* From a prominent personal injury firm…
Investigators Need to Find Out if 72-Car Pileup in Downstate Illinois Could Have Been Avoided if Motor Vehicle Laws Were Followed
As the investigation continues on a two-mile stretch of highway in downstate Illinois, it makes one pause as to if the 72-car pileup really should never should have happened at all. The Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Administration and the Department of Transportation expect trucking companies and motor carriers to practice defensive driving which is an industry term to mean exercise caution in a situation like this and refrain from operating 80,000-pound tractor-trailers when visibility conditions dictated otherwise.
“Driving a tractor trailer with little to no visibility is reckless and wanton conduct that can place other motorists in the worst possible scenario – the death and injuries of innocent people,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago. “This terrible tragedy needs to be thoroughly examined so those whose lives have been forever changed have answers.”
Six people are reported dead and at least 30 more injured when Interstate 55 outside of Springfield, Illinois, resulted in what state police described as zero visibility on the road for about a two-mile stretch at about 11 a.m. Monday when a “dust-out” storm occurred.
Federal motor vehicle laws governing truck drivers require that truck drivers pull over. The FMVCA rules says, “If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, operations must immediately be discontinued until the vehicle can again be safely operated.” https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/safetyplanner/MyFiles/SubSections.aspx?ch=23&sec=68&sub=172
Instead, it was reported that semi-trucks carrying heavy loads and perhaps hazardous materials crashed into helpless others. “It was very dangerous – the drivers couldn’t see. Truck drivers know that it takes a long time to stop their heavy vehicles when traveling on highways at higher speeds, and if they strike something, the other person doesn’t have a chance,” Clifford said. “Drivers, particularly truck drivers, cannot be in a hurry. In situations like this, safety must take precedence over everything else.”
In the pile-up on I-55 near the state’s capital of Springfield, six people are now dead. Dozens of others are critically injured ranging in age from 2 to 80 years old, including some who had to be airlifted to hospitals. Several tractor-trailers turned over and others burned out on the highway. I-55 reopened Tuesday morning as police continue to examine what happened in this horrible wreckage that some witnesses described as a scene from 9/11.
This “dust-out” is very similar to a winter “white-out” when responsible drivers pull off of the road and seek shelter to avoid tragedies like this that can be caused by zero visibility conditions. The incident brings back horrible memories of a family whose car was crushed in a pile-up on I-90 near Rockford, Illinois, during a white-out snowstorm. The Yoder’s car was crushed. Their four-year old daughter in the back seat was killed. The little two-year-old boy suffered permanent brain damage that required round-the-clock care for the rest of life. The mom suffered severe skull and facial injuries requiring 31 surgeries. Of course, that family was devastated, despite Kevin Durkin at Clifford Law Offices obtaining a record $38.3 million verdict in 2004.
* The topic of culpability came up often during Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly’s press conference today…
Q: Why did it take until somebody got into an accident for these roads to be shut down, so that fatalities like this could be avoided?
Kelly: Well, I don’t think we have any evidence at this point that there was any reason to have shut the road down. It is a pretty extreme thing to shut a road down. We do that during blizzards, we do that when we have hazmat or circumstances like this. And the parameters for shutting a road down are not always predictable in a sense, just the weather is not always predictable. So at this point there’s nothing to indicate that IDOT or ISP or anybody had any information that warranted shutting a road down now. We are certainly looking at the timeline for what the weather warnings were. Some of those warnings in terms of the warning about there being a dust storm came after some of the accidents that occurred yesterday. You’ve obviously seen that IDOT has updated some of their signs to put information out that people can be can be more aware of this. And we’ll look at that, we’ll certainly look at that. But at this stage, we don’t have any reason to believe there were factors that indicated an interstate should have been shut down preemptively. There was nothing that just would have warranted that. […]
Q: Have any drivers been cited? Will they be cited for speed or any other factors?
A: So, our traffic crash reconstruction folks, that is what they will do. They will go through the process of trying to reconstruct what exactly happened here. They will look at things like black boxes that are in the car to be able to see what the speed was. They’ll interview as many people as possible. But we’re talking about 100 objects all moving at potentially high speeds. And maybe you know, under the speed limit, but maybe not necessarily safe for conditions. Those are questions that we have to ask, those are questions that we ask anytime there’s an accident of this nature, or even a smaller accident to determine what the events were that to this. So, we’ll see. But we’re very early in this process. We have a lot of evidence to go through, we have a lot of people to interview, we have a lot of science that has to be done to be able to see what we can determine from this.
