San Diego County, CA — May 20, 2025, one person was killed in a truck accident at about 2:50 a.m. on northbound Interstate 15.

Authorities said a sedan crashed into the back of a United States Postal Service semi-truck just south of State Route 76. The car, which ended up wedged under the truck's trailer, caught fire after the crash.

The sedan driver, whose name has not been made public yet, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to authorities. The truck driver was not injured.

Emergency crews were able to keep the fire contained to the car, so the mail being transported in the USPS truck was not damaged, authorities said.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the San Diego County crash at this time. The accident is still being investigated.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When someone hears about a car crashing into the back of a semi-truck in the middle of the night, it’s natural to wonder what went wrong. Was the truck stopped in the road? Did the car driver fall asleep? Was visibility a factor? In this case, there’s not enough publicly available information to say. But that doesn’t mean these questions don’t matter. They’re exactly the ones an experienced investigation would try to answer.

Right now, what we do know is that a sedan rear-ended a U.S. Postal Service truck on I-15 around 2:50 a.m. The car ended up lodged under the trailer and caught fire, killing the driver. The USPS truck driver was reportedly unhurt. But that simple narrative skips over some critical unanswered questions. For example:

• Was the semi-truck moving or stopped at the time of the crash? A trailer stopped or moving slowly in the travel lane at night can be extremely hard to see, especially if its tail lights aren’t working properly. That’s not speculation; it’s a scenario I’ve encountered in real cases.
• Was there dash cam or black box data? Many trucks, especially those run by large entities like the Postal Service, are equipped with engine control modules (ECMs) that log speed, braking and other data in the seconds before a crash. That information is often central to reconstructing what actually happened.
• Were the truck’s reflectors and tail lights fully functional? Poor trailer visibility at night is a known hazard. If the lighting system was faulty or covered in grime, it could have made the trailer nearly invisible until it was too late.

There’s also the matter of driver history and company practices. Was the trucker well-rested and properly trained? Were there any red flags in his driving record? These are questions that only come to light when someone insists on a full accounting; not just of the crash itself, but of the decisions that led up to it.

I’ve litigated enough of these cases to know that rear-end crashes with big rigs are rarely open-and-shut. In fact, some of the most clear-cut liability cases I’ve seen involved trucks stopped without hazard lights, improperly lit trailers or drivers who shouldn’t have been on the road at all.

Until we know more, it’s too early to assign blame. But it’s not too early to demand answers. That’s how accountability starts, by asking the right questions and letting the evidence tell the story.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s unclear whether the USPS truck was moving or stopped at the time of the crash, which is central to understanding fault.
• Critical evidence like ECM data, dash cam footage and lighting conditions could reveal what actually happened.
• Rear-end crashes involving trucks at night often hinge on whether the trailer was properly visible to other drivers.
• Investigations must consider not just driver behavior but also equipment condition and employer policies.
• No meaningful conclusions about fault can be drawn until all relevant evidence is examined.