Hit by a Truck
in a Road Pileup?
Injury Law Made Personal®
Brakes on an 80,000-pound truck do not fail without warning. They fail after inspections get skipped, defects get deferred, and somebody decides the repair can wait one more run. If a semi could not stop behind you on I-90, the maintenance file and the engine data will show how long that decision had been sitting there. Ankin Law has fought for injured Illinois drivers for over 40 years.
Call 312.600.0000 Free Case ReviewHow a Truck Pileup Creates Liability
The Situation
Traffic slows the way it always does on I-90. Every car ahead of you stops. The loaded semi behind you needs the length of a football field to do the same, and if its brakes are out of adjustment it needs more than that. You did nothing wrong. You were in front of a vehicle that federal law requires to be able to stop.
The Accident
“The brakes.” Drivers say it at the scene all the time, and it is one of the most important sentences in the case. Brake violations are the single most common defect found in federal truck inspections. A driver admitting the truck would not stop is pointing straight at the carrier that was supposed to maintain it — and that admission has a short shelf life.
The Solution
Driver negligence, brake failure, company maintenance records — Ankin Law investigates all of it. Who was driving, how long they had been driving, who inspected that truck, and what the carrier already knew. Howard Ankin has fought for injured Illinois drivers for over 40 years, and no fee is owed unless we win.
Is a Free Consultation Really Free?
Howard Ankin answers your questions directly.
What Illinois Law Says About Truck Crashes
is generally the Illinois deadline to file a personal injury claim — but the engine data, dashcam video and driver logs that prove the case can be gone in weeks
is the heart of the case. A truck’s engine control module records speed, braking and throttle in the seconds before impact — and it can be overwritten once the truck goes back in service
is the line in Illinois. You can still recover if you were partly at fault, reduced by your share — but at more than 50% you recover nothing, which is exactly why carriers work to shift blame early
Who Is Responsible — and What You Can Recover
The Driver
Following too closely, driving too fast for conditions, or staying behind the wheel past federal hours-of-service limits. Electronic logging devices now record driving time automatically, so how long that driver had been working is a matter of record rather than memory.
The Trucking Company
The carrier is responsible for its driver on the job, and separately for its own conduct: hiring a driver with a record, pushing a schedule that cannot be run legally, or deferring brake repairs. Federal rules require inspection, repair and maintenance records — those files are where these cases are won.
What You Can Recover
Emergency care, surgery and rehabilitation, wages for every day you cannot work, future medical care and lost earning capacity, vehicle damage, and pain and suffering and loss of normal life. Commercial trucks carry far higher insurance limits than passenger cars.
Why Ankin Law Is the Right Call After a Truck Crash
The Truck Gets Repaired and Sent Back Out
The damaged tractor is the evidence, and it is repaired or sold within days. Ankin Law moves at once to send a preservation letter, lock down the engine data and dashcam footage, and inspect the brakes before anyone touches them.
Their Team Is Already Working
Large carriers dispatch investigators to serious crashes the same day, sometimes before the road reopens. They photograph the scene, interview the driver and start building the version of events where the crash was partly your fault. Somebody should be doing that work for you too.
No Fee Unless You Win
You pay nothing to start and nothing unless Ankin Law recovers for you. You get the same aggressive representation whether you can afford it today or not. Howard Ankin has been doing this for over 40 years.
Get Your Free Case Review
The truck that hit you is already being repaired and its data is already being overwritten. Contact us today for a free, confidential consultation with no obligation.
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