Illinois to Suspend Truck License of Driver in Fatal Amtrak Crash

Illinois officials said Thursday they will suspend the commercial driver’s license of the trucker involved in last month’s deadly Amtrak collision.

John R. Stokes, 58, will lose his truck-driving privileges for two months starting in June, said Secretary of State Jesse White.

Keeping Stokes from driving a truck, even for 60 days, will “no doubt” make Illinois roads safer, White said.

Stokes’ license had been under suspension at the time of the March 15 crash because of prior speeding tickets, but he had been allowed to drive with a temporary license during the suspension.

That suspension expired March 25. Last week, White said state lawyers concluded there was no way they could legally extend it, despite Stokes’ checkered driving record.

Since then, however, White has learned of an additional traffic violation on Stokes’ record from last year.

A two-month suspension is the toughest penalty the state can impose on Stokes under Illinois law, White’s office said. He will still be allowed to drive his car.

Prosecutors have not filed any charges against Stokes in the wreck. Eleven people were killed and more than 100 injured when Amtrak’s southbound City of New Orleans struck a tractor-trailer that Stokes was driving at a rural crossing near Bourbonnais.

Stokes has denied any wrongdoing, and the National Transportation Safety Board has said crash witnesses gave possibly conflicting statements about his actions the night of the crash.

But Stokes has a long history of traffic citations in the 31 years he has had an Illinois driver’s license, including involvement in nine accidents before the train collision, state records show.