Howard County, TX — March 20, 2025, Tara Renfro was injured as the result of a semi-truck accident at 12:20 p.m. along Highway 350.

Initial details about the crash say that it took place a few miles northeast of Big Spring.

According to officials, 45-year-old Tara Renfro was in a Dodge Ram going southwest along the highway. While doing so, authorities say that a Freightliner semi-truck also going southwest failed to control speed. As a result, it crashed into Renfro.

Tara Renfro reportedly had serious injuries following the crash. No other injuries were reported. At this time, no further information is available.

Commentary

Given that authorities claim the truck driver messed up here, people may see this as open-and-shut. The reality, though, is commercial truck accidents involve unique challenges. Even if evidence confirms the truck driver made a mistake here, it's important to know why that mistake happened. Put simply, I've handled hundreds of commercial truck wrecks, and a truck driver's employer often contributes to these serious crashes, as well.

A lot of the time, truck drivers make mistakes not as an isolated lapse in judgment but because there were existing issues which inevitably led to the mistake. For example, some trucking companies push drivers to meet unreasonable deadlines. This can lead drivers to speed, drive distracted, make reckless maneuvers, or exceed their hours of service. Other times, companies may neglect to train inexperienced drivers, or they may hire drivers with a history of reckless behavior. Either way, it's allowing someone who isn't qualified to operate a truck for them, and people are bound to get hurt.

That's why people should never treat commercial truck wrecks as open-and-shut. Otherwise, they could end up missing the forest for the trees. In my experience, folks don't just want some "bad guy" to pin the blame on. They want to see accountability for any and all parties who wronged them. So could this all have been an individual reckless driver making an isolated mistake? Absolutely. But if there were steps that could have been taken to avoid this crash long before it happened, it's important to address why those steps weren't taken.