Allen County, IN — March 26, 2025, one person was injured in a truck accident at about 6 p.m. on Minnich Road at Flatrock Road.
Authorities said a pickup sideswiped a semi-truck while heading north near Hoagland. The impact caused the semi to veer into the wrong lane and crash head-on into a car.
The driver of the car, whose name has not been made public at this time, was flown to an area hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.
No other injuries were reported.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Allen County crash. The accident is still under investigation.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When a semi-truck veers into oncoming traffic and slams into a car, most people are going to focus on the final collision. But from a legal standpoint, the real question is what happened in the moments just before that? According to reports, a pickup sideswiped the semi, causing it to cross the center line. That one detail shifts the entire framework of the investigation.
At first glance, it may seem like the truck driver is the one who caused the worst damage, and it’s true that commercial drivers are held to a higher standard. But if the pickup made contact first and pushed the truck off course, we have to ask whether that driver’s actions were reckless, negligent or simply unavoidable. That’s where things like eyewitness accounts, dashcam footage and physical evidence from the crash scene become essential.
That said, we also have to consider whether the truck driver could have regained control or avoided crossing into the opposite lane. Was the driver speeding? Was the truck overloaded or improperly maintained? Was there a failure in how the truck responded after the initial impact? I’ve seen cases where a truck lost control after a seemingly minor collision, only to find out the brakes or steering system weren’t functioning properly due to poor maintenance. In those instances, a second party — usually the trucking company — ends up bearing a large share of the blame.
And then there’s the matter of the pickup. Was the driver distracted, under the influence or trying to pass when they shouldn’t have? I’ve handled cases where the chain reaction started with a careless driver who clipped a commercial vehicle and then left the scene, while the truck was left to deal with the aftermath. If that’s what happened here, then holding the right party accountable means looking beyond the vehicle that delivered the final blow.
Bottom line: the person critically hurt in the car crash deserves to know who really caused their injuries. That’s only going to be possible if the investigation digs into the full sequence of events: not just where the crash ended, but how it started. Anything less than that, and the truth stays buried under a pile of assumptions.
