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Some Rock-Hauling Truckers Pose Danger On Roads

Quarry
A truck leaves a McCook quarry will a load. (CBS)

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Out of nowhere, a rock flies and hits your windshield while you're driving.

It happened to one man, who says this can all be avoided if truck drivers make one change.

Truck after truck, some with peak loads and no tarp, leave the Vulcan McCook Quarry at 5500 Joliet Road.

"There are a lot of trucks without tarps," one man, who did not want to be identified, told CBS 2's Suzanne LeMignot. "I don't think it's right."

He says a rock from a truck without a tarp cracked his windshield, creating hairline fractures.

"I don't want anybody getting killed or a windshield really cracked and cause another major accident and people die," he said.

State law requires falling or escaping material and certain types of loads to be covered by a tarp. In his opinion, McCook Police Chief Frank Wolfe says this also applies to peak loads.

"That's when it should be tarped, because a condition now exists that a stone could come off that truck," Wolfe said.

It really is the responsibility of each individual driver to put a tarp over their load, Wolfe said.

His department is working to enforce the law. "We issue citations," he said.

Fines can be as high as $500.

"Their bosses should be out here checking on the drivers," said the man whose windshield was cracked. "It's just outrageous."

CBS 2 called some of the trucking companies.

One owner said all of his trucks must be covered with a tarp, and the drivers should know better.

Another said if a product does not blow or shift in the wind, then it is not covered with a tarp.

A Vulcan Materials spokesperson says tarp and inspection stations are on site.

In the end, the spokesperson says, it is the responsibility of the driver to secure their load. The driver of the damaged car did receive a new windshield from the trucking company.

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