Trucking accidents are a cause for much alarm, both on the part of drivers and pedestrians. Every year, there are numerous reported accidents and deaths involving large trucks. A total of 4,808 people died, and another 84,000 suffered injuries from accidents involving large trucks in 2007 alone. In the same year, 802 truck drivers died while on the job.
On August 19, a Thursday, a semitrailer tractor truck driver was killed after he crashed into two other vehicles on U.S. Interstate 57. The driver was 52-year-old Frederick Conlon from Lisben, Ohio. He was pronounced dead at 7:20 pm. The autopsy reports reveal that his death was caused by multiple injuries from the crash.
The accident happened around 5 p.m. on U.S. Interstate 57 in Illinois, half a mile away from the city of Kankakee. It was the second vehicular accident involving a large truck to occur on Interstate 57 within 24 hours.
The master sergeant of Illinois State Police District 5 reported that all three vehicles were driving northward. The third truck rear-ended the second truck, which consequently crashed into the first truck. Conlon was the driver of the third semi. The driver of the second truck received treatment and subsequently was discharged at the scene while the driver of the first semi did not sustain any injuries.
Earlier that same day, there was another fatal crash that involved two tractor-trailers and a subsequent fire between Monee and Peotone in Illinois. It was reported that the driver of that trailer truck slammed into the second truck’s rear end. He was killed at about 9 a.m. that morning.
The two separate accidents not only occurred on the same day and the same interstate, but both involved trailer trucks. Truck drivers, as well as pedestrians, should take truck safety seriously. Following basic safety rules could save a life or prevent tragic consequences.
