Lawsuit Filed Against National Trucking Company After Commercial Truck’s Trailer Detaches on Illinois Highway Causing Collision

A lawsuit has been filed in LaSalle County, Illinois, by a gentlemen who suffered severe injuries after his vehicle struck the trailer of an 18-wheeler that had become unhitched and abandoned on a dark Illinois roadway. The lawsuit, filed by Rapoport Weisberg Sims & VanOverloop alleges that the truck driver failed to properly hitch his trailer and when he pulled into the roadway, his trailer became disconnected in the opposite lane of traffic. The lawsuit further alleges that once the trailer became disconnected, it lost all power and its lights could not be illuminated to warn traffic in the middle of the night. Without any overhead lighting, the unlit trailer was nearly impossible to see for traffic coming around a curve. Rather than take steps to warn other motorists of the dangerous hazard in the middle of the road such as setting up warnings, flares or reflective devices, the truck driver left the scene and his trailer abandoned in the roadway. The lawsuit alleges that the truck driver violated numerous provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act and the Illinois motor vehicle code, causing the accident. The lawsuit seeks compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and permanent disability.