Fort Stockton, TX —May 6, 2025, a teen was injured in a car accident at about 6:45 p.m. on West 40th Lane at State Highway 18.

A preliminary accident report indicates that a 2020 Jeep Gladiator rear-ended a 2024 Chevrolet Trax that was stopped at the intersection.

The 17-year-old girl driving the Chevrolet was seriously injured in the crash, according to the report. The 10-year-old girl riding with her was listed as possibly injured.

The Jeep driver, a 14-year-old boy, was cited for speeding after the crash, the report states. He was not injured.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Pecos County crash.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

In the wake of any serious crash involving teens, the focus often turns to how something so avoidable became so devastating. What gets overlooked, though, are the deeper layers of investigation that can reveal preventable failures: mechanical, procedural or digital. When those steps are missed, we risk losing the full picture of what really happened.

Was the crash thoroughly investigated by authorities? When young drivers are involved, especially when one is significantly underage, thorough crash investigation becomes even more important. In this case, there’s no public mention of whether law enforcement conducted a full-scale analysis: things like reconstructing vehicle movements, documenting skid marks with laser measurements or examining the Jeep’s speed profile over time. Without that depth, it’s tough to tell whether the citation for speeding fully captures the cause of the crash. Some investigators do excellent work, but others may settle for surface-level conclusions, particularly when a citation seems to tie things up neatly.

Was a vehicle defect considered as a possible cause? It's easy to assume driver error, especially with a 14-year-old behind the wheel, but that shouldn't rule out the need to examine both vehicles for mechanical issues. A stuck accelerator or delayed braking response in the Jeep could have made a bad situation worse. On the other side, if the Chevrolet’s brake lights weren’t functioning properly, that could’ve affected the trailing driver’s reaction time. Mechanical systems sometimes fail silently, and without an inspection, critical clues may go unnoticed.

Was all electronic data from the crash preserved and reviewed? Modern vehicles carry a treasure trove of information that can clarify what happened before and during a crash. Was the Jeep’s speed steadily increasing before impact, or did it decelerate too late? Did the Chevrolet register as fully stopped? Even phone data might shed light on whether distraction played a role. Traffic cameras, if nearby, could help confirm or challenge assumptions about the sequence of events. Without collecting and comparing these digital records, investigators miss an opportunity to ground their conclusions in hard evidence.

Making sense of crashes involving young people means asking more than just who did what. It means pressing for answers that aren’t always obvious, and ensuring every possible angle gets examined. Only then can we move closer to understanding, and preventing, the next one.

Takeaways:

• Not all crash investigations dig deep enough to explain why things went wrong.
• Mechanical issues in either vehicle could’ve contributed, but inspections are rarely guaranteed.
• Without reviewing data from the vehicles and surroundings, key facts might be left out.