Rural roadways, Indiana Toll Road: variety of dangers for 18-wheeler accidents in St. Joseph County
The history of St. Joseph County is a romantic one: in December 1679, the French explorer La Salle came to the banks of the St. Joseph River and by 1840, the University of Notre Dame had been founded there. Today, the county is home to two cities; seven towns; and thirteen townships and serves as an important contributor to the state’s transportation system in our “Crossroads of America.”
Trucking is vital here in the Hoosier State. However, commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) like semis, tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, and big rigs are confined to operating on specific routes defined by law. Truck routes in St. Joseph County include Indiana’s extra heavy-duty highways where major arteries allow for 134,000 lb load limits, the heaviest cargo loads allowed in the state. Truckers move along established paths that include the Indiana Toll Road; U.S. Route 20; U.S. Route 31; State Road 2; and State Road 23.
The danger of serious or deadly truck crashes in St. Joseph County may not be as great as those facing truckers and those sharing the roads with them in Cook County, Illinois, for instance, but a significant risk remains.
Consider the following truck accidents reported in the news media in just one month in St. Joseph County:
February 2025: Indiana Toll Road I-80/90
A shocking nine (9) semi-trucks were involved in a truck crash just before lunchtime on a Tuesday morning this past February, along with five different 4-wheel vehicles and a police car. Lanes were closed for five hours on the Indiana Toll Road, with winter weather conditions reported to be a factor in the pile-up. Fortunately, no one was killed or severely injured in the accident. Read, “Massive crash on Indiana Toll Road involves 9 semis, 5 cars, a police vehicle,” written by Gregg Montgomery and published by WISHTV on February 18, 2025.
February 2025: State Road 2 near Strawberry Road
Two semi-trucks collided in the westbound lane of Indiana State Road 2 in St. Joseph County on February 20th, where reports were that leaking hydraulic fluid and leaking fuel may have contributed to the crash. No one was injured in the truck accident. Read, “2 semis crash on State Road 2 in St. Joseph County,” published by WNDU on February 20, 2025.
February 2025: St. Joseph Valley Parkway (the Bypass) and Mayflower Roadway
A semi-truck slid off the St. Joseph Valley Parkway roadway during a blowing snowstorm with no injuries being reported. This area is recognized as one of two “problem spots” in the area where there have been several crashes and “slide offs” with some attributing increasing dangers to the new Amazon facility located in the area. Read, “More police resources at Indiana 2 and U.S. 20 to fix ‘serious’ traffic and crash concerns,” written by Camille Sarabia and published by the South Bend Tribune on February 24, 2025.
Truck Crash Dangers in St. Joseph County, Indiana
What are the risks faced by all of us driving through St. Joseph County with its semi-truck traffic? Truckers recognize that Indiana roads are some of the worst in the nation. Infrastructure needs are notorious throughout the state. Read, “Just shutdown the entire state of Indiana,” published by r/Truckers on Reddit.
However, there are certain recognized hazards in this particular locale that demand safety and care protections for truckers, truck occupants, and those sharing the roads with these big rigs. They include:
1. Lots of traffic
On some routes in St. Joseph County, Indiana, there are not only high volumes of traffic but cars, pickups, SUVs, box trucks, delivery vans, and other vehicles moving at high rates of speed alongside the heavy and powerful CMVs (especially the tractor-trailers, etc. that are driving along the established extra heavy-duty highways here).
Speeding vehicles moving alongside tractor-trailers or semis may not comprehend how long it takes for these heavy vehicles to brake and come to a stop, inviting a tragedy. Distracted driving is more commonplace in heavy traffic lanes, too, as well as aggressive driving.
For more, read Semi Trucks and Big Rigs: High Indiana and Illinois Commercial Truck Traffic Creates Dangerous Conditions.
2. Bad weather
St. Joseph County is known for its winter weather. Snow, ice, sleet, fog, hail, winds, and freezing rain are commonplace in Indiana. Winter truck crashes can be especially catastrophic with multiple vehicles involved in a pile-up.
See, Winter Weather Long Haul Trucking: Deadly Crash Dangers in Illinois and Indiana.
3. Rural routes
Trucks will not only be required to move along roadways like the Indiana Toll Road, they will also be asked to take rigs along rural routes which come with their own set of dangers. Poor lighting on long stretches of rural roadways is a real danger here, and these rural routes may have less maintenance or repair.
See, Jackknife Semi-Truck Crash: Deadly Danger on Indiana and Illinois Roads; and Road Quality and Fatal Accidents: the Rural Road Dangers of Indiana and Illinois.
Truck Crash Injuries in St. Joseph County
For regulatory agencies, safety organizations, and advocates of truck crash victims and their loved ones, the dangers contributing to truck crashes in St. Joseph County are not mysterious or novel.
Longstanding protections involving duties of safety and care exist, as well as industrial standards, that work to keep everyone in this area safe from being hurt or killed in a semi-truck crash.
Things like winter weather conditions; speeding or reckless drivers; and heavy truck loads are hazards that deserve respect from all those with possession, custody, or control of aspects of these routes and roadways and those driving on them. Trucking companies and carriers have a responsibility to make sure they have drivers who are properly trained behind the wheel, for instance. See, Negligent Training of Truck Drivers as Basis for Truck Crash Injury Claim.
When someone is hurt or killed in an Indiana truck accident, there are state laws that provide avenues for justice to the accident victim and their family members. Each 18-wheeler accident must be independently investigated to determine the specific reasons for the crash, and there may be more than one. For instance, a brake failure, snowy roads, and a negligent SUV driver failing to recognize how long a semi needs in distance to come to a stop could all combine to cause a serious crash.
Indiana laws involving not only workers’ compensation, but third-party civil personal injury claims may provide recompense that includes medical care and expenses; lost wages; lost earning capacity; rehab; loss of consortium; and more.
Read:
- Truck Driver Fatalities on the Rise: Fatigue, Speed, and the Trucking Industry
- Semi-Truck Crashes: Who Can Be Held Legally Responsible for Commercial Trucking Accidents in Indiana and Illinois?
- Trucking Companies Liable for Semi-Truck Crashes in Indiana and Illinois
- Illinois and Indiana: Both Top 10 States for Most Truck Crash Fatalities.
St. Joseph County, internationally known as the home of the University of Notre Dame, has a very real danger of big rig semi-truck accidents on its roads, both urban and rural. Please be careful out there!
