Chicago’s Bureau of Sanitation collects garbage from approximately 600,000 households, with more than one million tons annually. Although the job is essential, it can be dangerous for workers and drivers as the trucks travel throughout the city.
Crashes involving garbage trucks can be deadly and often result in extensive damage or injuries. If you’ve been in a collision with a trash truck, you could be entitled to compensation.
The Chicago garbage truck accident lawyers at Staver Accident Injury Lawyers can help you collect the compensation you deserve. Use a free consultation to share your story. Call (312) 236-2900.
Why Are Crashes with Garbage Trucks Dangerous?
When passenger vehicles crash, there could be damage or injuries. A crash with a large garbage truck can increase the potential for damage or injuries, sometimes with deadly consequences.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reported 1,992 crashes involving garbage trucks in 2020. About 80 of those were fatal.
Garbage trucks are much larger, so they can have difficulty stopping. In a crash, that momentum transfers to smaller vehicles.
Garbage trucks also make frequent stops when collecting garbage on their routes. Inattentive drivers may not notice a stopped truck and collide with it.
It can be difficult for drivers to see around their large vehicles. With so many blind spots, garbage trucks could hit passenger vehicles as they pull back into traffic.
Garbage trucks also operate close to sidewalks, so there’s a chance pedestrians could be injured.
Common Causes of Chicago Garbage Truck Crashes
Like other drivers, garbage truck operators need to be diligent as they work. However, there could be contributing factors to a crash, like:
- Distracted Driving: Just like passenger vehicles, utility or garbage trucks require drivers to pay attention to the road to avoid crashes. If garbage truck drivers aren’t focused, they risk collisions. Other drivers may expect the truck driver to use more caution, so they could be driving distracted, leading to accidents
- Equipment Failure: Many garbage trucks have complicated apparatuses, like automated side-loaders, that need to be inspected. If they fail, it could lead to a crash or injuries
- Fatigued Driving: Sanitation employees work long days and weeks. Their job includes heavy manual labor, and if they aren’t rested, they could be tired and crash
- Frequent or Unexpected Stops: Garbage trucks are on the road for a reason: they’re collecting garbage. While many drivers expect the trucks to pull over to the curb, obstacles could stop them. If a truck stops unexpectedly or in the middle of the street, other drivers may crash into them
- Inexperienced Drivers: Drivers need a Commercial Driver’s License to operate a garbage truck. They need training and time behind the wheel to pass the exam. Drivers with less experience could panic in stressful situations or cause a crash because they don’t know how to handle their vehicle
- Intoxicated Driving: Like passenger vehicles, garbage truck drivers could get behind the wheel while drunk or under the influence. Any time a driver can’t focus on driving, the risk of crashes increases
- Poor Truck Maintenance: Like other commercial vehicles, garbage trucks require maintenance inspections and care before each operation. Most garbage trucks have hydraulics or air brakes, so maintenance is essential to keeping them safe. Whenever that care is neglected, a crash could happen
- Poor Weather: Weather conditions can affect driver safety, especially when the vehicle is a large commercial truck. Overconfidence in the snow or poor field of vision from heavy rain increases the risk to drivers
- Speeding: When sanitation workers collect garbage on a route, they try to complete their work on schedule. Like any other vehicle, garbage truck drivers might be trying to make up lost time or aren’t paying attention to the speed limit. That reckless behavior can lead to crashes
- Tailgating: When drivers follow a large truck too closely, they risk a rear-end collision. Oversized vehicles need more time to stop, and if there isn’t a clear following distance between vehicles, a crash is more likely
Possible Injuries After a Crash with a Garbage Truck in Chicago
A crash with a truck will cause injuries you might see in other passenger vehicle collisions, like broken bones or head injuries. However, a crash with a truck will likely lead to more severe injuries.
Common injuries include:
Calculating Your Damages in a Chicago Garbage Truck Accident
Depending on the severity of your crash, you’re going to be facing some significant expenses. Even if you only had minor injuries, there could be costs your insurance company will try not to pay. You may need to repair your car or need to replace it.
After a crash, you must calculate your economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages generally cover tangible things, like fixing your car or paying your medical bills.
Non-economic damages refer to more abstract harm you suffered, like to your peace of mind, loss of socialization, or disfigurement.
Some insurance companies may tell you they have a calculator to give you a total of your loss, but your best option is to work with a knowledgeable track accident attorney in Chicago. They can examine your damages, lifestyle, and what changes after a crash.
Who Is Liable in a Garbage Truck Accident in Chicago?
Truck accidents are complicated because multiple parties could share responsibility for your crash. These situations are not always as evident as crashes with passenger vehicles.
Garbage trucks could be employed by Chicago’s Bureau of Sanitation or a private company. If the driver was reckless or negligent, they could be liable for the crash, and so could their supervisor, company, or municipality. In some cases, the truck’s manufacturer could be responsible.
You’ll have to prove the other driver’s liability and start a claim with their insurance company or a lawsuit if they refuse to pay what you deserve.
If the driver was a Chicago employee, you’ll need to work through the city’s claims process. An attorney can help you file the appropriate paperwork.
Work with Staver to Secure Your Compensation after a Truck Accident
The truck accident attorneys at Staver Accident Injury Lawyers, P.C. have helped others like you secure compensation after a truck accident. Truck drivers, like sanitation workers, should be careful when they operate large machinery. When their careless behavior hurts you, you need to hold them accountable.
Attorney Jared Staver and his team can work with you to determine your damages, what kind of medical care you need in the future, and who was responsible for your crash. Truck crashes are complicated to unravel, so work with Attorney Staver to get what you’re owed.
Call (312) 236-2900 or use our online contact form to schedule your free consultation.
