, reaffirmed that there likely was nothing that could have been done differently on the part of the city to prevent the accident.
In the absence of this evidence, the city is doing the only thing it can: it plans to hold special programs, including a “bike rodeo,” to educate children on bicycle safety as a result of the accident. I applaud this effort, but as a southern Illinois tractor-trailer crash lawyer, I hope they are also looking into the truck driver’s role. While the description of the accident suggests that Arrington may have taken a risk, truckers and all other drivers have a legal obligation to take special care around children — precisely because their inexperience can lead to bad choices. Illinois pedestrian laws require drivers to exercise due care around pedestrians and bicyclists, even those engaged in unsafe or illegal behaviors — and especially around children or “any obviously confused, incapacitated or intoxicated person.” If an investigation finds that the truck driver failed in this duty, he could be held legally liable for the accident.
If you have lost a loved one in an accident involving a large truck, you need the expertise of a southern Illinois commercial truck accident lawyer who can explain your rights. Based in St. Louis, Missouri and Belleville, Illinois, Carey, Danis & Lowe represents people in southern Illinois and Missouri who have been affected by serious injuries, or deaths, due to accidents involving semi trucks. In a Missouri commercial truck lawsuit, we can help you recover financial losses incurred as a result of the accident, including but not limited to hospital bills, lost income from being unable to work, and other compensation for pain, disability, and loss of a normal life. To learn more about your claim, please contact us online for a free, confidential consultation, or call us toll-free at 1-877-678-3400.
