Chain-Reaction Collision in Seminole County Injures Six Motorists

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on October 24, 2021

Officers with the Florida Highway Patrol operating within Seminole County are currently trying to piece together the chain of events that caused a massive multi-vehicle pileup along State Road 417 Saturday evening that sent six people to the hospital with a variety of injuries.

According to preliminary accident reports from the responding officers with the Florida Highway Patrol, it was approximately 9:45 p.m. on October 23, 2021, when the first set of 9-1-1 calls referencing a chain-reaction collision involving multiple motorists started to pour into the local dispatcher’s office in Seminole County. In addition to the Florida Highway Patrol, emergency response teams from several surrounding counties including the Seminole Fire Department and the Oviedo Fire Department were sent to the scene of the crash located along the southbound lanes of State Road 417 near Red Bug Lake Road. Soon after law enforcement authorities arrived at the scene, they immediately discovered the magnitude of the situation at hand and quickly closed the highway in both directions.

Although their statement has yet to be corroborated by investigators, one witness indicated that an 18-year-old driving a 2017 Volkswagen Jetta and another driver of the same age in a 2012 Chevy Cruz appeared to be driving aggressively at a high rate of speed along State Road 417 moments before crashing near mile marker 44. Other motorists who were traveling in the same direction as the Chevy Cruz and Volkswagen Jetta had been unable to stop their vehicles in time to avoid another crash, which set into motion the chain-reaction collision involving 13 other vehicles.

Members of the Oviedo Fire Department and the Seminole Fire Department rescued 24 people in total, with 6 of those individuals requiring medical assistance for non-life-threatening injuries sustained during the collision. They were secured for transport and were taken to area hospitals for further treatment.

Detectives are currently reviewing dashcam footage retrieved from one of the vehicles involved in the multi-vehicle pileup and are looking into the possibility that this was a road rage or street racing incident between the two 18-year-olds. Since the investigation is still ongoing by the Florida Highway Patrol, charges have yet to be filed against any individual, but that could easily change depending on the outcome of this case.

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.