2 Injured in Two-truck Accident on I-20 in Marshall, TX

Basic Facts

Crash date: February 11, 2026

Crash location: Interstate Highway 20 west of U.S. Highway 59 in Marshall, Texas

People involved:

• Unidentified man, 55
• Unidentified man, 72

Do Authorities suspect alcohol played a role in this crash? unknown

Did authorities recommend criminal charges? unknown

Do authorities suspect a product defect caused the crash? unknown

Accident Report

February 11, 2026, two people were injured due to a truck accident shortly before 2:30 a.m. along Interstate Highway 20.

According to authorities, a 72-year-old man from New Tazwell, Tennessee, was traveling in a westbound Freightliner 18-wheeler on I-20 in the vicinity west of U.S. Highway 59 when the accident took place. Officials indicate that, for as yet unknown reasons, a westbound Kenworth 18-wheeler failed to appropriately control its speed. A collision consequently occurred between the front-end of the Kenworth and the rear-end of the Freightliner. The Kenworth apparently overturned over the course of the accident.

The New Tazwell man reportedly sustained serious injuries over the course of the accident. The 55-year-old man who had been behind the wheel of the Kenworth suffered minor injuries, as well, according to reports.

Additional details pertaining to this incident—including the identities of the victims—are not available at this point in time. The investigation is currently ongoing.

How Did This Accident Occur?

I certainly don’t know any more about this particular crash than is available to the general public. However, I have the distinct perspective that comes with having analyzed hundreds of truck accidents over the years. Because of my work, I have come to understand that, more often than you might think, there are underlying issues that lead to an accident which could go unnoticed if an investigation is not thorough enough.

In this case, I can’t help but to wonder if a mechanical malfunction had something to do with the Kenworth’s speed. What if, for some reason, the throttle got stuck in the open position? Even in ideal conditions, a fully loaded 18-wheeler takes several hundred feet to come to a stop. If the throttle was open, then, even if brakes were properly applied, the engine would have been counteracting them and a collision was all but inevitable.

Investigators bear the responsibility of ensuring the vehicles involved get in-depth inspections done that are capable of ruling out malfunctions like the one I previously described. Please let me know in a comment if you can think of a different mechanism or system that—should it have malfunctioned—could have had a hand in the resulting wreck. Inspections like that aren’t done routinely, though. It’s not uncommon for it to take a special request—and no small amount of persistence—in order to make sure they get done. For those affected by the wreck, it’s worth knowing what the actual cause of an accident was, rather than settling for vague assumptions or blanket statements.