Linn County, IA — February 20, 2026, Daniel Burlage sustained injuries as the result of an 18-wheeler accident at 9:00 a.m. along Highway 13.

Authorities said that the accident happened near Heatons Valley Road, which is south of Coggon.

According to officials, 60-year-old Daniel Burlage was in a pickup going southbound along the highway. An 18-wheeler was going northbound. The truck reportedly jackknifed and entered oncoming lanes. Then, it crashed with Daniel Burlage's pickup.

Due to the collision, Daniel Burlage had reportedly non-critical injuries. Authorities reported no other injuries. It appears roads were snowy at the time, and reports say "wind shear" may have caused the 18-wheeler to lose control. No further information is available at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

Winter weather conditions and sudden wind changes can certainly lead to unavoidable accidents. However, it's crucial that investigations rule out other possibilities. I've handled hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases, and I rarely come across crashes where the weather was the cause of the crash. More often, it's a driver's failure to adjust their behavior for inclement conditions that leads to an accident. Could that have happened here?

One often overlooked piece of evidence which could help determine this is the truck's Engine Control Module, or ECM. This is like a truck's "black box." It could show things like speed, braking, and even steering input in the moments leading up to the crash. It's important to access this data quickly after a crash, as it's not something trucking companies usually want to hand over if they can avoid it.

I've unfortunately seen situations where authorities allowed a trucking company to remove the ECM from a crash scene without first independently verifying the data. It can then take weeks or months of battling with the company to share that evidence—assuming it hasn't been altered in some way. If steps are taken early on to preserve the evidence, it can reassure victims and families that the information they're getting is accurate.

This is just one aspect of a complete truck accident investigation, of course. Like I said, though, it's one that too often slips through the cracks. So if authorities have secured or are working to secure the truck's ECM data, that's a good sign they're taking the investigations seriously. However, if they have yet to pull that data, it would raise questions about what else they might be overlooking.