Truck Crash Reaction Time: a 8-Point Legal Guide

Last Updated: October 27, 2026

Section 11-601(a) keeps the duty to decrease speed for a special hazard. A count of seconds does not replace that duty or section 2-1116.

Speed and the Share of Fault

625 ILCS 5/11-601(a) provides that no vehicle may be driven on a highway of this State at a speed greater than is reasonable and proper with regard to traffic conditions and the use of the highway, or that endangers any person or property. A speed within the applicable maximum does not relieve the duty to decrease speed when a special hazard exists by reason of weather or highway conditions, or with respect to other traffic. The source is P.A. 104-787, effective August 7, 2026. The section does not name a feet-per-second figure.

A statute mile contains 5,280 feet, and an hour contains 3,600 seconds. Dividing those figures converts one mile per hour into 22/15 feet per second, which is 1.4666 feet per second with the 6 repeating. At a constant 60 miles per hour the same conversion is 88 feet per second. At a constant 55 miles per hour it is 80 and 2/3 feet per second. Multiplying that rate by a number of seconds gives the distance covered at that constant speed. The number of seconds has to come from the evidence in the case. Section 11-601(a) does not name a feet-per-second figure and does not adopt this conversion as a required speed.

735 ILCS 5/2-1116 diminishes damages when the plaintiff’s contributory fault is not more than 50 percent of the proximate cause, and it bars recovery when that share is more than 50 percent. The source is P.A. 103-1053, effective December 20, 2024. The section does not assign fault to one driver because that driver crossed a center line.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a careful speed within the posted limit end the case?

No. Section 11-601(a) says a speed within the applicable maximum does not relieve the duty to decrease speed for a special hazard.

Does a seconds count decide fault?

Section 2-1116 measures the injured person’s own share of the proximate cause. One mile per hour equals 22/15 feet per second, and 60 miles per hour equals 88 feet per second at a constant speed. A seconds count becomes a distance only after that conversion, and the statute does not supply the number of seconds.

Does each insurer pay only its driver’s percentage of the medical bills?

735 ILCS 5/2-1117 makes defendants found liable jointly and severally liable for the medical expenses. The 25 percent line applies to the other damages.

When does section 13-202 require the action to be filed?

735 ILCS 5/13-202 requires the actions it covers to be commenced within 2 years next after the cause of action accrued. That two-year sentence does not cover damages resulting from first-degree murder or a Class X felony when the perpetrator is convicted of that crime. The source is P.A. 99-90, effective January 1, 2016. 735 ILCS 5/13-211(a) lets a person who was under 18 when a cause specified in sections 13-201 through 13-210 accrued bring the action within 2 years after attaining 18. That subsection does not state a general delayed-discovery exception.

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Seconds Matter in Truck Crashes