Grant County, AR — July 12, 2025, Margaret Cobb was killed in a truck accident at about 2 p.m. on U.S. Route 167 north of Sheridan.
Authorities said a 2004 Peterbilt semi-truck rear-ended a 2024 GMC Terrain that had stopped because the tow strap that a 1999 Ford F-250 was using to pull a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. The pickup had been turning onto the highway from Grant 58.
The driver of the GMC, 61-year-old Sheridan resident Margaret L. Cobb, died in the crash, according to authorities.
No other injuries were reported.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Grant County crash at this time.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When folks hear about a crash where a semi-truck rear-ended a stopped vehicle, they often jump to the conclusion that the truck driver must have been distracted or following too closely. That’s certainly one possibility here, but it’s not the only one, and we’re not going to get to the bottom of what happened just by assuming.
The limited information so far tells us that the SUV was stopped in the roadway because of a slow-moving or stopped vehicle ahead, a pickup truck towing another pickup with a strap. That raises several questions that need clear answers. For instance: How visible was this makeshift towing operation? Was the Silverado being pulled fully on the shoulder, or partially in the roadway? Did the tow strap break or slacken, causing a sudden stop? Did either of the pickup drivers use hazard lights or take steps to warn oncoming traffic?
Then there’s the truck itself. What was the driver doing in the moments before the impact? We don’t yet know if the driver saw the SUV in time and tried to stop, or if they never saw it at all. That’s not something you can figure out just by looking at the wreckage. We need to look at the truck’s engine control module data, its “black box,” to see if the driver hit the brakes, swerved or was traveling at a reasonable speed. If the truck had dash cameras or in-cab monitoring (as many do), those could also shed light on whether the driver was paying attention or distracted.
The fact that the SUV was stopped due to circumstances upstream, namely the towing maneuver, adds another layer. If that towing operation was conducted improperly or in a way that made it unsafe for vehicles behind to react in time, then the chain of responsibility may not end with the truck driver.
Key Takeaways:
- Rear-end crashes involving semis often require deeper investigation than most people realize; driver distraction is just one of many possibilities.
- Key evidence like ECM data, dashcam footage and cell phone records can clarify whether the truck driver reacted appropriately or failed to.
- The SUV was stopped due to a towing maneuver; how that was carried out may have contributed to the deadly situation.
- Trucking company hiring, training and maintenance policies can also factor into liability if they set a driver up to fail.
- Responsibility may not lie with a single person or party. Careful investigation is the only way to untangle who played a role in what happened.
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