Malheur County, OR — October 4, 2025, Phillip Kinstrand was killed and Kayla Harris was injured in a truck accident at about 11:15 a.m. on State Route 201.

Authorities said a northbound Pontiac G5 collided with a southbound Freightliner semi-truck near mile marker 17.

Pontiac driver Phillip Kinstrand, 70, of Vale was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to authorities. Passenger Kayla Harlan, 35, of Ontario was seriously injured.

The truck driver was not injured, authorities said.

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

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear about a fatal collision between a car and an 18-wheeler, one of their first questions is often: How did this happen? That’s exactly the right question to ask, and it’s the one that will determine whether anyone should be held accountable. Based on current reports, we know that a northbound Pontiac collided with a southbound Freightliner semi-truck. But the reports don’t tell us how or why the vehicles came into each other’s paths.

It’s not clear from the information available whether the Pontiac crossed into oncoming traffic or the truck did, or if something else entirely led to the crash. Without that basic detail, we can’t even begin to answer the most important legal questions: Was someone negligent? Did a vehicle malfunction? Could this have been prevented?

Depending on whether the truck was moving in its lane or had crossed over, very different issues come into play. If the truck drifted across the center line, we’d want to know why. Was the driver distracted? Did they fall asleep? Was there a medical episode? These are not speculative questions. They’re the foundation of any serious investigation.

That kind of inquiry means going well beyond the crash scene. Investigators should be looking at the truck’s black box data (technically known as the engine control module), which tells us how fast the truck was going, whether it braked and what inputs the driver made just before the crash. If the truck had dash cams or in-cab video, as many rigs now do, those recordings could provide direct visual evidence of what the driver was doing in the moments before the impact.

Another important step is to obtain the truck driver’s cell phone records. Was there a call or text in progress at the time of the crash? You won’t find that in the crash debris. Someone has to subpoena it. Likewise, the driver’s background needs to be reviewed. Was this someone with a clean record, or were there prior red flags that the company ignored?

I’ve handled cases where a truck driver never should have been hired to begin with. In one instance, the driver had been fired from multiple previous jobs, but the company that put her on the road conducted only a 20-minute driving test before handing over the keys. It wasn’t just a bad hire. It was a preventable disaster.

We don’t yet know what happened here. But the idea that the investigation begins and ends with the crash scene is a dangerous one. Getting to the truth takes work, and often it requires a legal team with the authority to dig deeper than the initial police report.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s not clear which vehicle crossed the center line, which is key to understanding fault.
• Critical evidence may include black box data, dash cam footage and driver cell phone records.
• A full investigation should review the truck driver’s background and the carrier’s hiring practices.
• Accountability hinges on verifiable facts, not assumptions about who is usually to blame.
• Early reports rarely contain the full story. Answers come through deeper legal inquiry.