Florida Highway Patrol accident investigators believe that alcohol was a contributing factor in a fatal motorcycle accident that claimed the life of an Apopka man on June 5. Police say the 37-year-old suspect was driving his van out of the Loyal Order of Moose lodge parking lot near Orange Blossom Trail and Rosamond Drive around 9:00 that evening when the accident occurred.
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Accident investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol are asking for anyone who may be a witness of a fatal Central Florida hit-and-run accident to contact them as soon as possible. According to police, an Astatula man was walking along Duda Road near County Road 448A early on the morning of June 21, 2010 when a large truck struck and killed him. The truck then fled the scene.
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A car heading eastbound in the westbound lanes of State Road 408 in west Orange County caused a recent auto accident that sent three people to local hospitals for treatment. Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigating the accident say the accident occurred around 3:26 a.m. near Pine Hills Road when a 2002 Mazda driven by a 25-year-old Orlando woman collided with a 2001 Saturn. Police say the driver of the Saturn swerved to avoid the collision, but both vehicles hit nearly head-on.
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The jcfloridan.com reports that a Calhoun County auto accident claimed the life of an elderly Marianna woman and sent two men to a local hospital with serious injuries. Florida Highway Patrol accident investigators say that the 81-year-old woman was taken to Calhoun-Liberty Hospital after the accident where she was pronounced dead from her injuries. They say she was driving a 1999 Dodge car northbound on County Road 275 when she failed to observe a stop sign, and violated the right of way of a southbound 1995 Toyota pickup truck on State Road 71.
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The Gainesville Sun reports that two Florida agencies have joined together to promote driving safety through a statewide traffic education and enforcement campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of large commercial trucks and school buses. Col. John Czernis, director of the Florida Highway Patrol, and Col. David Dees of the Department of Transportation’s Office of Motor Carrier Compliance, head the joint traffic safety initiative. Their goal is to save lives by increasing awareness about unsafe driving acts and habits that often cause auto accidents involving commercial vehicles.
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An accident involving a semi truck and a van at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 75 in Columbia County resulted in two people sent to the hospital with injuries. A 15-year-old girl from Alabama, transported to Shands at the University of Florida, sustained injuries described as serious. The 42-year-old driver of the 1999 Dodge van, also from Alabama, received medical treatment for undisclosed minor injuries at Lake City Medical. The 43-year-old driver of the 2000 Freightliner semi truck involved in the accident was reportedly unhurt.
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A couple married in Tallahassee last April was killed and their eight-year-old daughter orphaned in a drunk driving auto accident recently. As recounted in this Tallahassee Democrat article, the Havana couple wed at the Tallahassee Moose Lodge last spring after being together for more than ten years and having a daughter. On the evening of October 9, 2009, the couple was driving to the mother’s house to drop off their daughter at her grandparent’s to spend the night. As the couple waited to merge into traffic on the way, a drunk driver crashed his Dodge pickup truck into the back of their two-door Pontiac.
The 30-year-old father and 26-year-old mother were pronounced dead after transportation to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. The daughter was reportedly riding in the back seat of the car when struck by the drunk driver and was unhurt in the accident. A sergeant on the Florida Highway Patrol said the 62-year-old driver of the truck was clearly intoxicated at the accident scene and was arrested on two counts of DUI manslaughter. The drunk driver reportedly bonded out of the Gadsden County Jail the day after the accident.
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An article published recently in the Orlando Sentinel describes a hit-and-run pedestrian accident that claimed the life of a 16-year-old Leesburg High student from Okahumpka. A car hit the young man as he walked along County Road 33 on October 4 while talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone. After the pedestrian accident, the victim was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center where he died when taken off life support.
The victim’s mother has urged law enforcement authorities to investigate the pedestrian accident, but the lack of publicity in the case has made her uncertain whether or not the police were looking for the driver who struck the young man and fled from the scene. She went public recently with her dissatisfaction about the lack of cooperation and communication in the case.
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A Florida Central News article reports that officials with the Florida Highway Patrol are investigating a recent five-vehicle accident in Lakeland that claimed the lives of three people. FHP officials say that the accident occurred around 4 pm on U.S. Highway 98 just south of Rockridge Road when a Chevrolet pickup truck crashed head-on with a motorcycle. They say the pickup was driven by a 65-year-old woman who veered into the path of a motorcycle operated by a 55-year-old man.
The pickup’s driver was killed in the accident, as was the motorcycle’s passenger-a woman whose identity and age was not released by the FHP when the article was published. The 55-year-old motorcycle rider suffered critical injuries in the accident and was flown to Tampa General Hospital in a helicopter. The 51-year old driver of a Ford pickup truck behind the motorcycle also died in the accident. FHP officials say that he swerved to avoid the initial accident, but crashed into the left front of the oncoming Chevy pickup. The force of the collision caused the Ford pickup to land on its roof.
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A recent Bradenton Herald article describes a Florida pedestrian accident that claimed the lives of two young men who were struck and killed while walking along State Road 70 last August. The Florida Highway Patrol said that the two men were struck by a 2000 Ford truck around 3:25 in the morning on S.R. 70 at Mizell Road. Both men were reportedly walking eastbound on the shoulder of the unlighted road with the flow of vehicle traffic when the truck struck them from behind.
FHP officers investigating the pedestrian accident scene said that one victim was a 23-year-old Sarasota man and the other victim was believed to be around 19-years-old. His name and address had not been released when the article was published. Troopers said that a witness to the accident called 911, and emergency response personnel called the FHP. A FHP spokesperson said that the 18-year-old driver of the truck remained at the accident scene.
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