Comal County, TX — March 9, 2024, a 16-year-old was killed and one person was hurt after a truck accident at around 8:30 a.m. on FM 3009.

According to authorities, the crash took place near the intersection of FM 3009 and FM 1683, west of New Braunfels.

It appears a 16-year-old boy was in a Toyota Sienna going southbound along FM 3009. While doing so, the box truck, for unknown reasons, was traveling north in the southbound lanes, resulting in a head-on collision with the Sienna. The collision led to the death of the 16-year-old driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The box truck driver reportedly had serious injuries. No further information about the crash is available at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

After truck wrecks like this, it's important to talk about an often overlooked aspect of accident investigations – the engine control module (ECM) data. This component, often referred to as the vehicle's "black box," captures a wealth of data, including speed, brake usage, and engine activity just before a collision. This information is not just numbers and graphs; it's the silent witness to the moments leading up to these life-altering events.

With that said, the retrieval of ECM data is more than a procedural step; it's a race against time to secure a piece of truth before it's potentially overwritten or lost. Unfortunately, few law enforcement agencies actually have the tools to gather this data. As a result, in a lot of crashes, it simply slips through the cracks. I even had a case not long ago where the police asked the trucking company to get them the ECM data. That would be like asking a murder suspect to dust for fingerprints and explain what they found.

At the end of the day, people mistakenly trust that the police investigation is going to provide all the answers. Unfortunately for victims, that trust is often misplaced. As a result, there are a lot of families out there that never get the answers they're looking for.