Smith County, KS — April 9, 2025, Tina White and Steven White were injured following a semi-truck accident at around 12:30 p.m. on U.S. Highway 281.

Preliminary details from the Kansas Highway Patrol say the crash happened north of U.S. 36 near the Nebraska state line.

According to officials, 61-year-old Steven White and 65-year-old Tina White were both in a Freightliner semi-truck going southbound along the highway. For reasons not clear right now, the vehicle lost control and ran off the side of the highway. There, the truck crashed along the ditch.

Due to the accident, both Tina and Steven White had unspecified injuries. They were taken to an area hospital. No other injuries were reported, and additional details about the accident are unavailable.

Commentary

People tend to write off single-vehicle truck wrecks like this one. Most just assume everything falls under work accident laws. Sometimes, though, there are extenuating circumstances to consider.

For example, the crash may have been the result of a vehicle defect. If there were issues that trace back to the manufacturer, the driver might not even know there was something wrong with the truck.

Or, there's the matter of one of the victims being a passenger. If an injured passenger wasn't a co-worker, but rather an acquaintance, family member, spouse, or other individual not on the job, their available options might lie beyond the confines of a typical work accident.

Either way, there are enough unknowns here to consider that this crash may not be as simple as people would think.