The death of a young college soccer player on an Ohio highway is rapidly becoming a national flashpoint in the ongoing debate over commercial driver standards, immigration screening and highway safety.
Twenty-one-year-old Tobias “Toby” Forsythe, a goalkeeper for the University of Massachusetts Lowell men’s soccer team, was killed Sunday in a crash on Interstate 71 in Madison County, Ohio. Authorities say a commercial truck driven by 42-year-old Bekhzod Asrarov struck the vehicle Forsythe was riding in, triggering a crash that claimed the young athlete’s life.
What began as a tragic accident story has now expanded into a broader controversy after details emerged about the driver and his conduct following the collision.
According to reports confirmed by multiple outlets, Asrarov entered the United States in 2024 through the diversity visa lottery program and held a commercial driver’s license issued in Ohio. Sources familiar with the investigation told reporters that he relied on Google Translate to communicate with responding Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers because he could not speak English.
Even more troubling are allegations that surfaced after the crash.
Investigators reportedly believe Asrarov attempted to destroy potential evidence at the scene, including a dash camera, mobile phones and an electronic logging device used to track commercial driving activity. Authorities have not yet publicly detailed whether any criminal charges related to evidence tampering will be pursued.
The case quickly drew the attention of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who used the incident to highlight concerns about commercial drivers operating on American highways without sufficient English proficiency.
“We cannot let truckers like Asrarov, who can’t read our road signs or speak to law enforcement, drive 80,000-pound rigs on America’s highways,” Duffy wrote in a statement following reports about the crash.
Federal regulations have long required commercial drivers to be able to read and speak English sufficiently to converse with the public, understand traffic signs and communicate with law enforcement. Enforcement of those standards, however, has been the subject of recurring debate for years, particularly as trucking companies struggle with driver shortages. Recent actions by the Trump administration have focused renewed attention on English-language compliance among commercial vehicle operators.
Meanwhile, friends, coaches and teammates continue mourning Forsythe.
The young goalkeeper had recently joined UMass Lowell after playing at both Shawnee State University and Ashland University. Coaches described him as a tireless competitor and a respected teammate. “Our entire athletics department is heartbroken by Toby’s passing,” athletic director Lynn Coutts said.
Head coach Kyle Zenoni added, “He never looked for shortcuts and never expected anything to be given to him — he simply wanted the opportunity to earn it.”
