Free consultation:
612-337-6126
Elliot Olsen has more than 20 years’ experience representing people harmed in semi-truck collisions, and he has regained millions of dollars in compensation. If you or a family member was injured in a collision with a semi-truck and believe negligence played a role, please call him at 612-337-6126, or complete the following:
UPDATE, FEB. 6
Delandis J. McKinney, 26, of Beloit, WI, was identified as the third occupant of the GMC Yukon. McKinney passed away because of injuries sustained in the Jan. 21 collision.
ORIGINAL POST, JAN. 24
Two people died and four were injured in two Rock County collisions early Sunday morning on southbound I-43 near Clinton, Wisconsin.
In the first collision, the driver of a semi-truck told the Wisconsin State Patrol he didn’t see a Chevy Suburban traveling slowly in the right lane, hazard lights blinking. The semi driver swerved trying to avoid the Suburban but clipped the rear of the vehicle, causing the semi to overturn onto the driver’s side of the cab.
Soon thereafter, a GMC Yukon slammed into the trailer of the semi-truck. Two 26-year-olds – Cecilio Rodriguez Jr. and Hesham Abdelrahim, both of Beloit, WI – were killed, and a third person, who has not been identified, remains in critical condition. Rodriguez was driving the Yukon, and Abdelrahim was the front-seat passenger.
Three people were transported to the hospital from the Suburban; reports list their injuries from minor to serious. The driver of the semi-truck was uninjured.
Authorities in Wisconsin are investigating the incident.
Rock County collisions:
Large trucks responsible for 1 in 10 highway deaths
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute, approximately 10 percent of highway deaths occur in a crashes involving a large truck. Most deaths in large-truck crashes are occupants of passenger vehicles.
Contributing factors in these types of collisions include:
- Vulnerability of people in smaller vehicles: Trucks weigh 20-30 times as much as passenger vehicles. In addition, they are taller with higher ground clearance.
- Truck braking capability: Loaded tractor-trailers take 20 to 50 percent farther than cars to stop. The discrepancy is greater on wet and slippery roads or with poorly maintained brakes.
- Truck driver fatigue: Drivers of large trucks are allowed by federal regulations to drive up to 11 hours at a stretch. Surveys indicate that many drivers violate the regulations and work longer than permitted.
