Birome, TX — October 10, 2025, Wyatt Junger was injured in a truck accident at about 10:50 a.m. on F.M. 308.

A preliminary accident report indicates that a southbound 2005 International semi-truck was turning left onto Crawford Street when a northbound 1995 Honda Accord got wedged until its trailer.

Honda driver Wyatt Junger, 20, was seriously injured in the crash, according to the report.

The truck driver, who was not hurt, was cited for failure to yield after the crash, the report states.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Hill County crash at this time.

Commentary

When someone reads about a crash like this, where a car ends up stuck under a semi-trailer while the truck turns across its path, the natural question is: how did that happen? A truck turning left across traffic has to wait until the way is completely clear. So if a vehicle was coming from the opposite direction, what led the trucker to move into its path?

The preliminary report says the truck driver was cited for failing to yield, which gives us an important clue. But a citation doesn’t answer all the questions that matter. For example, was the truck moving slowly through the turn or did it pull out suddenly? Was the car visible from the truck cab, or was the driver relying on guesswork? Those are questions the report doesn’t address, and that’s a problem.

Depending on the layout of the intersection, it’s possible the trucker didn’t have a good line of sight or tried to “beat” the oncoming car. Or maybe the driver just didn’t see the car at all, which raises a different set of concerns: Was he distracted? Was he even fit to drive that day?

That’s why the first step in understanding a crash like this is to look at the black box data from the truck, also called the engine control module (ECM). That tells us how fast the truck was going, whether the brakes were used and what was happening in the moments before impact. In-cab cameras, if they exist, can show whether the driver looked both ways or whether his attention was somewhere else entirely. Cell phone records may also come into play if distraction is suspected.

Another thing that stands out is the age of the truck, a 2005 International. That doesn't automatically mean anything was wrong with it, but it could raise issues about visibility, mirrors, or the state of the trailer. Depending on how the car became wedged, investigators will also want to consider whether trailer guards were in place and working properly. Again, this is not to imply fault; just to point out the kind of questions an independent investigation should be asking.

Beyond the crash itself, I’ve seen cases where hiring and training practices at trucking companies made all the difference. It’s not enough for a company to have a license and a driver. They have to vet that driver, make sure he’s competent and train him on how to handle real-world situations like left turns across traffic. I once litigated a case where a trucking company hired a driver who had been fired from several jobs and barely tested her ability to drive before putting her on the road. When something went wrong, it was obvious the company had failed to act responsibly.

In the Birome crash, there’s still a lot we don’t know. But a proper investigation doesn’t stop at the citation. It digs deeper to find out what decisions led up to the moment of impact. Only then can anyone be sure who is truly responsible and whether this could have been prevented.

Key Takeaways:

• The citation for failure to yield suggests fault, but full accountability requires deeper investigation.
• Critical evidence includes ECM data, in-cab video and cell phone records to determine the trucker’s actions.
• It’s unclear whether the truck pulled out suddenly or the car was hard to see. Both scenarios raise different concerns.
• Trucking company practices around hiring and training may also come under scrutiny.
• The goal is to understand what really happened; not just who got cited, but who made decisions that led to the crash.