Jerry Hipple Killed in Truck Accident on US-81 in Wise County, TX
Wise County, TX — November 12, 2022, 80-year-old Jerry Hipple died in a collision with a tractor-trailer on U.S. Highway 81 in Wise County.
Authorities say the incident happened around 7:00 p.m. on US-81 at Bypass 287. Preliminary investigation suggests a Kenworth semi-truck was towing a trailer south on the highway when the driver pulled through the crossover to go north. Investigators say the truck's trailer was still partially in the inside southbound lane when Hipple approached in a Ford F-150 and the pickup's front-left crashed into the rear-left corner of the trailer.
Hipple was fatally injured in the collision. No other injuries were reported.
No further information is available at this time.

Commentary on Jerry Hipple Accident in Wise County
If preliminary reports have their facts straight it seems a lot like the big rig blocked traffic and the truck driver might be responsible for the tragic collision that followed. Of course, neither she nor her employer are likely to agree with that idea; in fact, the company behind that driver and truck are likely to hotly dispute fault til the bitter end. In the decades I've worked on commercial truck accidents I've encountered exactly one company that simply accepted responsibility and tried to make things right. All the rest involved long battles with a company ready to blame anything and everything else before admitting liability.
I've cautioned many people not to think of the crash that hurt them or loved ones as "open and shut" no matter how the news or police portray them. Trucking companies and their insurers have no shortage of tricks and tactics to help them minimize or even completely avoid blame, so I wrote more about what victims and families might expect to encounter--as well as ways to overcome those hurdles.