Martin County, TX — June 16, 2025, one person was injured in a truck accident at about 5:15 a.m. on State Highway 176 west of Lenorah.

A preliminary accident report indicates that a 2015 International semi-truck was headed south on F.M. 829 when an eastbound 2006 Nissan Titan hit the back end of its trailer. An eastbound 2014 Chevrolet Silverado also was involved in the collision.

A passenger in the Nissan, an 18-year-old man, was seriously injured in the crash, according to the report, while the other three people in the pickup suffered minor injuries.

The other two drivers were not injured, although the truck driver was cited for failure to yield at a stop sign, the report states.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Martin County crash. The accident is still being investigated.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people read that a pickup crashed into the back of a semi-truck’s trailer, their first instinct might be to blame the smaller vehicle. But a closer look at the few facts available here raises more questions than it answers. The most important: Why was that 18-wheeler in the pickup’s path in the first place?

According to reports, the semi-truck was traveling south on FM 829 and entered State Highway 176 when the crash happened. Authorities cited the truck driver for failing to yield at a stop sign, which suggests he entered the highway when it wasn’t safe to do so. That’s not a minor detail; it’s central to understanding how this crash occurred.

Now, a citation alone doesn’t tell us everything. For example, we don’t yet know if the truck was already moving across the highway or stopped in the lane when it was hit. That distinction matters. If it was stopped, was it blocking traffic for an extended period? If it was moving, how fast was it going? What did the other drivers see in the moments leading up to impact? Those are the kinds of facts that dash cams, electronic control modules and even basic cell phone records can help piece together.

This also raises a broader issue I often see in cases involving stop sign violations by commercial trucks. It’s easy to think of it as a one-time mistake by a driver, but I’ve handled cases where the real problem went deeper. In one, a trucking company put a driver on the road despite repeated terminations from past jobs and barely tested her skills before handing over the keys. That wasn’t just a lapse in judgment; it was a setup for disaster.

The injured passenger in the Nissan deserves answers about what went wrong and who’s responsible. That won’t come from the crash report alone. It will require a detailed, independent investigation that looks at the truck’s onboard systems, the driver’s record and the company’s safety practices. Only then can we understand not just what happened, but why.

Key Takeaways:

• The truck driver was cited for failing to yield, raising serious questions about how and when he entered the highway.
• It’s not clear whether the truck was stopped or moving at the time of the crash. Each scenario points to different investigative priorities.
• Critical evidence may include dash cams, black box data and driver cell phone records.
• In past cases, poor hiring and training practices by trucking companies have contributed more to crashes than driver mistakes alone.
• Getting the full story will require more than a police report; it demands a thorough, evidence-based investigation.