Terrebonne Parish, LA — June 5, 2025, two children were killed and another was injured in a truck accident at about 4 p.m. on State Highway 311.

Authorities said a 1999 Toyota Camry was headed south near Fellowship Lane when it was hit by a 2023 Kenworth semi-truck while trying to turn left into a driveway.

Camry driver Cherri Breaux suffered minor injuries in the crash, but two children, ages 12 and 6, in the car with her died after being transported to an area hospital, according to authorities. A third child, whose age has not been released, suffered moderate injuries.

No other injuries were reported.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Terrebonne Parish crash at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear that a semi-truck hit a car turning into a driveway, the first question they tend to ask is: How does something like that even happen? Was the truck going too fast to stop? Did the car turn unexpectedly? Was the truck driver distracted? Right now, we just don’t know. What we do know is that two children are dead, and the only way to understand how that happened is to examine the facts closely, starting with what the truck was doing in the moments before the crash.

Authorities say the car was turning left into a driveway when a semi-truck hit it from behind. That raises some immediate concerns about timing, visibility and space. Depending on how far back the truck was when the turn began, the responsibility for this crash could fall in very different directions. If the Camry turned suddenly without signaling, that would be one set of facts. But if the driver had slowed or stopped to turn and the truck failed to react in time, that’s something else entirely.

At this point, we don’t know:

• How fast the truck was traveling.
• Whether the truck driver was distracted or impaired.
• Whether the truck had a functioning forward-facing dash cam.
• What the ECM (the truck's "black box") data shows about braking, speed or throttle use.
• Whether the truck driver had a clear view of the car ahead and time to respond.

These aren’t abstract details; they’re the kinds of facts that can be determined through a proper investigation. Cell phone records, in-cab camera footage and black box data can all help answer the biggest question: Should this crash have been avoidable?

Even if the facts end up showing that the truck driver was at fault, that still wouldn’t be the end of the story. I’ve handled cases where a driver with a history of reckless behavior was put back on the road by a company that never should have hired him. In one of those cases, the company’s so-called “driver evaluation” was a 20-minute road test; hardly enough time to evaluate someone’s ability to operate a multi-ton vehicle safely in real-world conditions. In that situation, the jury ended up placing more blame on the company than on the driver himself.

So one more critical set of questions becomes: Who hired this driver? What kind of screening, training and supervision did they provide? Were there any red flags in the driver’s record? And if there were, why were they ignored?

None of those answers are in the crash reports yet, but they can and should be uncovered.

Key Takeaways

• It’s not yet clear whether the truck driver or the car made the critical mistake, but the facts can be found through evidence like dash cam footage, ECM data and phone records.
• The timing and distance involved in a left turn collision are crucial to determining liability.
• Trucking company hiring and training practices may be just as relevant as the driver’s conduct.
• Real accountability depends on a thorough, independent investigation; not just a surface-level crash report.
• Investigating these kinds of crashes isn’t about blaming someone; it's about understanding who failed where and making sure it doesn’t happen again.