* On to another, but similar topic…
* Back to Director Kelly’s press conference…
Q: Director Kelly, we have heard in the last 24 hours from some in the local farming community who are upset [saying] this was avoidable based on the farming techniques used. Is any part of your investigation looking at who may be responsible?
Kelly: Well, certainly we’re looking at the surrounding area to see what information we can ascertain that may link where the dust was coming from. But we know again, just listening to what the National Weather Service has had to say, and meteorologists have had to say about the circumstances is that there’s any number of things that could have led to this. And there’s many different ways of tilling soil. There’s no till, there’s lots of different types of agricultural activity. But some of these things may be related to a period of dryness, where there’s not as much rain as there usually has been. And we’re going to try to connect as many dots as we can and see if there’s anything we can learn from that. But we’re not jumping to any conclusions.
Q: Are criminal charges possible?
Kelly: We have a process to make that determination. And if and when there’s something that warrants that, we’ll certainly share that with the public. But nowhere, no way are we anywhere near that type of conclusion.
Q: Are you aware of any type of regulations that would limit the amount of tilling that a farmer can do…?
Kelly: Well, I can say this, again, there’s many different types of agricultural techniques that are used in terms of plowing a field. And there’s a whole host of factors that go into into how that process works. And the timing. It does not benefit a farmer to lose a bunch of their topsoil. So they have no motivation, or no reason that they would want to do something that would cause this in any way. So there’s no logic to saying that someone did this on purpose. And they were somehow skirting some sort of regulation. But again, we’re gonna look at everything. That is our job. And this is what the Illinois State Police do well, is to follow the facts wherever they take us, good, bad, ugly. But we also don’t want to jump to any conclusions beyond what the evidence shows.
It would probably be helpful if the federal departments of transportation, agriculture and environmental protection also get involved.
In the meantime, people should refrain from jumping to too many conclusions.
* Horrific aftermath videos…
- Leslie K - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 12:23 pm:
I don’t want to minimize the seriousness of any of this, which was a horrific event. But could Clifford Law Offices maybe get a better ChatBot? That release started out as nearly gibberish and didn’t get much better.
- efficiency - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 12:25 pm:
I experienced something similar to this about ten years ago on I55 closer to Gardner, but with blowing snow on a sunny day. It was a sudden white out, and we were lucky to avoid a huge pile up.
Since then, I always notice how little planting there is along the edge of farms that border the outer roads to to act as a wind break.
It seems that the truck volume is much higher in recent years, too, especially on ther northern end of 55. There are some very aggressive truck drivers out there that make the roads feel dangerous, even during normal conditions.
- Cheryl - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 12:32 pm:
I feel the problem is that the road drops to 4 lanes right before that point instead of the prior 6 lanes causing a lot of congestion at that point. The amount of traffic should require it to be 6 lanes at least until carlinville. If people going highway speeds had been able to be better spaced it would of mitigated a large percentage of this accident. If not all of it. These dust storms happen suddenly and you often don’t realize until you are right up on them, so I don’t think it can just be blamed on speeding, farming, or mother nature.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 12:38 pm:
–Could Have Been Avoided if Motor Vehicle Laws Were Followed–
100% avoidable.
It’s the same behavior that causes the majority of vehicles spun out off the road during snow events, to be 4X4s. Having power to all 4 wheels, doesn’t change the coefficient of friction. Similarly, having a vehicle with a ‘higher point of view’, doesn’t change the stopping distance required.
It’s why as I get older, I refuse to drive in bad weather. I know how to handle my own vehicle, and how to adjust for conditions. I’ve driven in sandstorms, hailstorms, hurricanes, and blizzards with snow so deep on the road it’s scraping the floorboards. But I have zero faith in the general public flying up behind me at 80mph to be able to safely handle those conditions.
Unfortunately, there are also some people who think *driving* with their hazards on if they are going slow during bad weather is a good idea. It’s not, and if anyone reading this does that - please stop doing it. Hazard lights are only for if you are stopped, not going slow.
- Anyone Remember - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 12:49 pm:
===The amount of traffic should require it to be 6 lanes at least until carlinville.===
Until the recent infrastructure bill, there wasn’t even funding to make it 6 lanes around Springfield.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 12:54 pm:
===The amount of traffic should require it to be 6 lanes===
I just don’t think I can be convinced of that.
