Waco, TX — April 22, 2025, Carlton Lee was killed following a truck accident at approximately 5:00 p.m. along State Highway 6.

According to authorities, 42-year-old Carlton Lee, of Bryan, was traveling in a southbound Dodge Ram pickup truck on State Highway 6 in the vicinity of State Highway 340 when the accident took place.

An 18-wheeler had apparently been stopped on the shoulder of the highway. Officials indicate that, for as yet unknown reasons, the Dodge veered onto the shoulder where it rear-ended the 18-wheeler's tank trailer.

Lee reportedly suffered critical injuries due to the collision; he was transported to a local medical facility by EMS in order to receive immediate treatment. However, he was ultimately unable to overcome the severity of his injuries, having later been declared deceased. Additional details pertaining to this incident are not available at this point in time. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Commentary

In my experience, when a vehicle strikes the rear of a parked 18-wheeler on the shoulder of a highway, the immediate focus tends to fall on the driver who left their lane. But that’s only part of the story. While it's true that vehicles aren't expected to be driving on the shoulder, the law still places responsibilities on truck drivers and their companies when it comes to how, when, and where a commercial vehicle can be stopped—especially on high-speed roads like State Highway 6.

One of the first questions in a crash like this is whether the truck was stopped for a legitimate emergency. Commercial vehicles are allowed to pull onto the shoulder for mechanical failures or other urgent reasons, but they’re also expected to take all possible precautions to alert approaching traffic. That includes activating hazard lights and placing reflective triangles behind the vehicle—a step that’s often skipped but can make the difference between a near-miss and a deadly collision.

The next issue is visibility. Was the truck stopped in a location where approaching drivers had time to see and react to it? Was it positioned fully off the travel lane, or was any part of the trailer encroaching onto the shoulder line? Even when a truck is legally parked, poor positioning or a failure to make the vehicle visible can still open the door to liability—particularly if the stopped vehicle created an unexpected hazard in a space drivers often use temporarily for merging, avoiding road debris, or dealing with mechanical trouble of their own.

If the 18-wheeler was operating under a commercial carrier, the company’s role also warrants scrutiny. Did they have clear policies about when and where drivers could stop? Was the driver under pressure to keep driving until the last minute before taking a break or checking a mechanical issue? And was the truck itself properly maintained, or had it been experiencing issues that contributed to the decision to stop?

From where I sit, a fatal rear-end collision involving a parked truck isn’t just a matter of lane deviation—it’s a question of whether every precaution was taken to make that stop as safe as it could be. A full investigation needs to determine not only what the pickup driver was doing, but whether the truck’s presence on the shoulder was necessary, legal, and properly marked. Only then can the right parties be held accountable and those affected by the wreck receive the clarity and closure they deserve.