CHESTER, Virginia — A Chesterfield County man was killed on Tuesday night when his pickup truck struck the back of a work truck that had stopped in a live lane of Interstate 95 to help a stranded driver. Justin Michael Johnson, 37, of Chesterfield County, died at the scene after his 2015 GMC Sierra hit the rear of a stationary 2012 International 4400 on southbound I-95 at mile marker 62.8, just south of the Route 288 interchange, at about 10:15 p.m. on November 3, Virginia State Police said. The work truck's emergency warning lights were active when the Sierra struck it.
State police released Johnson's name on Wednesday, November 4, after notifying his family. The two other drivers involved — the work-truck driver who had stopped to help, and the driver of the disabled car he had stopped behind — were not injured. The investigation is continuing, and state police have announced no finding on why the Sierra struck the stopped truck and no charges against any driver.
A driver had stopped to help — and a trooper was already on the way
The sequence state police describe begins with a breakdown, not a collision. A 2015 Chrysler 200, driven by Theresa Mae Steed, 69, of South Chesterfield, became disabled on southbound I-95. Behind it, in the right lane, the International 4400 stopped: its driver, Daniel Steven Mobley, 36, of Hopewell, had pulled up behind the stranded car to check on Steed and to report the traffic hazard to authorities, according to state police accounts carried by WRIC ABC 8News and WWBT. The truck's emergency warning lights were switched on.
A Virginia State Police trooper had already been dispatched to the scene on the disabled-vehicle hazard report when, before the trooper could arrive, Johnson's southbound GMC Sierra came up the right lane and struck the rear of the International. The impact killed Johnson at the scene. Mobley and Steed were unhurt. State police have not said how long the truck had been stopped before the crash, and the accounts reviewed do not describe any warning devices beyond the truck's own emergency lights.
The stopped-vehicle danger on the East Coast's main artery
Interstate 95 at Chester carries the East Coast's through traffic — long-haul trucks, Richmond commuters and overnight drivers — past the Route 288 interchange in one of the corridor's busiest Virginia stretches. A vehicle stopped in a live lane at night is among the most dangerous configurations on any interstate: following drivers have seconds to read the scene, and a stopped truck with its lights on can still be misread at highway speed as a moving vehicle. Virginia's Move Over law requires drivers, where it is safe, to change lanes away from — or slow down for — stopped vehicles displaying flashing or hazard lights, a rule written for exactly the scene Mobley had set up behind Steed's car. For the Punjabi truckers and other professional drivers who run I-95 through the night, Tuesday's crash is a case study in the corridor's central hazard: the most dangerous vehicle on the road is often the one standing still.
State police guidance for a breakdown in a live lane is consistent everywhere: steer as far onto the shoulder as the vehicle will go, switch on hazard lights immediately, stay inside with seatbelts on if traffic is passing close, and call 911 or the state police highway line rather than standing behind the vehicle. A stopped vehicle in a travel lane should be reported at once — on Tuesday night, that report had already been made and a trooper dispatched, and the crash still happened first, which is how narrow the margin is.
What investigators are still working out
Virginia State Police are continuing to investigate the collision. The open questions are the ones that decide cases like this: the Sierra's speed and path in the moments before impact, what Johnson could see of the lit work truck ahead of him, and whether any mechanical, medical or impairment factor played a part. None of those findings has been released, and no official has attributed the crash to any of them. Until the reconstruction is complete, the verified record is the sequence itself — a disabled car, a driver who stopped to help it, a trooper dispatched, and a pickup that struck the stopped truck from behind.
What happens next
The state police investigation will determine whether any charges or citations follow; as of the reports reviewed, none has been announced against any driver. For drivers on I-95 through Chesterfield County, the practical fact is unchanged: the southbound lanes south of Route 288 see heavy overnight truck traffic, and a breakdown there puts a driver in the path of it. State police ask anyone who witnessed the crash or the stopped vehicles before it to contact the Virginia State Police Richmond Division. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when the investigation produces findings.
What is solid
- Justin Michael Johnson, 37, of Chesterfield County died at the scene after his 2015 GMC Sierra struck the rear of a stopped 2012 International 4400 on southbound I-95 at mile marker 62.8, south of Route 288, at about 10:15 p.m. on November 3, 2026 (Virginia State Police via WTVR, WRIC, WWBT).
- The International's driver, Daniel Steven Mobley, 36, of Hopewell, had stopped in the right lane behind a disabled 2015 Chrysler 200 driven by Theresa Mae Steed, 69, of South Chesterfield, to check on her and report the hazard; the truck's emergency warning lights were active, and neither Mobley nor Steed was injured.
- A state trooper had been dispatched to the disabled-vehicle hazard before the crash occurred.
What is only claimed
- Why the Sierra struck the stopped truck has not been determined; state police have released no finding on speed, impairment or distraction, and any such explanation would be speculation until the investigation reports.
- How long the work truck had been stopped in the lane before the impact is not stated in the reports reviewed.