- fs - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:07 pm:
I see the lobbyists and personal injury lawyers have wasted no time in “letting no crisis or tragedy go to waste”
Maybe at least let the cleanup finish before trying to use the incident to promote agendas or solicit clients? Clifford isn’t the only law firm I saw trying to use this last night in that manner, either.
- Benjamin - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:10 pm:
This is a good time to remind everyone that they aren’t required to have a hot take on everything, and it’s okay to sit back and wait until all the facts come in.
- JustAThought - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:13 pm:
Isn’t it a little soon for groups to be using this terrible accident to push an agenda item like funding…? Maybe I’m wrong, but that feels off so soon. They are still identifying victims.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:13 pm:
wow, the farming issue is something I thought of but felt nervous to straight up articulate. when you don’t want to lose topsoil, and when things are dry, you water. wonder about procedures to till as dealing with dry soil. so many have irrigation, if yes in this case when is it put up?
- Annonin' - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:18 pm:
Capt FAX is keerect. This weekend traffic was mostly at 80 or 81 mph through that stretch. 2 windy days but no dustnado yet. Remember nighttime snow flurry white outs. Pretty scary times.
- reddevil1 - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:21 pm:
Of all the mandates this state has …shouldnt there be one that mandates tree growth near interstates?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:24 pm:
===tree growth near interstates? ===
Probably woulda needed a big forest of dense pines or something to stop that dust storm.
- RNUG - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:28 pm:
I drove that stretch on the RT-66 frontage road on Sunday, the day before the accident. I did notice the tilled fields west of the highway. I was actually a bit surprised to see the fields tilled this Spring. A lot of the farmers have gone to plowing or tilling under any stubble in the Fall, and just drilling seed in (basically no-till) in the Spring.
I’m pretty sure that dried, tilled soil was a contributing factor, but it would not have been blowing around like it was without the 50 MPH or better winds.
We also don’t know how the drivers at the front end of the accident reacted to the brownout / blackout. It is not a common occurrence locally.Improper reactions could also have been a contributing factor.
- King Louis XVI - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:32 pm:
–I see the lobbyists and personal injury lawyers have wasted no time in “letting no crisis or tragedy go to waste”–
Exactly. Clifford and IEC pitching their wares at this very moment is in bad taste.
- Mason born - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:33 pm:
Amalia
That acreage doesn’t have irrigation. irrigation in Illinois is usually focused above the Mahomet Aquifer or in river valleys like the Illinois. To make it financially feasible to Irrigate you need a water source that is close enough to the field, cheap enough to use, and plentiful enough to be effective. for example to put a 1/2″ of water on a field would require 13,500 gallons of water per acre. You’re not going to be able to utilize a municipal water supply for that so you would need a pond or a large impoundment (pond).
There are other ways to farm that minimize tillage, unfortunately many of them require more herbicides to be applied. Which come with their own issues.
- The Truth - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:37 pm:
Ambulance and hearse chasing is gross.
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:41 pm:
A perfect storm if you will is what created those conditions yesterday.
I’m fairly certain that those fields were planted about 7-10 days ago. But the seeds had yet to emerge because of colder weather.
But it was those winds (topping 54mph on Monday) that lifted that soil. Had the wind stayed under 35 mph or so the dust cloud just wouldn’t have been as dense.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:43 pm:
–mandates tree growth near interstates?–
Trees are generally removed near interstates in open areas. Mandating trees near interstates would be a terrible idea.
It’s far better for a car that loses control from a blowout, to go veering off the road into a field where it eventually comes to rest, instead of straight into a tree - where it immediately comes to rest.
That’s why trees aren’t often seen near interstates in open areas.
But more to the point, I find it hard to believe there was that much dust **unless** a farmer was actively tilling a field during the period of peak winds. A 40mph wind can kick up some lose dust in a recently but not actively tilled field in a bad drought. But nowhere near what was seen yesterday. That’s the root problem here, and needs to be addressed.
No place in Illinois is even close to drought conditions, meaning that dust had to have an additional action to place it into the air beyond just wind.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?IL
I have friends in rural areas and in a residential piece of land, they have been cited for ‘obscuring vision’ from smoke from a fire on their property blowing across a road. That penalty needs to be applied to agricultural uses as well, with potentially criminal charges if death is a proximate result. But I won’t hold my breath on rural sheriffs ever enforcing such a thing.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:45 pm:
===that lifted that soil===
I’d wait if I were you. We don’t know yet, for instance, if the soil had eroded to the extent of turning into fine dust which can’t hold moisture. That’s what was behind the great Dust Bowl.
