Mobile County, AL — April 6, 2025, Hayley Terry was killed in a truck accident at about 6:05 p.m. on Interstate 10 near mile marker 14.

Authorities said a 2004 Ford F-150 was hit by a 2005 Kenworth semi-truck, then crashed into a 2018 Kenworth semi-truck.

Ford driver Hayley Terry, 20, of Mobile died from injuries he sustained in the crash west of Mobile, according to authorities.

No other injuries were reported.

Authorities have not released any additional details about the Mobile County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary

When a passenger vehicle ends up caught between two semi-trucks on a major highway like Interstate 10, the outcome is almost always severe, and the legal questions almost always point to a failure in spacing, awareness or judgment. According to reports, a Ford F-150 was first struck by one semi-truck and then pushed into another. The driver of the pickup lost their life as a result.

This type of crash raises red flags about following distance and reaction time. Commercial drivers are trained to maintain enough space from other vehicles to account for sudden stops, traffic slowdowns or lane changes. When that buffer disappears, the result can be exactly what happened here: a smaller vehicle overwhelmed by the weight and momentum of two much larger ones.

The first question investigators will need to answer is: How did the initial impact occur? Was the pickup already stopped or slowing for traffic when the first truck made contact? If so, that points to the kind of rear-end collision that’s nearly always avoidable with proper attention and spacing. Black box data from the trucks will be essential in showing speed, braking input and throttle activity before the impact.

The second question is about the role of the second truck. Was it already in front of the pickup, or did the force of the first impact push the F-150 forward into a moving vehicle? Either way, investigators will want to examine whether the vehicles were spaced appropriately and whether either driver had the opportunity to react and avoid the worst of the collision.

The fact that this crash involved two semis and one passenger vehicle, and that only one person was injured, underscores just how much risk smaller vehicles face when things go wrong around heavy trucks. When those trucks are operated without proper caution, the consequences fall hardest on those least equipped to withstand them.

At the heart of this crash is a question that comes up far too often in highway trucking incidents: Did the truck driver have the time and space to stop, and if not, why not? That answer doesn’t just tell us who’s responsible. It tells us whether someone died because another driver simply didn’t do what commercial operators are trained and expected to do every single day: maintain control, manage distance and prevent exactly this kind of fatal outcome.