RSSMulti-Car Crash in Polk County Leaves Two Dead, Numerous Injured
Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol are among the individuals investigating a fatal car crash that took place within Polk County during final day of July and involved numerous vehicles. While a complete detailing of the incident remains a project of the Florida Highway Patrol as well as other emergency response agencies, what we know at this time is still substantial and worth examining even as additional reports and findings are expected.
It was sometime during the morning that a tractor-trailer and a sedan were driving down the western lanes of State Road 400. It is not known where the two vehicles were traveling from or where they were headed to, but it does appear that for at least a stretch of their trip they were traveling directly beside one another. It was as they were traveling in this manner that something happened within the sedan to cause the driver to lose control of their vehicle. As a result, the sedan drifted into the center lane of the highway lane where the tractor-trailer was traveling.
The collision between the sedan and semi truck was forceful and caused the sedan to be shoved out of the center lane and into the center median. All along the center median were a series of thick cables designed to divide the highways western and eastern lanes. When the sedan struck these cables the force of the impact caused the cables to snap, enabling the speeding vehicle to shoot into the eastern lanes of State Road 400.
Traveling along these eastern lanes were numerous other vehicles including a second tractor-trailer. When the sedan burst through the cable median, it did so much to the surprise of the other drivers. As a result, two additional cars as well as the second tractor-trailer all struck the sedan. One of these vehicles also crashed through the cable barrier where it came to rest only after it struck a fence.
The full extent of the damage is not currently known, but it is clear that at least one person, a 37-year-old who was driving one of the cars, died at the scene of the incident. A passenger within this vehicle was also seriously injured and transported to a nearby hospital. They were declared dead sometime after arriving at the medical facility.
Due to the severity of the crash, the entirety of State Road 400 was closed well into the afternoon of that Friday.
Sources:
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.
Mr. Cunningham is an excellent and knowledgeable attorney.