A 47-year-old man from Belleville was killed Friday afternoon in a crash involving a semi-truck in the Town of Brigham, Wisconsin.
According to the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office, the crash occurred around noon at the intersection of U.S. Highway 18/151 and County Trunk Highway K. Investigators say Luke Mac Lean was driving westbound in a Ford F-150 when his vehicle struck the rear of a semi-truck and trailer that had entered the westbound lanes from CTH K and was accelerating to highway speed. Mac Lean was pronounced dead at the scene. The semi-truck driver, a 39-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was not injured and was able to remove the truck from the roadway. The incident remains under investigation.
When I read about a fatal rear-end crash involving a semi-truck, especially one merging into traffic, I think about how critical it is to understand how the truck was operating in the moments leading up to the collision.
Could Distraction or Fatigue Have Affected the Truck Driver’s Response?
When a semi-truck is entering active traffic, it's the driver’s responsibility to accelerate efficiently and ensure they’re not creating a hazard for faster-moving vehicles already on the highway. If the truck’s entry was too slow or poorly timed, the driver behind may not have had enough time to adjust.
Investigators should examine whether the semi-truck driver was fully alert and responsive, or if distraction or fatigue may have influenced how they executed the merge. Driver logs, dispatch records, and any available dash cam footage could help establish whether the driver was operating attentively and lawfully at the time of the crash.
Could a Mechanical Issue Have Delayed Acceleration?
In addition to reviewing the truck driver’s actions, investigators should look closely at the vehicle’s condition. If the truck was slow to accelerate due to mechanical issues—such as engine performance problems, load weight, or transmission trouble—that could have contributed to the accident.
The truck’s maintenance records and Engine Control Module (ECM) data can help clarify how quickly the vehicle was moving after it entered the westbound lanes and whether any mechanical limitations played a role.
Was All the Relevant Evidence Collected?
In a crash where one vehicle strikes the rear of a semi-truck, there’s often an assumption about fault, but that’s not always the full story. Investigators should gather ECM data from the truck, map the final positions of the vehicles, and examine damage patterns to reconstruct the sequence of events. Any available video footage from dash cams or nearby traffic infrastructure could also help determine how long the semi-truck had been in the lane and at what speed it was traveling when the impact occurred.
Why a Thorough Investigation Is So Important
When a crash involves a merging semi-truck and results in a fatality, it’s not enough to focus solely on who hit whom. In my experience, the full story often comes down to the details: Was the truck accelerating safely? Was the driver alert? Was the vehicle functioning properly? A thorough investigation is the only way to answer those questions and provide clarity about what happened and why.