UPDATE (December 16, 2025): Additional reports have recently been released which identify the man who lost his life as a result of this truck accident as 20-year-old Noah Nichols, of Palestine, Texas. No further details are currently available. Investigations remain ongoing.

Tyler, TX — December 12, 2025, one person was killed due to a truck accident shortly before 12:00 midnight along U.S. Highway 271.

According to authorities, the accident occurred in the westbound lanes of U.S. 271 in the vicinity of Interstate Highway 20.

Details surrounding the accident remain scarce. Officials indicate that, for as yet unknown reasons, a collision occurred between a passenger vehicle and an 18-wheeler. The passenger car apparently ended up wedged beneath the 18-wheeler's trailer.

The person who had been behind the wheel of the passenger car reportedly sustained fatal injuries due to the collision. Additional information pertaining to this incident—including the identity of the victim—is not available at this point in time. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a passenger vehicle ends up wedged beneath the trailer of an 18-wheeler, the legal and investigative focus turns immediately to a specific concern: underride. These are among the most dangerous types of collisions, often fatal to occupants of the smaller vehicle, and they raise serious questions about visibility, reaction time, and whether proper safety equipment was in place—and functioning.

Right now, we don’t know which vehicle initiated the movement that led to the collision. Did the 18-wheeler pull into the car’s path? Was the car following too closely? Did either driver have a chance to react? These are questions that can’t be answered through guesswork—they require physical evidence, dash cam footage, and data from the truck’s engine control module.

From a legal standpoint, underride collisions often come down to whether the truck had an underride guard that met federal safety standards and whether that guard actually performed as intended. If a trailer lacked a properly mounted and maintained guard—or if the guard failed structurally during impact—that’s not just a technical detail. It may be a key factor in why the crash became fatal.

Driver visibility is another issue. At midnight, lighting conditions are at their worst. If the truck was making a turn, merging, or pulling onto the highway, the driver had an obligation to ensure the path was clear and that the trailer was properly lit and marked. In cases I’ve handled, missing reflectors or faded conspicuity tape made trailers nearly invisible at night, especially from certain angles.

On the other side, investigators will also need to assess the passenger car’s speed, lane position, and behavior leading up to the crash. But the fact that the car ended up underneath the trailer speaks to a failure somewhere along the chain—either in maneuvering, timing, or equipment. That’s not a conclusion—it’s a starting point. The real answers will come from objective evidence.

Key Takeaways:

• Underride collisions are often fatal and typically raise concerns about trailer visibility and underride guard performance.
• It’s not yet clear whether the 18-wheeler or the passenger vehicle initiated the movement that led to the crash.
• At midnight, lighting, trailer markings, and driver attentiveness on both sides are critical factors to examine.
• Dash cam footage and ECM data may help clarify whether either driver had time to react or avoid the collision.
• Investigators must evaluate the condition of the underride guard, as well as the lighting and reflectivity of the trailer.