Lewisville, TX — October 2, 2024, 23-year-old Erin Abshire was injured in an accident with a commercial truck on Interstate 35E in Denton County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 9:20 p.m. on I-35E near West Main Street. Preliminary investigation suggests Erin Abshire was driving a Ford Escape north on the highway when she crashed into the trailer of a stalled Freightliner semi-truck in her lane.
Abshire suffered serious injuries in the collision. The truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
If reports have their facts straight, the victim allegedly admitted to looking at her phone when she hit the trailer. Distracted driving is a serious problem on Texas roads, but let’s not get tunnel vision about the phone. There’s another important factor in this crash: a 40-ton semi truck stuck in the road.
I recognize that the truck driver didn’t just decide to stop on the highway for fun; reports clearly say the truck stalled out. However, I think most people would agree that a semi-truck doesn’t stall for no reason. So how did that one end up stopped in a travel lane? Did the driver shift gears incorrectly? If so, why? Was he properly trained and experienced? Was he paying careful attention to what he was doing? If not the driver, then did a bad part give out and stall the truck? If so, which one and why? Was it worn out? Faulty? Did the trucking company know about it? If so, why wasn’t it swapped or fixed? How long was the truck there before the victim arrived? It was dark, so were the truck’s hazards on? Did the driver put out reflectors as required by law?
Some people may think I’m complicating things when there’s already a phone to blame, but most accidents happen because multiple things go wrong at once. Distraction is a factor, but so is a disabled truck in a travel lane. Depending on what put it there, and what the driver did about it, fault may be a lot fuzzier than it seems at first. I’m sure the trucking company would be more than happy to blame the phone, but for that young woman’s sake I think investigators should look at the bigger picture. Anything beyond just filling in the blanks would depend on what they find out.
call us 
Email Us 
Text us