UPDATE (March 13, 2025): Details in the news now say that the truck driver involved in the accident is facing charges, including for homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle. Allegations include that the truck driver falsified logbooks and drove beyond hours of service limits. Investigations are ongoing.

Cumberland County, PA — July 14, 2024, James Sheltman, Lieu Nguyen, and one other were killed following an 18-wheeler accident at 2:00 p.m. on I-81.

Authorities said in preliminary statements that the accident took place in the Silver Spring Township area near the exit for Route 114.

Investigators reported that 79-year-old James Sheltman and an 80-year-old were in one vehicle going along I-81 and 49-year-old Lieu Nguyen was in a separate vehicle traveling the same direction. From the oncoming lanes, it appears an 18-wheeler somehow careened across the median and crashed into Sheltman and Nguyen's vehicles. Due to this, Sheltman, Sheltman's passenger, and Nguyen were killed. It's unclear if anyone else was injured. At this time, there is no stated cause for the accident.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

Obviously, when an 18-wheeler crosses the median and causes a fatal crash, it's a clear sign that something went very wrong. There will no doubt be calls for accountability, but there are some things folks should keep in mind when it comes to accountability. For one, it's entirely possible this was just unavoidable. Tire blowouts and medical emergencies, for example, can't always be avoided. But even if a driver's mistake led to this crash, putting all of the blame on them without considering why that mistake happened could let another wrongdoer off the hook: the driver's employer.

From my experience handling hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases, I’ve seen how trucking companies often create environments where these so-called "mistakes" are all but inevitable. For example, companies often impose unrealistic schedules and tight deadlines that put immense pressure on drivers. Drivers are either incentivized or coerced to cut corners, skip rest breaks, and push through fatigue to meet these demands. Having multiple drivers taking these shortcuts makes them ticking time bombs, as a mistake is bound to happen eventually.

Similarly, another significant factor to consider is the training and qualifications of truck drivers. Not all companies prioritize thorough training or strict hiring standards. Some might put drivers behind the wheel with minimal experience or overlook past records of reckless driving. More reputable companies would never think to hire such drivers, but again, some companies out there just care more about getting product moving, throwing safety out the window and putting everyone around them in danger.

On top of all that, investigators also need to be able to pull maintenance records for the truck that crossed the median. While folks tend to think mechanical failures are sudden and unavoidable, the reality is a lot mechanical issues can be avoided. It's just that some companies would rather penny-pinch or put off time-consuming repairs, kicking the can down the road and just hoping things work out. Well, it often doesn't work out, a catastrophic failure inevitably happens, and people get hurt for reasons which were entirely foreseeable and preventable.

I know that's a lot of information to throw out there, but it's important to understand the immense task that is getting a resolution after a serious commercial truck accident. If investigators handling the crash can't pull company records, conduct accident scene reconstructions, examine a vehicle for defects, dig into a driver's history and qualifications, and examine recorded data from the vehicles involved, they're likely to miss something important. So if there's going to be accountability for a crash like this, there has to be extensive evidence to explain everything that led up to the crash.