Colleton County, SC — June 24, 2025, one person was injured in a truck accident at about 5:15 p.m. on Interstate 95 near Walterboro.

Authorities said a semi-truck veered into the median near mile marker 60for an unknown reason and crashed into several trees. The impact caused several 50-pound bags of sugar to crush the back of the truck's cab.

The driver, whose name has not been made public yet, has flown to an area hospital with critical injuries after being extricated from the wreckage, according to authorities.

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

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear that a semi-truck veered off the road, crashed into trees and ended up with its cargo crushing the cab, the first question they tend to ask is, “How in the world did that happen?” That’s exactly the right question, and it’s one that deserves real answers, not assumptions.

As of now, we don’t know why the truck left the roadway. Was it a driver issue? A mechanical failure? A problem with the cargo? The authorities haven’t said. Without more facts, it’s too early to point fingers. But there are clear steps investigators should be taking to figure this out.

First, the truck’s black box (formally known as the engine control module) can tell us a lot: how fast the truck was going, whether the brakes were used and what inputs the driver made in the moments before the crash. If the truck had in-cab cameras, that footage might show whether the driver was alert, distracted or struggling with something inside the cab.

Another important source of evidence is the driver’s phone records. It’s not hard to determine whether a call or text was taking place when the crash occurred, but someone has to bother to look.

Then there’s the cargo: 50-pound bags of sugar, apparently stored in a way that allowed them to shift forward and crush the cab on impact. That raises its own set of questions. Who loaded the truck? Were proper restraints used? Was the cargo balanced, or did it contribute to the truck’s loss of control?

In a case I handled, improperly loaded cargo wasn’t just dangerous; it became lethal. What looked at first like a driver mistake turned out to be a chain of bad decisions made by multiple companies, all of whom had a role in setting that truck up for disaster. That’s why I never stop at the surface-level explanations. Real accountability means looking at every possible point of failure: mechanical, human and corporate.

Key Takeaways:

• It's not yet clear why the truck veered into the median; critical evidence like black box data and in-cab video may provide answers.
• Investigators should examine whether the cargo was loaded and secured properly, since loose freight contributed to the driver’s injuries.
• The driver's phone records and medical condition at the time should also be reviewed to rule out distraction or impairment.
• Multiple parties may be responsible in a crash like this, including those who loaded the cargo or supervised the route.
• True accountability only comes when all the evidence is gathered and thoroughly analyzed.