Three people have been killed in a head-on crash in the area of Green Bay Road and Blanchard Road in north suburban Beach Park, IL.
Driver Veered Into Oncoming Traffic
On December 14, 2019, at approximately 4:45 a.m., the 24-year-old Waukegan male driver of a 2008 Nissan Altima was traveling northbound on Green Bay Road, approaching its intersection with Blanchard Road. For currently unknown reasons, the driver then veered into the southbound lane of traffic and collided head on with a 2013 Honda Civic, driven by a 71-year-old Beach Park man.
Following the head-on crash, both drivers and a passenger in the Nissan, a 23-year old Waukegan woman, were transported to an area hospital, where they were pronounced dead. There were no other occupants in either vehicle, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Covelli.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit is investigating the cause of the incident. Green Bay Road has a speed limit of 45 miles per hour. Whether speeding was a contributing factor to the head-on crash is one of the items under investigation.
Why Head-On Crashes Are So Dangerous
When two motor vehicles crash into each other head on, their combined speeds can cause an extraordinarily violent impact, one that could result in serious injuries or even death. Statistically, only two percent of auto accidents are head-on crashes, but they account for 10.1 percent of driving fatalities. In fact, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the head-on crash is the most common type of auto accident resulting in fatalities.
The greater rate of fatality for head-on crashes comes from the fact that the relative velocity of two moving vehicles is higher. A head-on crash between two vehicles moving at 50 miles per hour is equivalent to a vehicle running into a stationary vehicle while moving at 100 miles per hour, resulting in a much more severe impact.
Have You Been Injured in a Head-On Crash?
Pursuing litigation to obtain financial compensation for injuries sustained in a head-on crash can be challenging because you must demonstrate negligence on the part of another driver in order to recover. To demonstrate this negligence, you have to prove that the driver owed a duty of care, breached that duty, caused the head-on crash, and thereby inflicted damages.
However, it can be especially difficult to prove who was responsible for a head-on crash because the sheer force of the impact could send both vehicles in different directions, causing them to come to rest in different positions than at the time of impact. It may be necessary to consult a forensic engineer or an accident reconstruction specialist to determine what exactly happened based on skid marks, debris patterns, and other evidence.
For this reason, those who have been injured in a head-on crash might benefit from enlisting the assistance of GWC Injury Lawyers LLC.
GWC is one of the premier Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation law firms in Illinois, with over $2 billion recovered for our clients in more than four decades of practice. Let our family of Libertyville car accident lawyers help you and your family get the justice you deserve.
If you have been injured in a head-on accident, contact GWC today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our attorneys. Call our office at (312) 464-1234 or click here to chat with a representative at any time.
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