The man injured in a crash with an 18-wheeler on Interstate 20 in Arlington on Sept. 29 faces a long road to recovery, his attorney says.
Texas Truck Accident Lawyer
A driver injured in a crash with an 18-wheeler on Interstate 20 in Arlington last month faces a long road to recovery, his attorney says.
The man, who did not want to be publicly identified, was recently transferred to an in-patient rehabilitation hospital. He suffered a severe concussion and hasn’t been able to use his legs since the Sept. 29 accident, according to Houston attorney Andrew Piekalkiewicz. He’s suing the trucking company along with the 18-wheeler’s owner and driver.
According to Arlington police, the man was driving a Nissan Altima and trying to merge onto I-20 from the U.S. 287 ramp when his car hit an eastbound tractor-trailer. The car became trapped between the trailer and the concrete barrier on the right side of the highway.
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“He was trapped in the vehicle, had to be cut out by the fire department using the jaws of life, and was then life-flighted to a nearby hospital,” a spokesperson for the attorney’s office told the Star-Telegram in an email. “His vehicle was declared a total loss.”
Piekalkiewicz said his firm got involved after the injured man’s wife reached out to them. The lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 6 in Dallas County, alleges that the “Plaintiff was carefully and prudently travelling an entrance ramp onto I-20 in Arlington, Texas, when Defendant … suddenly entered his lane and crashed into him.”
“Plaintiff’s injuries and damages were caused by the negligence and gross negligence of Defendant,” the lawsuit states.
A spokesperson for the trucking company, Smith Williams Express Transportation, said he could not comment on legal matters when reached by phone Wednesday afternoon.
The 18-wheeler was traveling in the far right-hand lane. The semi’s driver told police that there was another 18-wheeler in the next lane, so “he could not move over to give the outside lane to the merging traffic,” the accident report states. The police investigation concluded that the Nissan failed to yield, hit the loaded trailer and got pinned between it and the concrete barrier, according to the report.
The man injured in a Sept. 29 crash with an 18-wheeler in Arlington is suing the trucking company along with the owner and driver, his attorney says. Texas Truck Accident Lawyer
Piekalkiewicz told the Star-Telegram in an Oct. 8 phone interview that the first hospital where the injured man was taken discharged him on Oct. 7 even though he still didn’t have the use of his legs. His attorneys had to scramble to get him sent to another hospital where he could continue getting care.
“For them to discharge him when he was still in the condition that he was in was pretty outrageous,” Piekalkiewicz said. “You know, he obviously wasn’t medically clear to be released.”
Piekalkiewicz said his firm was working to get an order to preserve evidence from the accident. They were are also looking into whether the construction in the area could have contributed to the crash.
“There are potential implications to whether or not there was a safe and effective traffic control plan in place at the time of the wreck, which may or may not have contributed to the crash,” Piekalkiewicz told the Star-Telegram. “So we’re looking very carefully at that and securing experts to advise us on that issue as well.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2026 4:20 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Harriet Ramos covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.