Houston, TX — May 20, 2025, Floyd Foley Sr. was killed in a truck accident at about 1:35 on F.M. 865/Cullen Boulevard at Schurmier Road.

A preliminary accident report indicates an eastbound 2007 International semi-truck apparently failed to yield from a stop sign and crashed into a 2002 Toyota Corolla that had been going north on Cullen Boulevard.

Toyota driver Floyd Foley Sr., 69, died in the crash, according to the report, while his passenger, a 65-year-old man, was listed as possibly injured.

The truck driver was not injured, the report states.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Harris County crash at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear that a semi-truck reportedly ran a stop sign and collided with a smaller vehicle, they often jump to one conclusion: the truck driver must be at fault. And maybe that’s where the investigation ends for police, but in my experience, that’s usually just the beginning of the real story.

In this case, the early report says the semi-truck was traveling east on Schurmier Road and failed to yield at a stop sign before striking a northbound Toyota on Cullen Boulevard. That failure to yield cost one man his life and injured another. But before we chalk it up to “truck driver error,” it’s important to ask: Why didn’t the truck stop? What conditions, decisions or policies allowed this to happen?

We don’t yet know whether the truck was loaded or empty, whether the driver was distracted, or even whether the vehicle had any mechanical issues. Those are unanswered questions, and they’re far from trivial.

To get real answers, investigators need to look beyond the crash scene. For example:

• Was the truck equipped with an in-cab camera or engine control module (ECM)? Those tools can show exactly how fast the truck was moving, whether the driver applied the brakes and what actions were taken in the seconds before impact.
• Was the driver using a cell phone at the time of the crash? Phone records can clear that up.
• What’s the driver’s record? Was this a seasoned professional or someone new to the job? Were there past violations or signs of carelessness?
• Did the trucking company properly vet and train the driver? In one of my past cases, a company hired a driver who had been fired from several previous jobs. Their so-called road test lasted just 20 minutes, hardly enough to catch serious safety concerns. That kind of cut-corner hiring isn’t just negligent; it’s dangerous.

None of that can be answered by the crash report alone. It takes a real investigation, one that doesn’t just assume the driver “made a mistake,” but digs into how that mistake happened and who else played a role.

I’ve handled enough of these cases to know that the difference between an honest error and gross negligence usually lies in the evidence. And too often, that evidence is never gathered unless someone demands it.

Key Takeaways:

• A stop sign violation by a semi-truck raises serious questions about driver behavior and vehicle condition, but those questions remain unanswered for now.
• Investigators should examine ECM data, in-cab cameras, phone records and driver history to understand what really happened.
• Trucking company hiring and training practices often contribute to crashes and must be scrutinized.
• The goal of a full investigation is not just accountability. It’s accuracy, so the right people are held responsible.
• Real answers rarely come from the police report alone; they come from following the evidence wherever it leads.