On January 8, 2008, 23-year-old Luke Hausmann and his siblings, Ethan, Anna, and Julia, were driving northbound on I-35 in Texas, on their way home to Atchison, KS after a family vacation. Two rear tires from a southbound tractor-trailer broke free, traveled across the highway, and struck Luke’s vehicle in the windshield, pulling the roof away from the car.
Luke was killed instantly. Ethan, Anna, and Julia suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
It was later determined that the trucking company had been cited on numerous occasions for violations of regulations relating to equipment failure and maintenance in the two years preceding the incident.