Hudspeth County, TX — May 16, 2025, Yemane Berhane was killed and two other people were injured in a truck accident at about 4:20 p.m. on Interstate 10.

Authorities said a semi-truck was stopped on the side of the road about 10 miles west of Sierra Blanca when it was hit from behind by an eastbound semi-truck. The driver of the stopped truck was hit as well.

Truck driver Yemane Berhane, 23, died at the scene of the crash, according to authorities, while his passenger and the driver of the other truck were hospitalized with unspecified injuries.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Hudspeth County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

Many people hear about a rear-end collision involving two 18-wheelers and quickly assume that the moving truck’s driver is the only one who made a mistake. That might seem like common sense; after all, rear-end crashes are usually seen as the fault of the driver who hits from behind. But when it comes to commercial vehicles, that assumption skips over key questions that need to be answered before anyone can say who’s really responsible.

This crash involved a stopped semi-truck on the shoulder of Interstate 10. A second truck struck it from behind and hit the stopped driver as well. But was the second truck's driver being careless? Or was there more to it?

In my experience, crashes like this often have more layers than people expect. One thing that needs to be asked right away is whether the stopped truck was parked legally and safely. Was it entirely on the shoulder, with all its lights and warning markers in place? Or was part of the trailer sticking into a live lane? It's a small detail that can make a huge difference.

There’s also the question of visibility. A truck stopped on the side of a highway during the late afternoon should still be visible, but that depends on lighting, angle and even the sun’s position. Did the parked truck have its hazard lights on? Were reflective triangles set out behind it, as required by federal law? If those safety measures were missing, then even a cautious truck driver coming up the road could have had trouble avoiding the crash.

Of course, we also have to examine what the moving truck’s driver was doing. Was the driver alert? Distracted? Driving too fast for traffic conditions? Nowadays, many trucks are equipped with forward-facing cameras and black box data. That kind of evidence can help clear up exactly what happened in the moments before the crash. Without it, we're just guessing.

Another angle investigators should be looking at is the role of the companies that employed both drivers. Did they train these drivers properly? Were either of the trucks in poor repair? Was the stopped truck parked there because of a mechanical failure that should have been caught earlier? Questions like these don’t just tell us what happened; they tell us who let it happen.

The main point here is simple: accidents like this don’t begin and end at the crash scene. They often start much earlier, with the decisions made by drivers, mechanics, dispatchers and company managers. That’s why real investigations have to go beyond police reports and look at the full picture. Was this a one-time mistake by a single driver? Or was it the end result of a system that didn’t work the way it should?

One thing I’ve learned after three decades litigating truck crash cases is that every link in the safety chain matters. If any part breaks — whether it’s driver attention, proper training or even basic maintenance — a crash like this one can happen. And when someone loses their life, it’s not just about figuring out what went wrong. It’s about making sure the same thing doesn’t happen again.