APRIL 8, 2015
I-55 IN PLAINFIELD, ILLINOIS
One person is dead and another remains hospitalized after a
semi-trailer hit a disabled vehicle Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 55 in
Plainfield, according to Illinois State Police.
The crash occurred at 4:26 p.m. Wednesday when a
semi-trailer traveling northbound on I-55 near Lockport Road struck a 1999
Chrysler that was disabled in the roadway, state police said.
The male driver of the car was pronounced dead on the scene
by the Will County Coroner’s Office. The semi driver, also a male, was rushed
to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, state police said.
As of 8 p.m., two northbound I-55 lanes have reopened. State
police continue to investigate.
No other information on the victims was immediately released
before authorities notify the victim’s next-of-kin.
Sorry to say, but nobody is safe in these roads and with these drivers.
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UNITED STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE WORLD: 34,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH YEAR.
Despite the improvements in road safety, the United States has one of the highest death rates at about 1 person dead per 10,000 people. Unfortunately, only undeveloped countries have higher death rate.
Some states, such as Texas and West Virginia (sorry, WV, despite your tremendous progress in traffic safety, you are still at the top of the worst-death-rate list) have death rates of nearly 1.5 percent, i.e., fifty percent more people die compared to the national death rate.
Approximately 34,000 people are getting killed each year. In the 1950s and 1960s, about 55,000 people used to die on the roads – so, there has been improvement in the number of dead.
However, the number of injured is rising. Roughly 2.5 million are injured (yes, you read it correctly – 2.5 million injured) per year. That is, 1 percent (1%) of the population that is eligible to drive is injured every year.
It is worse than a war zone out there.
So, please be safe and be on the lookout for weaving-through-the-traffic drivers, crazy drivers, reckless drivers, sick drivers, medical-condition drivers, sleepy drivers, negligent drivers, stupid drivers, careless drivers, drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged drivers, texting drivers, talking-on-the-phone drivers, looking-at-the-GPS drivers, hurry-hurry drivers, tailgating drivers, upset drivers, eating-while-driving drivers, putting-the-lipstick-on-while-driving drivers, elderly drivers, and so on.