Chicago truck wreck
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,2592851.story Does it get any worse?

video and pics
 

Wow... crazy. :shock: :shock:

Wow, I feel for the families. That's horrible.
I wonder why there's no explanation as to why the driver lost control? Reporters make me wonder sometimes, they can tell you everything about the people and families involved but no mention of why or how the accident happend. :roll:

That intersection is notorious for accidents because the traffic light changes very quickly. Locals know it, someone unfamiliar with would be taken completely off guard by a light that goes from green to yellow to red in a matter of seconds.

This story has some detail, but is still sketchy

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080426/...us/truck_crash

My guess is that it wasn't an accident.

Just a guess, mind you, but I think it was pre-meditated. :?

Don't know, one witness said the driver was leaning over/slumped on the wheel. When you come off the Stevenson (I55) there, it T's, he went straight. Latest news is he hasn't been charged, but is being questioned.

TF, are you thinking an act of terrorism or suicide?

off your meds again?

Just my opinion here...but if the guy wasn't unconscious, then he was probably talking on his cell phone and squinting at his GPS, while thinking that he was going straight through a regular interchange, from that off ramp.



Frickin idiots should be banned from the planet. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

has anyone heard who the guy drove for. news article say he took a blood alchol test and passed but refused a uring sample!! Supose he could have requested a blood test instead. I have heard they are more accurate.

From the article:

The logo on the side of the white truck read "XTRA Lease" in red letters. A phone message left after business hours with XTRA Lease of St. Louis, Mo., was not immediately returned. The company's Web site says it leases trucks to drivers on a short-term basis

From a pic I saw, the trailer was Xtra Lease. Xtra does not rent or lease trucks, only trailers so they could careless about the truck crash other than if the trailer is damaged. Of course they have no comment on it. Reporter needs to clear that up, it was not Xtra Lease on the truck.

Here is a blip from TIME:

how about he's diabetic and the urinalysis would've shown high sugar levels?

The driver was escorted out by the police in handcuffs. He will most likely be charged with something. He was probably in violation of HOS or something else pertaining to DOT regulations.

Cited for Negligent Driving but more charges are still possible with 2 people dead. Still no word from police on what they believe happened.

The tractor was from Whiteline Express out of Plymouth, MI. If you watch the video you can see the logo on the drivers door when they are pulling the truck out of the rubble.

Home > Article Categories > Trucking Companies > Whiteline Express LTD.

Whiteline Express LTD.

Whiteline Express LTD. is a family owned company who always has honored an open-door management policy and has a full service brokerage operation to support land, air and sea transportation. This company provides transportation services to small and large customers throughout the mid-west, northeast and southeast with 4 terminals and 5 satellite facilities. It has over 260 tractors and full service brokerage operation.



The biggest client is Plastipack Packaging Inc., which is a plastic containers producer for many brands that can be found throughout the store selves of America. Whiteline Express gives them the services they need. The primary transportation services given by Whiteline are lightweight loads containing non-hazardous material. For this, they use dry-van trailers and 190 company trucks working with over 70 owner operators. They are supported by over 1,000 trailers whose models range from the years 1999 to 2005. they are always are updating their over-the-road fleet with 2005, 2006 9400i internationals.



The mission at Whiteline Express is to provide excellent quality service to the customers and meet their distribution needs. They are also looking to grow and improve through effective communication, quality management and quality control.



To be an owner operator for Whiteline Express, you must have a CDL and 1 year or 100K miles experience driving a tractor, no felonies, current registration, no more than 6 points or 4 tickets and no current DOT inspection on truck.


The benefits offered include: a plate program, bulk fuel locations, free permits, home most weekends, 24 hour dispatch, ride program, home most weekends and primarily drop and hook.



Whiteline Express is waitig for you!
:roll: :roll: :roll:

I was just thinking it was someone that snapped and was looking to take out some easy targets. Happens every day. Most people use a gun or other hand weapon. He used a truck.

Again, I'm just tossing out a possibility that could very well be wrong. It just seems too catastrophic to be an 'accident.'

Parents of teen killed in truck crash sue driver, company
Associated Press
11:56 AM CDT, May 3, 2008

CHICAGO - The family of a teenager killed when a semitrailer crashed into a Chicago Transit Authority train station has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The parents of 18-year-old Delisia Brown sued the truck driver and his company on Friday.

They claim in the lawsuit that 64-year-old Donald Wells was speeding, ran a red light and didn't use his horn to signal before he crashed.

Brown, a high school student, died at the scene of the crash during the afternoon rush hour on April 25th. Another woman was killed and 21 others were injured.

Wells, of Metamora, Michigan, received a traffic ticket, but has not been criminally charged.

People like that disgust me.

"Oh, my kid is dead, let's file a lawsuit and get rich before we have a funeral!"

:: rolls eyes :: seriously, I could see someone filing a lawsuit, but that quickly is quite f'd up, and seems more money hungry than in mourning.

--Dave.

What I found more interesting was the Police investigation resulted in NO CRIMINAL charges. He was sighted for Negligent Driving. In plain English...it was an accident.

He hasn't been charged yet, pending a full investigation including his logs.

