St. Johns County, FL — January 4, 2026, one person was injured in a truck accident at about 5 p.m. on northbound Interstate 95 near St. Augustine.

Authorities said a semi-truck hauling cabbage overturned and caught fire after colliding with a passenger vehicle near mile marker 307.

The truck driver, whose name has not been made public, was flown to a nearby hospital with critical injuries after the crash, according to authorities.

No other injuries were reported.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the St. Johns County crash at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people read about a semi-truck hauling cabbage overturning and catching fire on I-95 near St. Augustine, they may assume it's just an unfortunate accident. But accidents like this don’t just happen. They're usually the result of someone’s mistake. The key question here is: What caused the truck to roll over and ignite after colliding with a passenger vehicle?

We don’t have many details yet, but depending on how this played out, different questions arise. For example, if the truck was already on fire before the rollover, that might suggest a mechanical failure. If the fire started after the crash, then the crash dynamics, including the way the cargo was loaded, could be central to understanding what went wrong.

One major area of concern is cargo handling. A load of cabbage may not sound dangerous, but if it wasn’t properly distributed or secured inside the trailer, it could have shifted during travel. A sudden shift in weight can make a trailer unstable, especially during braking or a sharp turn. That’s how rollovers often happen, and it’s why proper cargo securement isn’t just a formality; it’s a matter of life and death.

Another critical angle is what the truck and driver were doing in the moments leading up to the collision. Was the truck going too fast? Did the driver make a sudden maneuver? Was the other vehicle at fault? Right now, none of that is clear. But this is where hard evidence makes all the difference. Dash cam footage, data from the engine control module (the truck’s “black box”) and even the driver’s cell phone records can help reconstruct what really happened. If the trucking company was using in-cab cameras, those could show whether the driver was distracted or fatigued.

There’s also the question of hiring and training. I’ve worked on cases where a crash wasn’t just caused by a bad decision in the moment; it was the result of a company putting someone behind the wheel who never should’ve been there. Did this driver have a clean record? Was he properly vetted? Those questions may seem distant from the crash itself, but in court, they can be central to proving who’s truly responsible.

At this point, we don’t yet know whether the collision caused the rollover or if a rollover triggered the crash. That distinction matters a great deal. And until someone takes the time to dig into the evidence, both at the scene and behind the scenes, we’re left with more questions than answers.

Key Takeaways:

• It's not clear whether the collision caused the truck to overturn or if a rollover led to the crash.
• Cargo securement may be a factor: an improperly loaded trailer can cause a rollover even with a modest shift in weight.
• Critical evidence like dash cams, black box data and cell phone records can clarify what the truck driver was doing just before the crash.
• The trucking company’s hiring and training decisions may also come under scrutiny depending on what the investigation reveals.
• Determining fault in complex crashes requires looking beyond the surface and digging into every contributing factor.