Cooper McCollum Injured in Crash with Semi-Truck on TX-21 in Burleson County
Burleson County, TX — June 18, 2022, 20-year-old Cooper McCollum was injured in a crash with a tractor-trailer on State Highway 21 in Burleson County.
According to reports the incident happened around 2:09 p.m. on TX-21 near FM 1362 North. Preliminary investigation suggests a Mack semi-truck was towing a trailer west on the highway in the right lane, followed at some distance by McCollum in a Chevrolet Colorado pickup.
Reports say McCollum failed to control his speed and collided with the back of the semi-trailer. He suffered serious injuries in the crash; the truck driver was unhurt.
No further information is currently available.
Commentary on Cooper McCollum Accident in Burleson County
Folks tend to see a rear-end collision and simply assume the rear driver did something wrong. Police seem to feel similarly, saying the victim "failed to control speed." However, I've done this long enough to know that preliminary reports should be taken with a grain or two of salt until more investigation is done.
It's not that things like speeding, following too closely, and distracted driving don't cause crashes like this. They often do. However, it's important to look again, more closely, in case other contributing elements were overlooked the first time. For example, what if the victim's pickup had mechanical problems or defects that kept it from stopping? Is it possible the truck driver braked suddenly ahead of him without warning? That's just a couple of the many possibilities that should be evaluated in case there's more to the story than police first realized.
The law is nuanced enough to consider all the factors that led to a crash, which is why thorough investigations are so important in these situations. Will police put in the necessary work to be sure the whole story is known, or should independent investigators take another look?
