Richard Allen Howell Killed in 18-wheeler Accident in Odessa, TX

Odessa, TX — January 9, 2025, Richard Allen Howell was killed following an 18-wheeler accident at around 6:30 a.m. along Highway 349.

Authorities say that the crash happened at the intersection of Highway 349 and Highway 158, between Midland and Odessa.

According to officials, 57-year-old Richard Allen Howell was in a Chevy Silverado going eastbound along TX-349. While doing so, an 18-wheeler going westbound reportedly lost traction on the icy roads due to unsafe speeds. The truck went left of center, crashing with Howell and another driver.

Due to the collision, Howell sustained fatal injuries. There were no other reported injuries. At this time, it’s unclear if authorities plan to file charges.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

If current statements here are true, these details sound rather damning. However, it’s important to consider that all commercial truck wrecks involve inherent challenges victims and families need to be prepared for. I’ve handled hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases. Authorities saying that a truck driver was going at unsafe speeds is likely helpful, but it’s also likely just one piece of the puzzle.

Let me give an example from a case I handled not long ago. In that particular case, a semi-truck lost control during rainy weather, causing a head-on collision. While the police reports seemed straight-forward, the trucking company simply denied responsibility. They put all the blame on the weather, saying their driver had no way of preventing his truck from losing control. As flimsy as that seems, I’ve seen inexperienced attorneys lose cases by failing to counter even less convincing defenses. So, we made sure there were thorough independent investigations.

One key detail that helped us tell the victim’s side of the story was pulling GPS data from the truck. It all but proved the truck driver was traveling at unsafe speeds. In fact, the evidence showed the truck driver’s speed would have been unsafe even if conditions had been dry. Additionally, we examined the truck thoroughly after the wreck before the company had a chance to fix or replace anything. Thanks to those prompt inspections, we clearly showed the truck’s tires were worn and needed to be replaced. The trucking company’s maintenance records (something authorities never bothered to look into) also showed that the company had put off routine maintenance work for months. It was all but inevitable something would go wrong, but the company simply preferred kicking the can down the road and risking a catastrophic accident. Their selfish risk-taking ended up killing someone.

Those findings helped build a well-founded case that proved not just the truck driver’s mistakes but also the mistakes of the trucking company itself. It left them no choice but to do right by the family and accept responsibility. That’s how just about every successful commercial truck wreck case goes. Any gap in the information is room for a company to muddy the waters and shift the blame. Extensive accident reconstructions while evidence is still intact helps to fill those gaps. That way, victims and families can tell their side of the story, see accountability for any wrongs done to them, and ultimately get a just resolution.

So as open-and-shut as these preliminary news reports may seem, they likely only paint a small part of the much larger picture. Hopefully steps are taken to expand the investigations beyond the crash scene so nothing important slips through the cracks.