Murray County, MN — December 22, 2025, one person was killed and another was injured in a truck accident at about 7:30 a.m. on U.S. Route 59 north of Slayton.

Authorities said two semi-trucks collided near 156th Street in Mason Township while heading in opposite directions.

One driver, a 59-year-old Minneota man, died from injuries suffered in the crash, according to authorities. His name has not been made public yet.

The other driver, a 69-year-old Tyler man, was taken to a Sioux Falls, SD, hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Murray County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people read about a crash involving two semi-trucks and a fatality, a natural question follows: How does something like that happen on an open highway? With two experienced drivers going in opposite directions, you’d expect there to be plenty of space to avoid each other. That makes the details that aren’t in the report even more important than the few that are.

At this point, we know the crash happened around 7:30 a.m., involved two 18-wheelers on U.S. Route 59, and resulted in one driver being killed and the other seriously injured. But the real key to understanding this crash is still missing: What exactly caused these two trucks to collide?

Depending on whether one of the trucks drifted over the center line, lost control on slick roads or was trying to avoid something else entirely, very different questions arise. Was one driver distracted? Was weather a factor? Was one of the vehicles stopped or disabled in the road? As of now, none of those answers are available to the public.

That’s why I always emphasize the role of concrete evidence, especially in truck accidents where the stakes are this high. Investigators should already be working to pull data from the trucks’ engine control modules (the "black boxes"), which show braking, speed and steering inputs just before impact. If either vehicle had an in-cab camera system, that footage could be vital in explaining driver behavior. And let’s not forget phone records, GPS data and driver logs, because it's not just about what happened, it's about why it happened.

People often assume the driver who survived will be held responsible, or conversely, that the deceased driver is beyond accountability. But I’ve worked on plenty of cases where the initial assumptions were overturned once all the facts were in. In one case, a driver who died in a similar crash was ultimately found responsible because dash cam footage from the other truck told a different story than what police initially suspected.

Beyond driver behavior, there’s also the question of company oversight. Did either trucking company perform adequate background checks? Were their drivers properly trained? Were they pushing unreasonable delivery schedules that encouraged risk-taking behind the wheel? Those are not abstract concerns; they’re exactly the kinds of issues that routinely come up when we dig into a trucking company’s policies.

Without those answers, all we’re left with is speculation. The real work begins when someone demands access to the evidence and does the legwork to figure out what actually happened.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s still unclear what caused the two trucks to collide head-on.
• Black box data, in-cab cameras and phone records could provide essential answers.
• The surviving driver should not be blamed, or cleared, until a full investigation is done.
• Trucking company policies and driver history may play a significant role.
• Getting to the truth means asking the hard questions and demanding the right evidence.