ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A crash involving two semi-trucks on I-95 near World Golf Village caused backups for hours Wednesday night, closing multiple lanes in St. Johns County.
The crash occurred near mile marker 327, which has been the site of frequent car accidents in the last few years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says I-95 is the most dangerous highway in the country.
In response to Wednesday night's crash, many took to social media commenting about the number of accidents on the stretch of highway.
"I-95 in Florida is by far the WORST! I really wish there were more troopers on the highway. It's out of control," Connie Michaud commented on First Coast News' Facebook post.
Another person commented, "Every week there's an accident there somehow."
SJSO says I-95 in St. Johns County is problematic, and law enforcement frequently patrols that stretch of the interstate.
"There is a stretch of Interstate 95 in northern St. Johns County that is historically known in law enforcement circles as one of the deadliest stretches in the state," St. Johns County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant George Harrigan said.
When there is an accident, Harrigan says both the sheriff's office and Florida Highway Patrol respond.
"We like to focus efforts in that area for obvious reasons that to help prevent crashes, but we also focus our attention on other areas as well," Harrigan said.
First Coast News reached out to the Florida Highway Patrol about specific data related to highway accidents in St. Johns County near mile marker 327, we are still waiting for that information.
We discovered two crashes of note in that area of St. Johns County in recent years. In 2013, a crash near the mile marker 327 involved a tractor trailer rig and black car. In 2017, there was another semi-truck accident.
The Florida Department of Transportation says a project to improve safety, congestion and accommodation to the growing population on I-95 in St. Johns County will be completed in the next few years.
"We're always looking to improve safety on the roadway, not only when it comes to human behavior, but also engineering our roads to the safest standards require and possible," said FDOT Community Outreach Manager Hampton Ray. "When it comes to speed limits and speed studies, we routinely perform steep speed studies on the roadway to help modify and improve safety."
In the meantime, the sheriff's office says to practice defense driving.
"Please slow down, watch your speed, wear your seatbelt. And please don't be distracted while driving that can include looking at your GPS, looking at your cell phone, dealing with stuff that's going on in the car, just please focus on driving safely," Harrigan said.