How often do fatal crashes like the one on the Madison County I-70 exit ramp happen?

Hundreds of people die each year in crashes involving large trucks stopped in or near the road like the recent collision in Madison County, federal data shows.

The local crash involved commercial trucks parked on an I-70 exit ramp, which government and industry officials say is a potential safety risk.

A Greyhound bus ran into three parked semitrucks on the ramp to a rest area near Highland at around 2 a.m. Wednesday. Three bus passengers died: Bradley Donovan, 47, of Springfield; Buford Paya, 71, from Arizona; and Juan Vasquez-Rodriguez, 34, from New Jersey.

Crashes like these have killed about 250 people each year from 2016 to 2020, with a high of nearly 300 deaths in 2020, according to the most recent data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The federal agency’s data includes crashes that involve large trucks parked off the road as well as “working” trucks performing construction, maintenance or utility work while parked either on or off the road. The agency doesn’t provide a breakdown of fatalities by the type of truck involved.

Commercial truck drivers and their trade associations say they are often forced to park on highway ramps and shoulders when they hit the federal limit on how long they can drive before they have to pull over to rest and no other parking is available.

Industry and government officials agree stopped vehicles pose a potential risk to the truck operators and others on the road. A push to address the issue by increasing truck parking across the country has been ongoing for years.

Ohio truck driver Ronda Osterberg, who often travels through Illinois for work, said the truck parking shortage predates her tenure of more than two decades.

When she started 27 years ago, she said a veteran truck driver shared advice to keep herself safe if she couldn’t find a parking spot: use an on-ramp rather than an exit ramp. Other drivers would be going full speed on an exit ramp, increasing the potential damage if they rear-ended her. They would be building up speed on an on-ramp.

The National Transportation Safety Board has made official recommendations related to truck parking as far back as 2000.

A fatal crash similar to the one in Madison County happened 25 years ago in Pennsylvania. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a semitruck parked on the shoulder of a highway contributed to the severity of the accident, and it recommended that the state prohibit parking off the highway and provide adequate rest areas.

It’s illegal to park on ramps in Illinois and other places, but Osterberg said police often won’t enforce the state law because they know truck drivers are required by federal law to rest.

The National Transportation Safety Board described the situation as unacceptable in its 2000 report on the Pennsylvania crash in part because shoulders aren’t protected from errant vehicles.

The safety board investigates significant accidents on highways and other transportation systems and offers recommendations to prevent them from happening again. It is also investigating Wednesday’s crash on I-70.

In the Pennsylvania crash, a Greyhound bus drifted off the road at around 4 a.m. and ran into a semitruck on the shoulder, killing the bus driver and six passengers.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the cause of the Pennsylvania crash was most likely the bus driver’s sleepiness and reduced alertness. In that case, the board also recommended Greyhound revise its scheduling practices to ensure drivers are rested.

Tom Chapman, a National Transportation Safety Board member, has said the NTSB is particularly interested in issues related to rest area safety, bus occupant protection and potential driver fatigue and medical fitness in the Madison County crash.

Chapman told reporters Thursday that federal investigators will look into the proximity of the parked trucks and the bus driver’s background, among other areas, as part of the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, Osterberg said she and other truck drivers regularly struggle to find parking at both public rest areas and private truck stops, which sometimes charge a nightly fee.

It becomes an issue not only when they have to clock out for a federally-required break but also when they arrive early for deliveries, according to Osterberg. She said many companies won’t allow truck drivers to park at their warehouses or distribution centers in those instances to wait for their trucks to be unloaded.

“A lot of times we have no choice but to grab those ramps and pray we don’t get ticketed or rammed,” she said. “... Our parking situation has steadily gotten worse.”

In Illinois, transportation officials are using $7.2 million in federal funds to expand three interstate rest areas near Springfield and Fort Massac State Park in southern Illinois. Paul Wappel, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the agency is planning the expansions now.

A proposed federal bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Illinois, would make another $755 million in competitive grants available for states to expand truck parking capacity if signed into law.

A final report on the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the Madison County crash could take one to two years to complete.

In response to reporter questions about urgency, Chapman said the board could make recommendations before an investigation is complete if deemed necessary.

“We will make emergency recommendations when it’s appropriate to do so when we find during the fact-finding effort that some condition occurs that needs to be addressed more quickly than it would be if the final results of our investigation held it up,” he said.