Chillicothe, OH — August 14, 2024, Michael Toth, child, and others were injured after a semi-truck accident at 2:00 p.m. on U.S. Route 35.

Authorities said in preliminary statements that the accident happened in the area of U.S. 35 mile marker 34.

According to officials, 53-year-old Michael Toth was in a Dodge Grand Caravan going westbound on the highway. From eastbound lanes, it appears a semi-truck experienced a tire blowout. The truck veered left of center, crashing into Toth's vehicle as well as a Lincoln, driven by Michael Wahl, and a Jeep, driven by Kellie Thomason-Stacy.

Due to the collision, a passenger in Toth's vehicle had to be airlifted to a children's hospital. Reports said other occupants were taken to hospitals, as well. It's unclear if Michael Wahl or Kellie Thomason-Stacy had injuries. The truck driver was also taken from the scene with reportedly non-life-threatening injuries.

Right now, no further details are available.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

Folks may think there would be nothing else to discuss here. Tire blowouts are unavoidable, right? Well, they often happen out of nowhere, that's true. But there are plenty of times the blowout is foreseeable and preventable.

For example, have authorities looked into the truck's maintenance records? I've handled hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases, and many companies will skip regular maintenance because they would prefer to just kick that can down the road to keep making deliveries. Other times, drivers fail to conduct proper pre-trip checks which would spot a worn or damaged tire. Was there a check before this driver hit the road? Was there something that should have been caught?

It's possible the tire was in fine condition, and something in the road just punctured it. That's not at all unusual. The concern, though, is authorities don't often have the training or tools to examine a tire for things as subtle as wear or a possible defect. As such, there often has to be efforts from independent accident reconstructionists whose efforts are focused solely on examining crash scenes and the vehicles involved. Perhaps those efforts would show this crash wasn't quite as out-of-nowhere as it may seem.