Kaufman County, TX — November 17, 2022, 53-year-old Eric Jones was seriously injured in a crash with a commercial truck on FM 460 in Kaufman County.

Authorities say the incident happened around 6:35 p.m. on Farm to Market Road 460 at a private drive. Preliminary investigation suggests a Freightliner truck started to turn from the private drive onto FM 460 but the driver failed to yield to Jones' approaching Chevy Malibu. As the car passed the drive the truck crashed into its front-right quarter.

Jones suffered serious injuries in the collision. The truck driver was unhurt.

No further information is currently available.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

If investigators have their facts straight it seems a (presumably) professional truck driver failed to yield to thru-traffic while turning. If so there's still the urgent question of why to work out, but barring something highly unusual it may be just as it appears: A moment of carelessness with serious results. Some may feel that preliminary findings show that clearly enough for the driver (and by extension his employer) to be at fault, but commercial accidents are rarely that simple.

People who haven't crashed with a big rig probably don't realize the long uphill battles that often await those who do. No matter what a crash's preliminary details look like, trucking companies rarely accept responsibility without a long and bitter fight. Their defense attorneys and insurers typically have many tactics and strategies to dispute or deflect responsibility, and they aren't shy about using them.

I've seen too many people who only wanted the truth—and in some cases accountability—ignored or argued with by the companies that owed it to them. That's why I try to set expectations when I read about these incidents, so that anyone who feels the facts are too straightforward to dispute isn't taken off-guard when things don't go smoothly.