Troy Township, IL — Two tractor-trailer drivers were injured in an accident in Troy Township, Illinois, on Wednesday, December 31, 2014. The accident took place near the intersection of interstates 80 and 55, around 8:00 in the morning.
According to local news reports, two tractor-trailers, one hauling a Wal-Mart trailer, and the other belonging to Nicor, collided on 88, just west of 55. Both drivers were injured, although reports did not elaborate on the extent of their injuries. Emergency workers coming onto the scene took one driver to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital by medical helicopter. The other was taken to Morris Hospital. No names were released.
Reports made no mention of any other injuries.
The cause of the accident is unknown at this time, and local authorities are continuing to investigate.
Approximate Scene of the Accident
Commentary
People I’ve spoken with who have been involved in these sorts of accidents have never really been educated on their rights as a victim of an accident. An accident like this will usually be handled through an employer’s workers’ comp policy, as they happened while the victim was on the job. As most people know, workers’ comp was designed for just this purpose. WC benefits will be paid to an injured employee, which they can then use to cover medical bills, or lost wages, etc. However, there’s an important point that’s often missed here. Despite the fact that an accident like this happened on the job, the driver of the truck was still the victim of an accident, and as such has the right to file a claim against the other driver. That means that they’re entitled to both workers’ comp benefits, as well as any compensation they’re able to recover from the at-fault driver.
This is an important point to bring up because, as anyone involved in an accident like this can tell you, medical bills have a way of piling up fast. If you’re involved in an accident like this and you need coverage, you don’t want to find out after the fact that there was a way to obtain that coverage that was available to you that you didn’t take advantage of because you didn’t know about it.
— Grossman Law Offices
