Milam County, TX — May 22, 2024, Pieda Flores and one other person were injured in a car accident just before 5:00 p.m. along U.S. Highway 79.

According to authorities, 47-year-old Pieda Flores was traveling in an eastbound Ford Escape on U.S. 79 at the County Road 335 intersection when the accident took place.

The Escape had come to a stop in order to wait for oncoming traffic to clear so that it could make a safe left turn. Officials indicate that, for reasons yet to be confirmed, an eastbound Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck failed to appropriately control its speed. A collision consequently occurred between the front-left of the pickup truck and the back-right of the Escape. The impact pushed the Escape into the oncoming lane of traffic where it was involved in a secondary collision with a westbound green Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck occupied by a 64-year-old man. Another impact took place between the Escape and an eastbound, black Silverado.

Flores reportedly sustained serious injuries over the course of the accident. The man who had been behind the wheel of the green Silverado sustained minor injuries, as well, according to reports. It does not appear that anyone else was hurt. Additional details pertaining to this incident are not available at this point in time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a driver slows down to make a routine left turn and ends up seriously injured in a multi-vehicle chain reaction, it’s clear something went wrong—likely long before the first point of impact. Crashes like this aren’t just about one driver failing to stop in time. They’re about what the vehicles did—or didn’t do—and whether investigators are piecing together the full sequence of events.

1. Did the authorities thoroughly investigate the crash?

A crash with three separate impacts requires a detailed timeline. Did investigators determine how far back the Dodge Ram was when the Escape first slowed? Were there skid marks showing an attempt to stop—or did the truck’s speed suggest there was no reaction at all? And was the point of impact clearly established to understand how the Escape was pushed into oncoming traffic? The only way to get to the truth in a layered crash like this is to reconstruct each movement, down to the second.

2. Has anyone looked into the possibility that a vehicle defect caused the crash?

If the Dodge Ram didn’t stop in time, was that entirely due to inattention—or did something malfunction? Were the brakes worn or faulty? Was there an issue with the cruise control disengaging, or did any electronic stability systems fail to respond? And in the Escape, were the lights functioning properly to indicate the turn? A full mechanical inspection is often the only way to determine whether human error was the sole factor—or whether the vehicle itself played a role in the breakdown.

3. Has all the electronic data relating to the crash been collected?

Modern vehicles log key crash-related details like speed, throttle input, and braking. Did the Dodge show any signs of attempting to slow before the impact? Was the Escape at a full stop or still rolling forward? If there’s data from the Silverado pickups, it could also help confirm timing and speed from the other angles. With so many vehicles involved, electronic evidence can create a clear map of how quickly things escalated—and whether all systems performed as they should have.

Crashes like this don’t happen in isolation. They build from small moments—missed cues, delayed reactions, or faulty systems—that come together at the worst possible time. That’s why it's essential to ask every question, even when the scene seems straightforward.

Takeaways:

• Multi-impact crashes require timeline reconstructions to clarify how each collision occurred.
• Mechanical failures, especially brake issues, may have contributed and must be ruled out.
• Vehicle data can confirm whether drivers reacted and if the systems functioned properly.