St. Lucie Man Struck and Killed on Interstate 95

On Tuesday, a man was struck and killed by a passing car while attempting to help a family trapped in their SUV after an accident on a Volusia County stretch of Interstate 95. According to Sgt. Kim Montes, spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol, the incident occurred close to mile marker 277. A red car of unknown make was traveling northbound around 1:30 in the morning when it attempted to change lanes. In doing so, the driver of the red car either failed to calculate, or simply did not care about, the distance between it and the Toyota SUV located in the new lane.

The red car struck the right rear of the SUV, sending the car spinning out of control and into a guardrail. When it struck the guardrail, the Toyota flipped over. Inside of the SUV, Rodrine Buffaloe, a 40-year-old from Simpsonville South Carolina, was behind the wheel, driving his family through Florida during their trip from home.

The driver of the red car, although it is highly unlikely that they were unaware of the carnage they caused, sped away. It is not known whether or not the Florida Highway Patrol has any leads in regard to this car’s whereabouts.

A witness to the incident, Efrain Merced, a 59-year-old from port St. Lucie, was sitting in the passenger seat of a semi truck that was traveling in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95. The truck pulled over and Merced jumped out the cab to try and help the family. He ran across the highway to the SUV and was beginning to assist when a fourth vehicle being driven by the 24-year-old New Jersey resident Christopher Dobbs approached the crash site.

For reasons that are not at all clear, Dobbs failed to see both Merced and the overturned SUV and collided with them both.

Emergency response teams arrived quickly at the scene, but the injuries suffered by Merced were too severe and he was declared dead at the scene. The other individuals involved, including Dobbs, Buffaloe, and Buffaloe’s family (the 46-year-old Leon Buffaloe, the 6-year-old Leon Buffaloe, and the 5-year-old Naomi Buffaloe) were all transported to nearby hospitals for treatment of minor injuries.

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.