Gregg County, TX — April 19, 2025, one person was injured in a truck accident just after 10 p.m. on Interstate 20 north of Danville.

A preliminary accident report indicates that a 2024 Ram 1500 collided with a 1997 Freightliner semi-truck as traffic slowed because of any earlier accident.

The pickup driver, a 52-year-old man, was seriously injured in the crash, according to the report. His name has not been made public yet.

The truck driver was not injured, the report states.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Gregg County crash at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people read about a crash like this, the first questions that come to mind are simple: How does a pickup run into a semi when traffic is slowing down? Was someone not paying attention? Or is there more to the story?

Right now, we have very few answers.

The report says traffic was slowing because of an earlier accident. A 2024 Ram 1500 then collided with a 1997 Freightliner. But it’s not clear whether the semi was fully stopped or still moving. It’s not clear how fast either vehicle was traveling. We don’t yet know how much distance the pickup had to react, or whether brake lights and hazard lights were visible and working.

Those details matter.

In rear-end crashes involving commercial trucks, people often assume the following driver is automatically at fault. Sometimes that’s true. But not always. If traffic came to a sudden stop and the semi didn’t activate hazard lights, that raises questions. If the truck changed lanes abruptly or stopped in a travel lane without proper warning, that’s a different set of questions. On the other hand, if the pickup driver was distracted or following too closely, that would point the investigation in another direction.

The only way to sort that out is through evidence.

The Freightliner likely has an engine control module, the truck’s “black box.” That data can show speed, throttle position, braking and sometimes sudden deceleration events in the moments before impact. That information can confirm whether the truck was slowing gradually or stopped abruptly.

Cell phone records can show whether either driver was on the phone. In-cab camera footage, if this truck had one, may show traffic conditions ahead and how the slowdown developed. Dash cam footage from nearby vehicles could also be critical.

There’s also the earlier accident to consider. What caused traffic to slow in the first place? Was traffic control properly handled? Were there warning signs, flares, or patrol vehicles alerting approaching drivers? If congestion formed quickly without clear warning, that can create a chain-reaction risk that isn’t obvious from a short news release.

Another unanswered question is whether the trucking company had policies in place for how drivers should respond to sudden slowdowns at night. It was just after 10 p.m. Visibility, lighting and reaction time all become more important in those conditions. We don’t yet know whether the truck driver had been on duty for many hours, or whether fatigue could have been a factor. Hours-of-service logs and electronic logging device data would help answer that.

In my experience, crashes like this often turn on small details that never make it into a preliminary report. A few seconds of distraction. A few feet of following distance. A few miles per hour too fast for conditions. Until someone gathers the electronic data, the maintenance records, the driver logs and any available video, it’s impossible to say with confidence what really happened.

The goal isn’t to rush to blame. It’s to let the evidence tell the story.

Key Takeaways

• It’s not yet clear whether the semi was stopped, slowing or moving steadily when the collision occurred.
• Black box data, cell phone records and in-cab or dash cam footage will likely be key to understanding what happened.
• Nighttime conditions and traffic from an earlier accident add layers of complexity that aren’t explained in the initial report.
• In commercial truck crashes, small details — speed, braking, following distance — often determine who is responsible.