3 dead, 14 injured in Greyhound bus crash along I-70 near Highland, Illinois

[Fenway]

A Greyhound bus crash involving multiple semi-trucks left three dead and 14 injured Wednesday morning near Highland, Illinois.

Illinois State Police said the Greyhound bus hit three semi-trucks that were parked in the off-ramp on a rest stop on westbound I-70 just before 2 a.m. Officials told News 4 the Greyhound bus was traveling from Indianapolis to St. Louis.

 

[Trollopian]

From 3 killed in Greyhound bus crash identified; NTSB begins investigation:

"It is illegal in Illinois for trucks to park on exit ramps. But trucking industry experts say semis often stop there for the night because overnight parking is hard to find at rest stops and other places, such as truck stops.

'And that’s not only dangerous for them but it’s dangerous for the motoring public because they do need their rest and they deserve their rest,' Lewis Pugh of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said at a May hearing before a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee."

I am not a lawyer but it sure sounds to me like clear-cut liability here. "Whose liability" may depend on whether the truck drivers were employees or independent operators.

 

[LookingGlassTie]

Unfortunately, lawsuits are often not about who's most liable, but rather who has the deepest pockets. And the two don't always line up. In other words, one's financial liability isn't always based on one's level or degree of fault.

In any case, it's a sad situation all around.