Grant County, WI — March 21, 2025, Gerald Harper was injured in a truck accident at about 11:30 a.m. on U.S. Route 61/Blues Highway.

Authorities said a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado was turning left from County Highway B north of Rockville when it was hit by a 1999 Peterbilt semi-truck. The semi-truck, which swerved in an attempt to avoid the crash, ended up in the ditch, partially overturned. The pickup was knocked off the east side of the road.

Pickup driver Gerald Harper, 84, was taken to an area hospital with undisclosed injuries, according to authorities. The truck driver was evaluated at the scene, but he declined to be transported to the hospital.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Grant County crash at this time. The accident is still being investigated.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

Most people don’t think of left turns as especially dangerous, but on rural highways, they can be one of the riskiest maneuvers a driver makes, especially when heavy trucks are involved. That seems to be the case in this Grant County crash, where a pickup turning left off Blues Highway was hit by an oncoming semi-truck.

Crashes like this are common on older highways with at-grade intersections. These are points where slower turning vehicles cross paths with fast-moving highway traffic, often without dedicated turn lanes or signals. When a heavy truck is involved, the consequences get amplified. They can’t stop or swerve like a passenger vehicle, and when something goes wrong, there’s usually a ditch, a rollover or worse.

One solution to this common problem is access management: adding turn lanes, modifying intersections or consolidating driveways to reduce conflict points. But those improvements are often years behind the traffic volumes that now demand them. Until then, drivers are left making high-stakes decisions at spots where the odds are already stacked against them.