New Madrid County, MO — April 7, 2025, two people were injured in a truck accident at about 6:35 p.m. on Interstate 55 near Matthews.
Authorities said the dump bed of a Freightliner truck hit an overpass on the interstate.
The driver, a 20-year-old Poplar Bluff man, and a passenger, a 65-year-old Doniphan man, were hospitalized after the crash with unspecified injuries, according to authorities.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the New Madrid County crash. The accident is still being investigated.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When a dump truck hits an overpass with its bed raised, that’s not just an unfortunate mishap. It’s a serious operational failure that should never happen under proper supervision and training. From a legal standpoint, the central question is: Why was the dump bed raised while the truck was moving on an interstate highway?
Dump beds are designed to be raised and lowered while stationary and on job sites, not while traveling at highway speeds. If the bed was up at the time of impact, then either the driver didn’t realize it was raised or a mechanical or sensor failure occurred. Both scenarios point to a lapse in safety: either human error, equipment malfunction or both.
The driver in this case is just 20 years old. That raises an additional question about experience and training. Operating a commercial vehicle with specialized equipment like a dump bed requires more than just a CDL: it requires instruction, supervision and familiarity with the risks of improperly stowed equipment. Was this driver trained properly? Was he being supervised, or was he sent out on his own without the experience needed to recognize and prevent this kind of hazard?
There’s also a question of whether the dump truck was equipped with safety interlocks or warning systems. Many newer dump trucks have built-in alarms or sensors to alert drivers when the bed is raised. If this truck had such a system and it failed — or if it was missing altogether — then the investigation needs to look at the company that owned and maintained the vehicle. Did they skip necessary maintenance? Was the safety equipment disabled or ignored?
The damage to the overpass may also carry implications beyond the crash itself. Hitting an overpass with enough force to injure the vehicle occupants can also compromise the structure’s integrity. That turns a preventable mistake into a major public safety issue.
The bottom line is this: there’s no good reason a dump bed should be raised on the open road. When that happens, it’s not just the driver who should be questioned. It’s the company that put him behind the wheel. Because if a 20-year-old was sent out in a vehicle he wasn’t fully prepared to operate, then the problem didn’t start with the crash, it started long before that, with someone failing to do their job.
