Greene County, MO — November 15, 2025, a motorcyclist was killed as the result of a semi-truck accident around 1:15 p.m. along Sawyer Road.

Investigators with the Missouri State Highway Patrol say that the crash took place near Highway MM, north of Republic.

Troopers said in the preliminary crash report that a 67-year-old Republic man was on a Kawasaki motorcycle going eastbound. A Freightliner semi-truck was going westbound. Authorities say the truck made a left turn, and the motorcycle crashed into the truck.

Due to the collision, the motorcyclist reportedly was killed. At this time, authorities have not released additional details about the accident.

Commentary by Michael Grossman

I want to be clear up front that I don't have any more information about this crash than what's already available to the public. I wouldn't suggest drawing any conclusions before all the evidence is clear. However, I've handled hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases, and I can't help noticing some all too familiar red flags.

Looking at images of this roadway, I have to wonder if the truck here failed to yield to the oncoming motorcyclist. There don't appear to be any stop signs or traffic lights for vehicles going along this stretch of Sawyer Road. So how exactly does a professional truck driver—sitting high up on a straight, flat road in the middle of the day—cross into a motorcyclist's path?

Was the driver on their phone? Were they being impatient and misjudged the bike's distance? Did they not take enough time to look for smaller vehicles like the motorcycle? Are they an inexperienced driver?Were there obstructions to visibility at the time? Were there other unusual factors troopers didn't include in their reports?

It's entirely possible there's a reasonable explanation that will show that this was just an unavoidable accident. However, in my experience, all the most likely explanations point to the possibility that someone made a big mistake here. If that turns out to be true, the victim's family deserves to know evidence is being preserved and that any actions leading to the crash will have consequences.