A pickup truck slammed into the back of a Walmart semi-trailer truck parked on the shoulder of eastbound Interstate 90 near Beverly Road in Hoffman Estates early Thursday, sending the pickup's driver to the hospital and triggering major backups for commuters heading east from Barrington and Hoffman Estates. The crash happened around 5:48 a.m., scattering debris across the roadway and forcing the closure of at least one lane during the morning rush.
According to CBS Chicago, Illinois State Police responded to the scene on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway and confirmed the pickup driver was transported to a nearby hospital with injuries. The semi truck was parked on the side of the highway with its flashers on when the pickup struck its rear, per NBC Chicago, which first reported the crash and noted the resulting lane closure and heavy commuter delays. It remains unclear why the semi was stopped on the shoulder in the first place, and investigators have not said whether the pickup driver was distracted or impaired at the time of the collision.
Scott's Law and the Shoulder-Crash Problem
Because the semi was stationary with its hazard lights activated, the crash falls squarely within the scope of Illinois' Move Over law, commonly known as Scott's Law. Under the statute, drivers approaching any stopped vehicle with flashing hazard or amber warning lights must slow down and, if it's safe, change lanes away from that vehicle, according to the Illinois State Police. First-time violations carry civil fines ranging from $250 to $10,000, and the offense escalates to a Class A misdemeanor if there's property damage or a Class 4 felony, punishable by one to three years in prison, if the crash causes injury or death, the agency notes. It is not yet known whether Illinois State Police will issue a Scott's Law citation in connection with Thursday's crash.
Lawmakers have moved to sharpen those penalties even further. Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 3164 into law in July, expanding Scott's Law so that state authorities can suspend or permanently revoke the driver's license of anyone who fails to move over or slow down and causes serious injury or death, according to the Village of Barrington Hills. Hoodline covered the bill's license-revocation crackdown when it was signed in mid-July.
A Recurring Hazard Along a Busy Freight Corridor
Shoulder collisions like this one aren't isolated incidents on Illinois tollways. The Illinois Tollway recorded at least 29 crashes involving vehicles struck while stopped on its network in a single year, a jump of more than 30% from the year before, fueling its ongoing “Give Them Distance” safety campaign, according to the Illinois Tollway. The stretch of I-90 through Hoffman Estates has seen its own string of serious wrecks in recent years, including a February rollover crash near milepost 61 that knocked a vehicle into a responding EMS worker and shut down portions of the tollway for hours, and a 2020 rollover that trapped a semi driver and spilled thousands of pounds of firewood and diesel fuel across all lanes near this same Beverly Road interchange, per the Cardinal News.
Hoodline previously reported on a fatal toll plaza crash in April 2024, when a vehicle plowed into the Barrington Road toll booth and caught fire during another pre-dawn commute along this same tollway. The corridor's vulnerability to gridlock stems partly from sheer volume: the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway carries roughly 335,000 vehicles daily across its 77-mile stretch, serving as a critical link for freight and commuters moving between Rockford, O'Hare International Airport and Chicago, according to the Urban Biotic Assessment Program.
Ripple Effects for Commuters and Transit Riders
That heavy traffic load means any lane closure near Beverly Road tends to cascade quickly into backups spanning multiple suburbs, and Thursday's crash was no exception, with delays stretching back toward Barrington and Hoffman Estates. The disruption also has implications beyond personal vehicles: Pace Suburban Bus runs express routes along I-90 using dedicated Flex Lanes and the region's first inline highway bus rapid transit station at Barrington Road in Hoffman Estates, according to Pace Suburban Bus, meaning tollway slowdowns can directly affect suburban transit schedules as well.
Illinois State Police have not released further details on the cause of the crash or the condition of the pickup driver beyond confirming the hospital transport. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
