Lavaca County, TX — April 16, 2025, one person was injured in a truck accident at about 1:40 p.m. on County Road 320 south of Mount Olive.
A preliminary accident report indicates that a 2021 Freightliner M2 semi-truck overturned while heading north near where the road curves as it turns toward F.M. 531. The report notes the truck has defective brakes.
The truck driver, a 53-year-old Victoria man, was seriously injured in the crash, according to the report. His passenger, a 23-year-old man, suffered minor injuries.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Lavaca County crash.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When a commercial truck overturns and authorities note defective brakes in the preliminary report, that opens the door to serious questions about vehicle maintenance and the systems meant to prevent this kind of failure.
From a legal standpoint, defective brakes on a commercial truck can expose multiple parties to potential liability. The driver may bear some responsibility if daily inspections were skipped or incomplete, but the larger burden usually falls on the company that owns the truck. Federal regulations require commercial vehicles to be maintained in a roadworthy condition, and if the company neglected brake service, skipped inspections or ignored known problems, that would be a direct violation of those rules.
In addition, if the brakes were recently serviced by a third party, then their work may also come under scrutiny. Poor workmanship, faulty parts or failure to follow proper procedures could all contribute to liability.
Proving who is to blame will depend on physical evidence: brake system components, maintenance records, inspection logs and potentially engine control module data showing the vehicle’s behavior just before the crash. In my experience, these crashes usually aren’t caused by a single oversight. They’re the result of multiple failures: mechanical, procedural or both.
People unfamiliar with the trucking industry may assume crashes like this are just unfortunate accidents. But defective brakes don’t happen overnight. Someone, somewhere, likely knew or should have known there was a problem. The law is designed to hold that person, or company, accountable.
call us 
Email Us 
Text us