Duenweg, MO — April 20, 2025, a woman was injured following a truck accident at approximately 2:30 p.m. along State Highway 249.

According to authorities, a 35-year-old woman was traveling in a northbound Dodge Durango on S.H. 249 at State Highway 66 when the accident took place.

Details surrounding the accident remain scarce. Officials indicate that, for as yet unknown reasons, the Durango allegedly failed to safely maintain control. It was consequently involved in a collision with a northbound Freightliner Cascadia truck.

The woman reportedly suffered serious injuries over the course of the accident; she was transported to an area medical facility by EMS in order to receive necessary treatment. It does not appear that anyone else was hurt. 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

In my experience, crashes where a passenger vehicle and a commercial truck are traveling in the same direction before a collision often require a much closer look than people might assume. It’s easy to focus solely on the passenger vehicle losing control, but when a crash results in serious injuries and an 18-wheeler is involved, it’s important to remember that commercial drivers are held to a higher standard precisely because of the risks their vehicles pose.

Even if the Dodge Durango was the first to lose control, the investigation must still examine how the truck was being operated in the moments leading up to the collision. Was the Freightliner following at a safe distance? Was the driver traveling at a speed appropriate for the road and traffic conditions? Commercial drivers are trained to anticipate potential hazards ahead, particularly when sharing the road with smaller vehicles that may become unstable or react unpredictably.

If the Freightliner was operating under a commercial carrier, it also raises questions about the company’s role. Was the truck properly maintained to ensure quick, reliable braking and steering? Was the driver properly trained to respond to emergencies on the highway? Were they under any delivery pressures that might have influenced their ability to respond cautiously when the situation changed? These factors often determine whether a collision was truly unavoidable or whether more could have been done to prevent it.

From where I sit, any serious injury crash involving a commercial truck deserves a full investigation—not just into the conduct of the passenger vehicle, but into whether the truck driver and their employer lived up to the elevated standards the law expects. Only by looking at the complete picture can the right parties be held accountable and those affected by the wreck receive the clarity and closure they deserve.