Watertown, SD — December 2, 2025, one person was killed in a truck accident at about 6:30 a.m. in the 200 block of 20th Avenue SE.

Authorities said a westbound pickup and an eastbound semi-truck were involved in a crash, leaving the pickup driver trapped inside the wrecked vehicle.

The pickup driver, a 29-year-old California man, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to authorities.

The truck driver was not injured, the report states.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Codington County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear that a pickup and a semi-truck collided head-on early in the morning, their first question is usually: How does something like that happen? That’s especially true when only one vehicle’s driver is killed and the other walks away. It’s a fair question, but right now, we don’t have nearly enough information to answer it.

All authorities have confirmed is that a pickup truck headed west and a semi-truck headed east collided, and the pickup driver lost his life. What’s missing is any real detail about the circumstances that brought these vehicles into the same space at the same time. Did one vehicle cross the center line? Was one trying to turn? Did either driver lose control? At 6:30 in the morning, visibility, lighting and road conditions can all play a role. But none of that has been addressed publicly yet.

From a legal perspective, the most critical thing is not assigning blame based on who survived; it’s figuring out what the evidence says. A thorough investigation will need to examine the truck’s black box (engine control module), which can tell us how fast it was going, whether it braked and whether the driver made any steering inputs before the crash. Dash camera footage, if it exists, could show what each driver saw and did in the moments before impact. Cell phone records might show whether either driver was distracted.

It’s also worth asking broader questions about the trucking company’s role. Was the driver properly trained? Did he have a clean driving history? What hiring policies are in place to ensure that only qualified, attentive drivers are behind the wheel? In one of my past cases, a trucking company hired a driver with a string of terminations on his record and barely tested him before sending him back out on the road. That decision, not just the driver’s mistakes, was key to what happened in that case.

Depending on whether the semi-truck crossed into the pickup’s lane or vice versa, we could be looking at very different issues. But without confirmation of those details, the most honest thing to say is that we don’t yet know what caused this crash. What we do know is that someone lost their life, and the only way to get real answers is through evidence, not assumptions.

Key Takeaways:

  • Authorities have not released key details about how the crash occurred or who may be at fault.
  • Important unanswered questions include whether either vehicle crossed the center line and what actions each driver took before impact.
  • A full investigation should include black box data, dash cams and cell phone records to understand the sequence of events.
  • Trucking company hiring and training practices may also come into play, depending on what the evidence shows.
  • True accountability can only be achieved once all the facts are known and properly analyzed.

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