Trucking companies sued for $400K over fatal I-55 crash

A woman is suing a truck driver and three trucking companies over a crash last year on Interstate 55 in the southwest suburbs that killed her husband.

A semi driven by 60-year-old William A. Hansen Jr. rear-ended another semi at 3:23 a.m. Dec. 20, 2016 in the right northbound lane of I-55 near Route 53, according to Illinois State Police.

Hansen, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:44 a.m., according to police and the Will County coroner’s office.

The other semi driver, a 36-year-old Wheaton man, was taken to the hospital with injuries, state police said.

Melissa Hansen filed the eight-count lawsuit Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court and seeks damages from the truck driver her husband collided with; Ricordi, Inc.; Highway Brokerage, Inc.; and CO Lines, Inc., according to the suit.

CO Lines had leased the tractor trailer and the driver from Ricordi and Highway Brokerage at the time of the crash, according to the suit.

Earlier in the night, the driver had pulled to the shoulder of I-55 due to engine trouble and could not accelerate more than 10 mph, according to the suit. An Illinois State Police officer told the truck driver not to drive on I-55, due to minimum speed restrictions, but the driver disobeyed the police order.

Representatives for the companies could not be reached for comment Thursday.

When the driver of the truck continued to have engine problems, he again pulled to the side of the road and caused the crash, according to the suit.

The suit seeks more than $400,000 in damages.