Huntington County, IN — May 1, 2025, one person was injured in a truck accident at about 10:20 a.m. on North Mishler Road/State Road 9.

Authorities said a semi-truck hauling a tanker was going south near West 600 North veered off the road and crashed into a house.

The homeowner was not injured in the crash, but the truck driver was flown to an area hospital with unspecified injuries, according to authorities. The driver's name has not been made public yet.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Huntington County crash at this time. The accident is still being investigated.

Commentary

When a tanker truck veers off a state highway and crashes into a home, as happened here on State Road 9, the central legal concern is loss of vehicle control; something that, under commercial driving standards, is presumed preventable unless clear evidence shows otherwise. Tanker trucks, especially those carrying liquid loads, demand heightened skill and attention due to their handling characteristics. A moment of inattention, overcorrection or mechanical failure can easily cause a driver to leave the roadway, particularly on narrow rural highways.

The fact that this truck left the road entirely and struck a residence suggests a severe deviation from expected vehicle behavior. Investigators will be focused on several possibilities: Was the driver fatigued or distracted? Did a medical emergency occur? Was there a mechanical failure, such as steering or brake issues, or did the liquid cargo shift in a way that destabilized the vehicle?

Tanker trailers are particularly prone to “slosh” and “surge,” where the movement of the liquid load inside can shift the vehicle’s center of gravity and make it more difficult to maintain control. If the truck was not properly baffled or if the driver made a sudden maneuver, that internal load shift could have contributed to the vehicle leaving the roadway. That’s a known risk in the industry, and one drivers are trained to account for.

From a legal standpoint, the property damage adds another layer of complexity. When a commercial vehicle crashes into a private residence, liability can extend beyond the driver to the carrier, especially if improper maintenance, inadequate driver vetting or failure to follow hours-of-service regulations played a role. Even though no one inside the home was hurt, the potential for serious harm was very real.

This crash underscores why commercial drivers and their employers are held to strict standards of safety and control, because when something goes wrong, the damage isn’t limited to the driver or their cargo. It can reach into the lives of people who had nothing to do with the truck or its route. That’s why every detail — from driver condition to vehicle maintenance and load management — will need to be thoroughly investigated. Because under the law, leaving the road and striking a home is not just an accident. It’s a breakdown in control that demands answers.