Driver Suffers Medical Episode Before Car Crash in Daytona Beach

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on July 25, 2022

Vacationers and tourists were simply enjoying a little fun in the sun yesterday afternoon in Daytona Beach when an out-of-control vehicle crashed through a toll booth on International Speedway Boulevard and struck a child who was swimming in the ocean.

Preliminary reports from the Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue indicate that it was shortly before 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 24, 2022, when a man suffered a medical emergency while behind the wheel of a four-door white sedan. Statements retrieved from witnesses who were both in the vehicle and on the beach at the time of the incident said that the car careened off the road and slammed into a toll booth located near a beach access ramp on 300 Atlantic Avenue near International Speedway Boulevard. After completely destroying the toll booth, the vehicle continued along its collision course down the beach before coming to a complete stop after it struck a young child who was playing in the ocean.

Lifeguards and local good samaritans rushed over to the sedan in order to assist the family of four who were inside of the vehicle when the accident occurred. They were able to push the car out of the water and remove each individual without issue. Although the male driver of the vehicle was said to be unconscious at the time of the crash, emergency response teams said that he eventually came to before being transported to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. The three other family members inside the car were also taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

The 3-year-old child sustained an injury to the chest and was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center before being medevaced to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando as a trauma alert. He is currently in stable condition.

According to deputy chief Tamra Malphurs of the Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, the backseat passengers of the sedan said their step-father told them that he thought he was having a seizure, but they believed he was just joking at the time.

No one was in the toll booth at the time of the crash. An investigation into this auto accident is ongoing by local authorities.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.