On a frigid February morning in 2021, the Fort Worth area witnessed one of Texas’s deadliest highway disasters. A massive 133-vehicle pileup on the I-35W toll lanes claimed six lives and injured dozens more, sending shockwaves through North Texas communities and across the country. While icy conditions played a role, federal investigators uncovered critical failures that made this tragedy far worse than it should have been.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s comprehensive investigation revealed systemic breakdowns in trucking company safety operations along with breakdowns in the roadway monitoring and maintenance. At the O’Hare and Koch Law Firm, our experienced North Texas truck wreck lawyers have seen firsthand how the specific breakdowns in this catastrophic crash as well as other similar corporate trucking company failures have led to devastating accidents across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and throughout the state. Understanding what went wrong on I-35W can help prevent future tragedies and protect your rights if you’ve been injured in a commercial vehicle accident.
The I-35W Truck Wreck Disaster: What Really Happened
According to the NTSB’s official report, the catastrophic crash sequence began around 6:04 a.m. on February 11, 2021. The toll operator had pretreated the roadway with brine solution 44 hours before the crash. However, when freezing rain and mist arrived that morning, company personnel failed to detect ice forming on the elevated roadway structure.
As reported by NBC DFW, the crash ultimately involved 130+ vehicles including more than a dozen semi-trucks, across a 1,100-foot stretch of highway. First responders described road conditions as an “ice rink,” with many responders slipping and falling as they tried to reach victims trapped in their vehicles.
The tragedy highlighted critical safety failures that Dallas truck wreck lawyers encounter regularly in commercial vehicle cases. These same patterns of corporate negligence contribute to accidents throughout North Texas, from busy interstate highway corridors like I-35, I-45, I-20 and 1-30 to the matrix of rural highways.
Three Critical Failures That Cause Truck Accidents in North Texas
Failure #1: Inadequate Roadway Monitoring and Maintenance
The NTSB determined that the toll operator’s monitoring process was deficient. Despite having maintenance crews patrol the corridor in the hours before the crash, personnel failed to identify that the elevated roadway needed additional treatment as conditions deteriorated. The NTSB’s findings reveal a failure that extends beyond one toll operator that plagues Texas’s trucking industry and contributes to the state’s devastating fatal truck accident rate.
Federal investigators found that the company relied primarily on visual observation and “brake checks” rather than advanced monitoring technology. At 5:15 a.m., just 45 minutes before the pileup began, maintenance technicians drove through the crash area and reported no ice, despite freezing precipitation having fallen in the surrounding area earlier.
This same pattern of inadequate weather monitoring and vehicle maintenance appears in trucking accidents across Texas.
Texas-Specific Data
Texas consistently leads the nation in fatal truck accidents, reflecting a statewide crisis. In 2024, 549 fatal truck accidents resulted in 620 deaths statewide. The total traffic death toll in Texas for 2024 was 4,150. The frequency and severity of these incidents are alarming.
According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations, commercial vehicles must undergo routine inspections and proper maintenance. Yet many accidents occur when trucking companies:
- Skip required brake inspections to save money
- Defer critical repairs to keep trucks on the road
- Fail to address worn tires or faulty lighting systems
- Neglect steering mechanism maintenance
Poor maintenance isn’t just dangerous — it’s a violation of federal safety standards that Dallas and Fort Worth truck wreck lawyers can use to establish negligence in injury claims. When companies cut corners on maintenance, they put profits over people.
Failure #2: Failure to Follow Safety Regulations Plus Insufficient Driver Training
While the NTSB investigation uncovered inconsistencies in how the toll operator trained its maintenance personnel, the more troubling concerns include some trucking companies failing to adequately train and supervise their drivers, trucking companies and drivers’ failing to follow state and federal driving rules, and some trucking companies circumventing their own internal safety and training policies and procedures.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act (FMCSA) mandates many rules or regulations for trucking companies and drivers designed for the protection and safety of the traveling public. The Federal rules are known as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). Each state also has its own safety regulations that mirror or expand upon the Federal regulations. The state regulations are usually compiled and published in the form of Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers handbooks. Together, these Federal regulations and state rules place stringent rules on trucking companies and drivers regarding training and safety. On the safety side, this includes the requirement to significantly slow the speed of the semi-trucks in wet and icy conditions. If the conditions are bad enough, trucks should stop driving until conditions improve. Unfortunately, the failure of many of the truck drivers to adequately reduce speed or stop driving altogether played a major role in the February 11, 2021 catastrophe.
Additionally, the failure by some trucking companies to ensure consistent and documented training at that time mirrors a pervasive and dangerous problem in the commercial trucking industry. The NTSB’s findings underscore that when critical safety procedures are left to chance, catastrophic results follow — a pattern truck wreck lawyers observe regularly.
When companies fail to provide adequate training, employees may not recognize hazardous conditions or understand how to respond safely. As this massive pile-up showed, the consequences are catastrophic, especially on Texas roadways where so many commercial trucks share space with passenger vehicles.
Failure #3: Ignoring Hours of Service Regulations
While the I-35W crash wasn’t directly caused by driver fatigue, the broader issue of companies pressuring drivers to violate safety regulations emerged as a common thread.
Hours of Service violations represent one of the most dangerous patterns in trucking accidents. The FMCSA has established strict limits on how long commercial drivers can operate without rest:
- Maximum 11 hours driving after 10 consecutive hours off-duty
- Maximum 14 consecutive hours on-duty
- Required 30-minute break after 8 consecutive hours
- Maximum 60 hours on-duty in 7 consecutive days (or 70 hours in 8 days)
These particular regulations exist because driver fatigue dramatically increases crash risks. According to federal data, fatigue contributes to nearly one-third of fatal truck crashes. Yet many trucking companies pressure drivers to fudge logbooks or skip required rest periods to meet tight delivery schedules. Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) now help monitor compliance, but violations remain too common. When companies prioritize deadlines over safety, they create dangerous conditions for everyone on the road.
What the I-35W Investigation Teaches Us
The NTSB’s findings reveal systematic problems that extend far beyond one company or one incident. Investigators concluded that the crash resulted where ice accumulated on the elevated roadway. The mayhem that ensued was made worse by trucking companies, their drivers as well as the toll operator failing to effectively monitor and properly respond to the winter weather, and the resulting road conditions. These same patterns appear in trucking accidents throughout North Texas. Companies receive warnings about known hazards — fatigued drivers, poorly maintained equipment, dangerous weather — yet fail to take appropriate action. When that negligence causes crashes, injured victims deserve accountability.
Injured in a Commercial Vehicle Accident?
If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident in North Texas, don’t face the insurance companies and corporate legal teams alone. At O’Hare and Koch Law Firm, our experienced North Texas truck wreck lawyers understand both the pain and suffering of these accidents and the legal strategies needed to hold negligent companies accountable. We offer free case evaluations to discuss your situation and explain your legal options. You won’t pay anything unless we win your case! Contact us today for a free no obligation consultation.