- Mason born - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:55 pm:
AS for trees, trees could help but you wouldn’t want them at the interstate. Putting them at the interstate may just hold the dust/snow between the 2 lines of trees. for trees to help we’d almost need to bring back hedgerows (think 1 or 2 rows of trees between each field) to slow down and disrupt the wind. Ideally those would be a few hundred yards away from the interstate. That’s not likely to happen as it would take land out of production with minimal to no benefit to the owner or farmer.
- Occasionally Moderated - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 2:06 pm:
Tom Skilling is going to be talking about this on WGN at 3:30. He will most certainly have interesting dust storm data.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 2:15 pm:
–I’d wait if I were you.–
Okay, but I’ve given this more than a passing thought.
Sediment flow is a well-studied field. Most familiar in the flow of water, but the exact same calculations work in air.
40-50mph is nowhere near enough to produce that much suspended dust in non-drought conditions, without an initial force vector breaking it from the surface. Some dust, sure - but not the volume I see in these pictures. It would require almost double that speed to produce the needed N/m2(Pa) for surface removal. Imagine how a fast flowing river won’t have mud suspended in it, but if you walk in it it suddenly will. Dust Bowl storms contained winds closer to 65mph and higher even 100mph in the strongest ones, not 45 like yesterday.
The fact that it didn’t continue very far beyond this area almost ensures the source was local, and active. Probably a field a few miles to the west of the interstate.
The math almost ensures this is what happened. It’s just a matter of looking for a high enough visible satellite photo from yesterday to find the source field(s). Those images are commercially available(15cm from Maxar or similar).
- Mr. Jimmy - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 2:31 pm:
What an irresponsible and embarrassing tweet by IEC.
- StealYourFace - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 2:37 pm:
I don’t think it is “bad taste” to ask questions about why this happened and whether this could have been avoided, or at least lessened. I agree that all facts should be evaluated, but saying we shouldn’t explore possible solutions because it’s “too soon” is insulting to the families of the deceased and injured. Thoughts and prayers aren’t worth a damn thing without action.
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 3:07 pm:
=I’d wait if I were you=
I will and should have. Trying to give what perspective I can on the field conditions and what would make it better or worse. Perhaps better to leave your mouth shut…
I’ll double a post I made yesterday, if this has stirred interest in the Dust Bowl, read the “Worst Hard Time” an incredible piece of storytelling and fact finding on ’30s and the Dust Bowl. The PBS special is as good too.
- JustAThought - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 3:13 pm:
- I don’t think it is “bad taste” to ask questions -
They aren’t asking questions, they are assuming and calling for funding… that is poor taste.
- Anotheretiree - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 3:24 pm:
Trees on the right of way would help screen dust and snow. And give the deer cover to dart out onto the roadway. The New Berlin I-72 exit has a forest growing in the interchange. Defeats the whole purpose of the on ramps. You cant see a car until you are about to commit merge.
- MisterJayEm - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 3:31 pm:
It appears that IDOT has shut that stretch of road again: https://twitter.com/IDOT_Illinois/status/1653496816334262310
Let’s be careful out there.
– MrJM
- Demoralized - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 3:46 pm:
==but saying we shouldn’t explore possible solutions because it’s “too soon”==
How can you explore solutions before you know what the problem is exactly. So, yes, it is too soon. Maybe give it 30 seconds instead of demanding all of the answers right now.
- MyTwoCents - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 4:00 pm:
TheInvisibleMan, that’s an interesting thought with the “obscuring vision” and in a situation like this with an interesting being involved that would take any citation out of the hands of a local sheriff and squarely on ISP.
- Mister Ed - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 4:04 pm:
I concur with - TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 1:43 pm.
- Give us Barabbas - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 5:15 pm:
emotions are understandably high and hurt people want accountability in a hurry. This is a situation where determining that accountability is not an easy or fast process. There are multiple contributing factors, only some of which were under any human control. We will eventually learn everything about this, and the accountability will come. But as important will be, applying what we learn to decisions and actions that will prevent a recurrence.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 2, 23 @ 11:30 pm:
@Mason Born, thanks for the info. wondering if more can plant cover crops, till those under in the spring. keep the soil in shape, add nutrients naturally.