Dallas County, TX — July 14, 2024, a child was killed due to a road debris accident at approximately 11:30 a.m. along the Lyndon B Johnson Freeway (I-20).
According to authorities, five people—three adults and two children—were traveling in a westbound Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck on Interstate Highway 20 in the vicinity east of the R L Thornton Freeway when the accident took place.
There had apparently been debris of some sort on the roadway and it was allegedly kicked up into the air by another vehicle. Said debris went through the windshield of the pickup truck, reports state, and struck the 8-year-old girl who had been sitting in the back-center seat, leading to fatal injuries. Additional details pertaining to this incident are not available at this point in time.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When something as ordinary as road debris turns fatal, it’s natural to search for someone to blame. But the more urgent concern is whether investigators are taking the time to understand how a piece of debris became deadly—and whether anything could have prevented the outcome.
Did the authorities thoroughly investigate the crash?
In situations like this, the key question is: Where did the debris come from, and how did it get airborne? Investigators should have looked into whether it fell from an unsecured load, came from a damaged vehicle, or was part of the roadway itself. They should also have tried to identify the vehicle that kicked it up—reviewing traffic cameras, witness statements, and dash cam footage from nearby cars. If the investigation ended at the roadside without tracing the debris’s source, then it didn’t go far enough.
Has anyone looked into the possibility that a vehicle defect caused the crash?
While the focus tends to fall on the debris, it’s worth asking whether the vehicle that struck it had a failure in suspension, tire integrity, or undercarriage components that could have amplified the debris’s movement. The Dodge Ram itself should also be examined: Was the windshield more vulnerable than it should have been? Did the cabin’s safety systems respond properly? Without inspecting the vehicles involved, it’s impossible to rule out whether design or maintenance issues played a role in the severity of the incident.
Has all the electronic data relating to the crash been collected?
Onboard systems in the Dodge Ram may contain information on vehicle speed, brake use, and steering input at the moment the debris struck. That data could help investigators piece together how fast the vehicle was moving, whether the driver had any opportunity to react, and how the vehicle responded. More importantly, nearby traffic cameras and dash cams could help identify the vehicle that disturbed the debris—if that effort was made at all.
A fatal injury caused by a loose object shouldn’t be written off as a freak accident. Someone or something set the conditions that led to this outcome, and those factors deserve just as much scrutiny as any other crash.
Takeaways:
- The origin of the debris and the vehicle that dislodged it must be identified and documented.
- Vehicle inspections may reveal weaknesses in suspension or windshield protection that worsened the impact.
- Dash cam and crash data can help confirm the sequence of events and any missed opportunities for avoidance.
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