A fatal crash involving several vehicles occurred in Florida earlier this week. The driver of an SUV reportedly lost control of his vehicle and then overcorrected, causing the SUV to collide with a concrete barrier. The SUV overturned and landed on its side in the left lane. The SUV’s lights were obstructed from view, so oncoming motorists could not easily see the SUV through the early morning darkness.
A county sheriff’s deputy then drove up to the scene. She noticed the SUV in the road in enough time to swerve around it and pull over on the road’s right shoulder. She then turned on her patrol car’s flashers. Next, a truck driver came upon the scene. This driver moved to the left lane when he noticed the deputy’s flashing lights, in accordance with Florida’s move-over law. He did not see the SUV in the left lane until it was too late to swerve and his truck collided with the turned-over vehicle.
The SUV and cab of the truck erupted into flames, though the truck driver escaped with minor injuries. Both the driver and passenger of the SUV died at the scene of the accident. The truck driver stated, “There was nothing I could do to avoid it.”
This type of accident may remind drivers that trucks have the potential to make small accidents even worse. Though no one can know the state of the SUV driver and passenger after the initial accident, it is likely that as long as they were wearing seat belts, they were not severely injured. The truck collision and subsequent explosion escalated this accident into a much more serious incident.
A police official states that he does not anticipate any charges being filed in this scenario. However, in other accidents, a truck driver may be at fault for causing fatalities in an accident.
Source: The Palm Beach Post, “Driver describes fiery crash on Turnpike that claimed lives of North Palm Beach friends,” Sonja Isger and Ana M. Valdes, Dec. 11, 2012
