Clermont Police Officer Collides with Civilian in Two-Car Crash

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on January 6, 2021

Two vehicles, one of them a patrol vehicle being driven by a member of the Clermont Police Department, were involved in an accident early in January that resulted in two individuals suffering from injuries. Reports on the incident come from the Clermont Police Department who responded to reports of the accident shortly after it took place.

It was during the afternoon of Monday, January 4^th, that an officer, who has yet to be publicly identified, was on patrol in a marked Clermont Police Department patrol vehicle. After receiving a notification on their radio regarding an emergency somewhere nearby, the officer activated the lights and siren on their vehicle and began to race to the area identified by the reports.

Their path took them directly to the intersection of Citrus Tower Boulevard and Highway 50, a heavily trafficked intersection that was, at this time in the afternoon, typically busy. When the officer reached the intersection, the light for their lane of travel was red. However, the laws do state that emergency vehicles with their lights and sirens activated have the right-of-way, and the reports indicated that the police officer had, as mentioned above, turned on both of these features.

At the same time as the officer reached the intersection, a person driving a Toyota Prius also approached the intersection, but from the road that cut across the one being used by the police officer. As the officer’s light was red, the civilian’s light was green. Apparently unaware that the police officer was traveling through the intersection at the same time, the driver of the Prius attempted to continue on their way. As a result, the Prius and the patrol vehicle crashed into one another before either of their drivers were able to change course.

An important piece of the investigation as it now stands is identifying just who travelled through the intersection first. At the time of this writing, the authorities have yet to offer a verdict on this question.

Paramedics and EMTs arrived at the scene shortly after the two cars collided, and were able to transport both the police officer and the civilian to a hospital located close to the area. Both of them suffered injuries that were determined to be non-life-threatening.

Sources:

• 2 injured in crash involving Clermont police officer, FHP says

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.