Geismar, LA — January 4, 2026, Jalen Davis was killed in a truck accident at about 7:30 a.m. on State Highway 30.
Authorities said an eastbound 2021 Hyundai Sonata hit the back end of a westbound 2025 Peterbilt semi-truck with a tanker trailer near Gateway Drive.
Hyundai driver Jalen Davis, 25, of Hammond died after being transported to a local hospital, according to authorities.
The truck driver was not injured, authorities said.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Ascension Parish crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When a passenger vehicle rear-ends a commercial truck, most people assume the smaller vehicle must be at fault. But in my experience, that assumption often doesn’t hold up once all the facts are on the table. The details of this particular crash, where a car hit the back of a tanker truck traveling in the opposite direction, raise more questions than they answer.
First off, it’s not clear whether the truck was turning, stopped or moving slowly at the time of the crash. Depending on the truck’s position and speed, very different questions come into play. For example, was the truck making a wide turn across traffic? Was it pulling out of a driveway or a side road? Was it partially in the wrong lane? All of those scenarios could make it harder for an oncoming driver to avoid a collision, even if the truck technically had the right of way.
That’s why a proper investigation would need to go well beyond the crash scene. Key evidence in a case like this includes dash cam footage, cell phone records and the truck’s engine control module (ECM), which logs speed, braking and gear usage in the moments before a crash. If the truck had in-cab cameras, and many do, those could show what the driver saw, when he reacted and whether anything distracted him.
It also matters what policies the trucking company has in place. Was the driver properly trained on how to execute left turns or U-turns with a tanker trailer, especially on narrow or busy roads? What kind of screening process did the company use when they hired him? I’ve handled cases where companies did the bare minimum, if that, when it came to vetting drivers. In those situations, it’s not just about driver error; it’s about whether the company set the driver up to fail.
At this point, we don’t have enough information to say what exactly went wrong. But the idea that the smaller vehicle is always to blame in a rear-end crash involving a truck is not supported by the evidence I’ve seen in similar cases. Until investigators piece together the full picture — using every tool at their disposal — we can’t say who’s responsible or whether this could have been prevented.
Key Takeaways:
- The crash raises key unanswered questions about the truck’s position and movement at the time of impact.
- Engine control module data, dash cams and driver cell phone records are crucial to understanding what actually happened.
- Trucking company policies and hiring practices may play a role in setting drivers up for failure.
- Rear-end collisions with trucks are not always cut-and-dried. Liability can shift depending on overlooked details.
- Only a thorough, evidence-driven investigation can determine whether the truck driver, company or others may be at fault.
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