Houston, TX — August 25, 2025, two people were injured in a truck accident at about 8 a.m. on U.S. Route 290/Northwest Freeway.

Authorities said a westbound Toyota crashed into a semi-truck's steer axle, causing the larger vehicle to lose control and land on top of the median wall near West Road. It overturned into the eastbound HOV lanes after being struck by several other vehicles, pilling its load of bricks across the road. A total of eight vehicles were involved in the collision.

Two women were hospitalized with serious injuries after being extricated from their car, according to authorities.

No other injuries were reported.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Harris County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear that a passenger vehicle hit a semi-truck, they often assume the truck will be mostly unaffected. But when the impact strikes the steer axle, the part that controls the truck’s direction, that changes everything. That appears to be the turning point in this crash on U.S. Route 290, where a Toyota reportedly hit a truck’s steer axle and triggered a chain reaction involving eight vehicles and a tipped load of bricks.

That specific point of contact, the front axle that handles all of the truck’s steering, explains a lot about how the situation escalated so dramatically. If that part of the vehicle is compromised, the driver may have no way to correct course, no matter how skilled or experienced. But even if we accept that mechanical fact, we’re still left with major questions that the public report doesn’t answer.

For one, we don’t yet know how or why the Toyota came into contact with the truck’s front end. Was the car changing lanes? Did the truck merge unexpectedly? Did traffic slow down or stop? Each scenario could suggest a very different root cause, and getting clarity will depend on what the evidence says, not just who hit whom.

Then there’s the matter of the truck’s cargo. Reports say bricks spilled across the highway after the semi overturned. That kind of debris doesn’t just pose a hazard. It also raises the possibility of cargo being improperly loaded or secured. Bricks are heavy and dense, which makes them especially dangerous if they come loose at high speeds. Investigators will need to determine:

• Who loaded the cargo, and how?
• Were straps or restraints used, and did they fail?
• Was the cargo stacked in a way that made a rollover more likely?
• Did weight distribution affect the truck’s stability?

I’ve handled cases before where a single point of failure, like a tie-down snapping, led to a deadly cascade of events. And often, the people loading the truck aren’t the ones driving it. That’s why any serious investigation needs to go beyond the crash scene and look at documents, loading practices, and company policies.

It’s also important to remember that not every critical fact is visible to the eye. To really get to the bottom of what happened here, investigators should secure:

• Engine control module (ECM) data, which shows speed, braking and steering inputs
• In-cab camera footage, if available
• Cell phone records, to rule out distraction
• Loading and dispatch records, to track who handled the cargo and how

Until those pieces are gathered and examined, we don’t know whether this was a case of driver error, poor loading, mechanical failure or some combination. But in my experience, when a crash spirals this far out of control, it’s rarely the result of just one bad decision.

Key Takeaways:

• Striking the truck’s steer axle likely caused the driver to lose control, but we still don’t know how the initial contact happened.
• The truck’s overturned trailer spilled bricks, raising questions about how the cargo was secured.
• Responsibility could fall on the car driver, the trucker or the people who loaded the trailer, depending on what the evidence shows.
• Crucial evidence includes ECM data, dash cam footage, cell records and cargo documentation.
• Determining fault requires a thorough investigation that goes far beyond what’s visible at the crash scene.