Guadalupe County, TX — November 22, 2022, a box truck driver died in a collision with a tractor-trailer on State Highway 123 in Guadalupe County.

Authorities say the incident happened shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Highway 123 North, between Ridge Drive and FM 1978. Preliminary investigation suggests a semi-truck was turned onto northbound 123 from the 160 Driving Academy parking lot. The truck's student driver may have failed to yield to cross-traffic before turning and the victim's southbound box truck crashed into the semi-truck on the highway. The impact caused the box truck's cab to get wedged beneath the semi-trailer.

The box truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

The investigation is ongoing. No further information is available at this time.

Commentary on Truck Accident on Hwy 123 in Guadalupe County

There's a lot of possible explanations for how the big rig ended up in the box truck's path on Highway 123; some of them involve simple driver mistakes at the wheel (the likelihood of which is increased because the driver was a student), but others like slippery roads or truck malfunctions would have been out of her hands. It's always important to investigate carefully and ensure all a wreck's variables are known rather than jumping to any conclusions.

Speaking of those variables, though, I hope investigators will learn exactly why the student driver's instructor, seated right next to her in that cab, didn't stop her from driving into the road ahead of the box truck. I would think an instructor would keep a sharp lookout at all times from that passenger's seat, yet the big rig still blocked traffic. Why? What exactly happened, and just as importantly could or should it have been prevented?

I'm not out to point fingers or to suggest I know more than police have said about what happened. A man lost his life in this accident, though, and I think most would agree that's enough reason to learn exactly how and why that happened. If getting answers to that revealed that another person's negligence was partly to blame, then proper accountability should follow. Only time and further careful investigation could say for sure, so I hope law enforcement efforts are enough to get that man's family some much-needed answers.