Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog
Naperville truck accidents cause serious injuries each year, including: broken bones, back and neck injuries, and in some cases even fatalities (wrongful death). The City of Naperville, recognizing the dangers posed by truck traffic, has designated specific routes for trucks. Naperville’s truck route plan has many advantages, including: reducing congestion; decreasing air pollution; and perhaps most important, providing safer neighborhood travel. By allowing trucks to “use” neighborhood streets, but forbidding travel “through” neighborhoods, Naperville’s plan recognizes the need for goods and services to be delivered to homes, businesses and facilities. The program also recognizes that limiting large truck travel (semi trailers, 18 wheelers) to specific routes is an excellent way to prevent pedestrian and motorist accidents. Statistics show that limiting the opportunities for large commercial trucks to interact with other motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists lowers the likelihood that a truck accident will occur.
Specific Initiatives
Truck traffic patterns from the area’s main highway–Route 88–place burdens on many local roads. Interstate 88 (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) runs through the north part of Naperville carrying millions of tons of cargo every year. Much of that cargo must find its way to the residents and businesses that call Naperville home. In order to efficiently serve the City of Naperville, a truck permit plan has been implemented. Commercial trucks that travel upon Naperville streets pay permit fees. The City of Naperville’s Truck Route Plan provides a Designated Truck Route System and implements a Road Damage Overweight/Over-dimension Truck Permit Program. Trucks carrying heavy loads that exceed 73,280 pounds pay a fee for the privilege of using Naperville roads. The funds from the program go into the Road and Bridge Fund, which is used to repair, maintain, and construct the roads and streets in Naperville. The program represents a compromise between the need for goods to be delivered with the need to safely maintain Naperville streets. The truck permit plan promotes the following best practices and methods:
– Integrate truck route planning with land use planning.
– Coordinate the location of truck routes with roadway design and land uses.
– Consider regional implications of truck route locations.
– Enforce truck route policies.
– Reevaluate existing truck routes periodically.
Truck safety in Naperville includes an important educational program. The program was first developed by the city to inform the public about the designated truck routes and street classifications. Naperville’s educational program seeks to increase awareness of the general public, in addition to truck drivers. The plan imposes safety regulations on truck drivers, which may give rise to a duty to public safety. If you or someone you know is injured due to an accident involving a commercial truck in the City of Naperville, your personal injury attorney should investigate whether the truck driver was following the City’s Truck Route Plan. Disobeying the plan may not be per se negligence on the part of a truck driver, but the truck driver’s failure to use an alternate route may violate a prevailing industry standard. By deviating from that standard, the driver may have breached a legal duty owed to the injured party. Consult with a knowledgeable truck accident lawyer who can investigate how Naperville’s Truck Route Plan imposes certain duties on the driver or the trucking company.