Authorities have reported five deaths and at least a dozen serious injuries after a commercial truck driver crashed into 18 other vehicles in North Austin on Interstate 35, late in the evening of Thursday, March 13, 2025. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading an investigation into the cause and aftermath of the fatal truck accident. Early reports have confirmed that the truck driver appeared to be intoxicated or impaired at the time, which led to his arrest and charges for several counts of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.
The truck driver has been identified as Solomun Araya, a worker for a transport and freight company called ZBN Transport, which is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The owner of ZBN Transport told investigators that Araya was a fairly new employee who had been with the company for around four months. Araya had been transporting a load of products for Amazon in an Amazon Prime-branded truck, as confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson shortly after news of the wreck made headlines.
Eyewitnesses have explained that the Amazon truck did not seem to brake or slow down at all before plowing into a column of vehicles where traffic had come to a crawl on the I-35. However, Araya claimed while speaking with the police that he did try to brake but the braking system “did not activate”. One detective working with the Austin Police Department reported that Araya showed signs of impairment and might have been under the influence of CNS depressants, which are known to create unsafe side effects for drivers like drowsiness and slowed reaction time.
If you’d like to know more about the I-35 truck accident in North Austin, you can click here to read a full article from the Austin American-Statesman. (Log-in or subscription may be required.)
Will the Injured & Affected File Lawsuits?
Altogether, the truck accident that was allegedly caused by Araya caused five fatalities, including two young children, and seriously injured 12 other people. The injuries have been described as “major” or “life-threatening”.
At this time, it is not known what legal action will be taken by the injured parties and the surviving loved ones of those who lost their lives in the wreck. However, given the circumstances that are already known and suspected, it is very likely that personal injury claims and wrongful death claims will soon follow. One question that remains is what parties will be named as defendants in those parties. Possible defendants or liable parties include Araya and ZBN Transport, but more time for investigations is needed to know for certain.
Help with Truck Accident Claims in Austin
At Briggle & Polan, PLLC in Austin, Texas, our hearts go out to everyone affected by the tragic truck accident that happened on the I-35 recently. We are following this story closely.
If you were injured in this accident or lost a loved one in it, and you would like to know more about what legal options might be available to you, please know that you can talk to a member of our law firm at any time. We offer free consultations that allow you to learn more without paying anything or signing any contract. Based on what you know and what is known about the accident, we can help you decide if you would like to start legal action; our attorneys are trauma-informed and highly experienced with wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases, so we will never push you to make a decision and will always show you sensitivity and respect during this difficult time.
Call (512) 400-3278 to connect with our Austin truck accident lawyers and request a no-cost, no-obligation case evaluation.
