A Greyhound bus reportedly struck several trucks parked at a rest stop on the morning of July 12, 2023 in downstate Illinois, killing three people and injuring at least 14 more, some who had to be airlifted to area hospitals.
The crash slashed open the side of the bus and its roof caved in when it struck the truck on an exit ramp to a rest area near Hamilton, Illinois. One of the truck drivers told reporters that he helped put out an ensuing fire on the bus then helped passengers out of the broken windows.
“Clifford Law Offices has handled a number of bus crashes over the years that resulted in tragic consequences, such as the one early this morning in downstate Illinois,” said Kevin P. Durkin, partner at Clifford Law Offices who obtained a verdict with Robert A. Clifford in downstate Madison County. “In bus crashes, it is important to seek the top experts to determine what occurred – that includes bus operational experts as well as bus mechanical experts and bus safety experts.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is sending a go-to team to the scene to investigate the cause of this tragic bus incident. Illinois State Police responded to the tragedy on an I-70 exit ramp to the Silver Lake rest stop in Madison County, about 25 miles east of St. Louis.
“Greyhound is a common carrier and, therefore, it owes the highest duty of care to its passengers,” Durkin continued. “There are rules and regulations in Illinois as well as federal laws that guide what bus companies and their drivers need to do to ensure that their passengers receive this highest duty of care. Much needs to be examined to get to the bottom of what happened here and why.”
The bus was traveling about 1:55 a.m. en route from Indianapolis, Indiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, when it crashed in downstate Madison County. It was reported that the bus was carrying about 30 people.