Illinois trucking accident lawsuit seeks damages for teenager left paralyzed
A teenage driver has filed a personal injury lawsuit after an Illinois trucking accident left her paralyzed.
Jessica Baker, 19, filed suit last week against 12 people and companies involved in the muli-car collision on I-270 on Feb. 4, 2008 which left her 2001 Saturn trapped beneath the semi.
The Chicago trucking accident lawyers and car accident attorneys at Abels & Annes encourage anyone who has been in an accident with a semi or large commercial vehicle to seek the advice of a qualified attorney. This case illustrates the serious injuries and complex issues such a case presents to an injury victim seeking compensation for damages.
This lawsuit involved the tractor owner, Nicholae Valeanu who was driving the tractor, Stoughton, which owned the trailer being hauled, and nearly a dozen other defendants.
According to the complaint filed in Madison County Circuit Court, defendant Valeanu was driving a tractor-trailer in front of Baker when he rear-ended a Chevrolet Impala, which caused a chain-reaction collision that also involved an Air Products and Chemical's trailer.
Baker collided with the rear of Valeanu's trailer because she could not see the accident unfolding in front of him, the lawsuit states, according to the The Record of Madison/St. Clair.
The lawsuit claims the trailer Valeanu was hauling was not equipped with a properly affixed rear impact guard, which is designed to prevent cars from traveling underneath the trailer during a rear-end collision.
The suit alleges that the fasteners connecting the rear-impact guard were corroded and damaged due to normal wear and were not durable enough to withstand the impact.
"Due to the failure of the fasteners and the height of the Stoughton Trailer frame, the windshield, roof and upper A-Pillars of Jessica's 2001 Saturn struck the rear of the Stoughton Trailer," the complaint says. "The trailer impact to the upper A-Pillars of Jessica's 2001 Saturn with the rear of the Stoughton Trailer frame deformed the upper A-Pillars rearward and downward pulling the roof panel downward allowing the trailer to ride over and compress the roof panel into occupant survival space such that Jessica's head came into contact with the roof headliner and panel, breaking her cervical spine and lacerating her head."
Because of the injury to her cervical spine, Baker was paralyzed and remains a quadriplegic, she claims.
She contends that her paralysis could have been avoided if the rear impact guard was properly attached to the back of the trailer.
"Had the rear impact guard on the Stoughton Trailer been attached with adequate fasteners that could withstand at least as much force as the rear impact guard itself, excessive underride would not have occurred," the complaint says.
Baker was wearing her seatbelt and the airbag deployed, but the lack of adequate safety features on the trailer made the safety equipment in Baker's automobile largely ineffective, the lawsuit claims.
In addition to Valeanu, Bronnbauer, Stoughton Trailer, Kleinschmidt and Air Product and Chemicals, other defendants in the suit include Motor City Express, Challenger Motor Freight, James Group International, James Group International II, Inc., James Group Midwest, STI Holdings and Kevin M. Ryan.
Motor City Express, James Group International, James Group International II, James Group Midwest and Challenger Motor Freight agreed to provide tractor trailer transportation. At the time of the collision, Valeanu was driving a tractor trailer for the companies, according to the complaint.
STI Holdings manufactured the vehicle Valeanu was driving at the time of the collision, the complaint says.
Ryan was driving a 2007 Freightliner tractor and a compressed gas trailer for Air Products and Chemicals, which was the trailer initially stopped on the Interstate, the suit states.
Baker is seeking a judgment in excess of $500,000.
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