Utica Township, IL — September 4, 2024, a Texas truck driver was injured as the result of a semi-truck accident at a Love’s Travel Stop.
Authorities said that the accident occurred at around 6:00 a.m. in the parking lot of a Love’s Travel Stop.
Exact details are scarce at this time. Starved Rock News reported that 66-year-old Texas trucker was outside of his vehicle at the time and attempting to walk into the Love’s. While doing so, a semi-truck somehow ran him over.
A La Salle County Sheriff’s Deputy was able to render aid until the man was flown to a hospital with serious injuries. Right now, it’s unclear if the driver involved is facing any charges or citations. No further details can be confirmed.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
While details aren’t entirely clear, accidents that happen in parking lots generally involve a lot of the same elements. But it’s actually more complex than folks may realize. An investigations needs to go deeper than just asking, for example, if the driver was on their phone. That’s important, but there’s another factor that too often goes overlooked: the property itself.
There are times where businesses like gas stations and truck stops are constructed in a way that is inherently dangerous for pedestrians. The flow of traffic may be diverted in a hazardous way, there may not be sufficient lighting, structures could unnecessarily obstruct visibility, etc. So as important as it will be to understand why the driver failed to see the man walking to the store, it’s also important to consider if there’s a risk of something like this happening again due to hazardous property conditions. Is that something authorities have looked into here?
