About 1:49 p.m. on Thursday, March 1, 2018, a multivehicle collision occurred in partially stopped traffic on I-290 east near milepost 14.9 in Elmhurst, Cook County, Illinois. At this location, I-290 has three travel lanes and paved shoulders in each direction, separated by a concrete barrier. The posted speed limit is 55 mph. The weather was overcast with no precipitation, and the roadway was dry.
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We determined that the probable cause of the Elmhurst, Illinois, crash was the Pioneer Transportation truck-tractor driver’s failure to respond to slow-moving traffic due to a performance decrement likely caused by fatigue associated with his untreated sleep disorder. Contributing to the crash was the lack of a robust medical certification evaluation process to identify commercial drivers at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea and to ensure adequate screening.