Wichita, KS — January 26, 2026, a man lost his life due to a truck accident at approximately 7:00 a.m. along 21st Street.

According to authorities, a man was traveling in a Ford Focus near the truck stop on 21st Street near Interstate Highway 135 when the accident took place.

An 18-wheeler that had been experiencing mechanical problems was stopped and parked on the side of the road with its hazard lights allegedly activated. Officials indicate that, for as yet unknown reasons, a collision occurred between the front-end of the Focus and the rear-end of the 18-wheeler's trailer.

The man from the Focus reportedly sustained fatal injuries as a result of the collision. Additional details pertaining to this incident—including the identity of the victim—are not available at this point in time. The investigation is currently ongoing.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a passenger vehicle crashes into the back of a parked 18-wheeler, most people instinctively assume the fault lies with the car’s driver. But that assumption doesn’t always hold up under investigation. The key legal question is whether the truck was parked in a legally permissible and reasonably safe manner.

In this case, reports say the truck was stopped on the side of the road with its hazard lights on due to mechanical trouble. That’s a start—but it’s not the end of the story. Hazard lights alone are not enough to meet federal safety requirements for a disabled commercial vehicle. If the truck was on or near the roadway, federal regulations require that warning devices—typically reflective triangles—be placed at specific intervals behind the trailer to alert approaching traffic, especially in low-visibility conditions.

Investigators will need to determine:

• Where exactly the truck was parked—on the shoulder, in a turn lane, or partially in an active lane;
• Whether the driver deployed warning devices as required by law, and whether they remained in place leading up to the crash;
• Lighting and visibility conditions at the time of the wreck, including whether the trailer was equipped with functioning lights and reflective tape;
• The timing of the truck’s mechanical issue, including how long it had been stopped and whether the driver had time to take proper precautions;
• Whether the driver of the Focus was distracted, impaired, or traveling too fast for conditions, all of which must also be considered.

I’ve worked on cases where trucks were stopped just inches onto the shoulder with no warning triangles deployed, and a fatigued or distracted motorist never saw the hazard until it was too late. That doesn’t always shift full liability to the truck, but it often complicates the picture—especially when a parked vehicle blends into the early morning darkness.

Key Takeaways:

• A parked truck must meet specific federal requirements for visibility and hazard signaling—hazard lights alone are not sufficient.
• The exact location of the trailer, use of warning devices, and lighting conditions will be critical in determining whether the truck posed an avoidable hazard.
• Investigators must also examine the actions of the car’s driver, including whether distraction or speed played a role.
• Fault in rear-end collisions involving stopped trucks often depends on whether the truck was reasonably visible and properly secured.
• A full reconstruction will be necessary to determine whether this was an unavoidable crash—or one that could have been prevented with proper precautions.