Illinois Safety Checks on Large Trucks

 Posted on June 05, 2018 in Personal Injury

Truck accidents often result in fatal injuries in DuPage County and throughout Illinois. As the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) explains, when big rigs are involved in collisions with smaller passenger vehicles, those passenger vehicle occupants often suffer life-threatening or fatal injuries since trucks weigh anywhere from twenty to thirty times as much as a smaller passenger vehicle and have a greater ground clearance.

Truck collisions often occur because of driver error—as a result of negligent driving, which often involves drowsy driving—and can also happen if a truck is not properly maintained or is improperly loaded.

According to a recent article in the Belleville News-Democrat, Illinois State Police have been focusing on semi-truck safety by making random stops to check the truck and its driver for any safety concerns.

Random Stops of Semi-Trucks Can Identify Safety Hazards

As the article explains, Illinois State Police troopers do not have to have a particular reason to pull over a semi-truck in order to check for any safety concerns. Differently, of course, law enforcement officials must have a reason, also known as reasonable suspicion or probable cause, to stop and search a passenger vehicle.

Since law enforcement officials do not need to have reasonable suspicion in order to stop a big rig, members of the Illinois State Police have been stopping large trucks to conduct safety checks on major highways in Illinois. Most of the stops have occurred on Interstate 55, but they have also taken place on Interstate 255 and Interstate 57.

One Illinois State Police trooper explained the rationale behind stopping semi-trucks on Illinois highways: that’s the specific type of vehicle on the road that they do not need to have a reason to pull over. Indeed, he clarified that they do not need to have probable cause; officers can stop them just to inspect their truck.

What are law enforcement officials looking for when they stop big rigs? In short, they are looking for any signs of safety hazards that could ultimately result in a serious crash.

Signs of Safety Issues in a Semi-Truck Stop

Primarily, when Illinois State Police troopers stop semi-trucks, they are looking for the following:

• Whether the truck driver is properly licensed to drive a commercial motor vehicle (CML);
• Whether the equipment on the truck is in safe, working condition;
• Whether the truck is properly loaded and is not overweight; and
• Whether the truck driver’s logbooks are properly completed, which is where drivers record the number of hours they have worked in a given period.

These safety stops are happening just a short time after two consecutive deadly truck collisions in Illinois. A semi-truck driver caused a crash on I-5 that resulted in the deaths of four people in November 2017, and the following month another semi-truck driver caused a deadly accident due to distracted driving.

Contact a DuPage County Truck Accident Attorney

Trucking accidents can be devastating, not only to the victim but also to the victim’s family. If you need help filing a claim, you should speak with an experienced DuPage County truck accident attorney as soon as possible. Contact Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices for more information about how we can help with your case.