As far as the lawsuit being filed immediately, that is done to preserve evidence more than the family being money hungry. Companies tend to lose evidence in cases like this, such as safety/ maintenance records and other incriminating things. When the suit is filed, the court orders all documentation deemed evidence turned over as not to have any of it inadvertently thrown out in the trucking companies dumpster by the night janitor, if you know what I mean.

How long does that usually take? He's supposed to have at least the last 7 days with him right?

Yup last 7 days, but I know some drivers who keep all their yellow copies in their possession.

I think you should cut them some slack. They lost their 18 yr old daughter. She had her whole life ahead of her. You have no idea what their motivation is. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes and I sure wouldnt judge how they dealt with it. I'll bet they're "disgusted" with people like that truck driver too.

You honestly don't think they are just going to take the drivers word that what he hands them is true, do you?

What he has in his possession and what he actually did are two different things. In an accident like this, they can and will go back quite a ways in time.

When the truck driver drove in front of the Amtrak train back in 99, it took quite some time for the investigators to figure out the driver had been running outlaw for weeks before. The driver got sentenced to 2 years in prison for felony log book violations.

I wouldn't want to be in anyones shoes in that situation - but seriously, filing a lawsuit BEFORE the investigation has been completed, before the funeral, it's in extremely poor taste. Honestly, if I were on that jury, the speed in which the filed the case would be one of the things I'd take into account while making the decision base on all the other facts along with it.

Yeah, 18 year old daughter has suffered, she is no longer alive, it's extremely tragic, I'm not trying to avoid that point - but it was HER life, the ADULT offspring, not her parents life which was ended - so in reality, beyond funeral expenses what rights do they have to the money? I suppose there are other facts to consider here, we don't know if this 18 year old had children or not, and many other things like that. As a parent I would be pissed if I lost my child, hell, I'd be completely wrecked, but that doesn't mean my first thoughts would be of hiring an attorney to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

--Dave.

You dont even know them. How do you know its only about money.

As PTD pointed out, there are other things to consider, things we know nothing of.

I think its in poor taste to question a family who is going thru something like this.

She was still in high school, so while her age makes her an adult, she is still considered a child and a dependent.

I tend to agree with that statement. I know if it were my daughter, I'd turn everything over to my lawyer immediately and let him/her go to town. I'm against frivilous lawsuits, but this one isn't one of those. It may have been an accident, but it was a preventable accident due to the fact that the driver got a ticket. When all is said and done, I'm sure the additional charges against him will be substancial and getting a lawsuit filed in the early stages ensures that the company and the driver are held liable and can't skate out from under it.

I gotta agree with PTD on what he had to say. It is entirely possible that supporting records would have been lost over the next few weeks, without court intervention.
White Line Express is owned by a fairly large company, but is operated in a manner to make it appear as a stand-alone operation. The lawuit being filed puts records under tighter scrutiny, and makes it harder for Whiteline Express and Plastipak to dispose of records they do not want viewed.

There isn't anymore information available on the girl's family, to allow us to understand thier entire motivation. It is entirely possible that someone in her family is familiar enough with the operating habits of large trucking operations and their parent company's, to know that getting lawyers envolved immediately is the only why to preserve evidence.

The news article suggests the driver did not sound his horn to give warning of impending danger. Well...You have to wonder. What was the man thinking? If he wasn't unconcious, why wasn't he laying on that air horn...I certainly would have been.

Like I said, I'm not trying to disqualify that this is extremely tragic, I do send my condolences to the family - but to put it most simplistically, none of us have all the facts so arguing this is a moot point based on opinion.

I suppose we could all argue until we're blue in the face (or fingers as the case may be here in these intewebs things), I'll just shut up now. I do have to admit, you guys have given me a bit more to think about, with the security of the records and such.

--Dave.

Yuppers...just that easily, records can disappear or be changed.

There is another thing to consider, too, on why they filed a lawsuit so quickly. If Greatwide were to look at the gravity of the accident and say "hey, let's declare bankruptcy and shut the doors right now", I don't believe a lawsuit could be filed against them after the fact. By filing right away while the company is still in business, they ensure that the lawsuit would be a part of any possible bankruptcy proceedings. Now, I'm not 100% certain on that, but I read a news story on another company a while back where they touched on that.

I understand what you meant if its only about money. I just think you're jumping to conclusions. That family has alot to deal with and I would never judge them this early. Its a terrible situation.

I live about 5 miles from where the Amtrac accident happened. It did take awhile for the investigation to be completed. And there were quite a few lawsuits filed before it was complete. On a sidenote, they completely removed that intesection so you have to go about a 1/2 mile North to St Gerge Rd to get to Rt 50. They also moved Rt 50 further away from the tracks so the trucks have more room. There are 3 or 4 steel plants right there and heavy truck traffic.

I guess until you're put in a situation like this, you don't know what you would do. I wasn't trying to jusdge them, I guess I was just surprised that the suit was filed BEFORE the investigation was complete. I didn't think about preerving records so thank you for pointing that out.

Reb

Sorry to drag this way up again, but according to fox news earlier last week the driver did have some prescription drugs in his possession. Did not list what, or how much, but it was brought up well after this initial incident. I drove past the area 3 days ago, looks mostly the same with the exception of a few more pedestrian/traffic barriers in place.