1 Injured in Truck Accident on State Route 120 in Woodstock, IL

Woodstock, IL — March 27, 2025, one person was injured in a truck accident at about noon on State Route 120 at North Queen Anne Road.

Authorities said a semi-truck crashed into a passenger car at the intersection.

The driver of the car was flown to a nearby trauma center in critical condition after being extricated from the vehicle, according to authorities.

The truck driver refused medical treatment after the crash, authorities said.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the McHenry County crash. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When I hear about a crash where a semi collides with a passenger car in an intersection — especially one serious enough to require a medical flight — I immediately start thinking about right of way and what led up to the vehicles meeting at that spot. Intersections are where a lot of rules overlap: stoplights, signage and driver judgment all come into play. But what most people don’t realize is that in crashes like this, it’s not enough to ask what happened. The real question is why it happened.

In my experience, the answers to those kinds of questions almost never sit at the crash scene. For instance, was the truck driver distracted, or was there some kind of mechanical issue with the truck? Those things can’t be seen from the mangled metal in the roadway: they come from things like cell phone records, engine control module data and maintenance logs. If those items aren’t reviewed, the investigation might stop at “who hit whom” and never get to “who is really responsible.”

Another thing to keep in mind is the truck driver reportedly refused treatment. Now, I’ve been around long enough to know that some folks think that means they weren’t hurt or didn’t do anything wrong. But refusing treatment tells us nothing about how the crash happened. Sometimes people walk away from a crash physically fine but still bear responsibility. That’s why every crash like this deserves a full and independent look at all the evidence, especially if one person ended up in critical condition.

Whether this crash was the result of human error, poor training, a lapse in attention or something else entirely, we won’t know until someone digs into more than just the scene. If that doesn’t happen, then authorities are not really investigating: they’re just documenting a wreck. And that’s not enough when someone’s life hangs in the balance.