Mifflin Township, PA — May 4, 2025, three people were injured in a multi-vehicle truck accident on westbound Interstate 80.

Authorities said a semi-truck crashed into a Toyota RAV4 that was stopped in traffic near mile marker 245. The impact caused the Toyota to sideswipe a Mini Clubman before hitting the back of a Subaru, causing it to flip over on the right shoulder.

The drivers of the Toyota, Mini and Subaru were hospitalized with unspecified injuries after the crash, according to authorities. Their names have not been made public at this time.

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

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a semi-truck plows into stopped traffic on a highway, the legal implications are rarely subtle. Crashes like this one in Mifflin Township almost always raise serious questions about the truck driver’s attention, speed and decision-making in the moments leading up to the impact. From what’s been reported, the truck rear-ended a stopped SUV and set off a chain reaction involving multiple other vehicles, one of which overturned. That sequence of events strongly suggests a failure to react in time, which is a hallmark of distracted or inattentive driving.

In my experience, one of the most common causes of this type of crash is a truck driver failing to account for changing traffic conditions ahead, often because they weren’t looking at the road. Whether the distraction comes from a phone, an onboard computer or sheer fatigue, the legal concept at play is simple: commercial drivers have a duty to maintain a safe following distance and control their vehicles at all times. Failing to do so often adds up to negligence.

But identifying that negligence takes evidence. That includes engine control module data to show how fast the truck was going and when, or if, the brakes were applied. In-cab camera footage, GPS logs and the driver’s hours-of-service records can all help paint a clearer picture of what was happening in the cab. Without those, it’s easy to overlook how quickly a 40-ton vehicle can turn a minor slowdown into a serious pileup.

It's also worth noting that while the truck hit a single vehicle, it ended up hurting three different people in separate cars. That kind of domino effect is common when a heavy commercial vehicle is involved, and it underscores why trucking companies are held to higher safety standards. The bigger the vehicle, the bigger the potential harm, and the greater the responsibility to drive with care.

At the end of the day, this crash isn’t just about one truck hitting one SUV. It’s about whether a professional driver fulfilled their legal duty to keep others safe. And in crashes like these, the answers rarely come from the crash scene alone. They come from a full investigation that looks deeper than the damage left behind.