Cadillac Crashes Into Florida Toll Plaza, Passenger Thrown Through Windshield

On the morning of Sunday, June 3rd, a Cadillac was headed down the northbound lanes of State Road 91 in St. Cloud, a city within Osceola County.  The driver of this car, a 23-year-old, was transporting himself as well as three passengers down the roadway when, at around 7:00 in the morning, they approached the toll plaza that straddles the northern lanes of State Road 91.  At the toll plaza, numerous cameras are setup to record traffic coming through the area, capture license plates, and generally ensure that all travelers are paying the toll and driving safely.  One of these cameras was angled in such a way that it both captured the area of the toll lane where drivers pay to pass and the very beginning of the toll lane.

Footage captured by this camera shows a relatively calm morning.  A car is stopped beside a booth, paying the needed toll, and other than that the roadway looks completely clear.  Then the Cadillac enters the screen.  Clearly driving at a too-high rate of speed, the Cadillac seems to be in the middle of changing lanes when it reaches the toll plaza and slams directly into a barrier separating two of the lanes.  The force of the collision causes the car to fly several feet into the air before landing with tremendous force back on all four wheels.  Thick white smoke then begins billowing from the vehicle, and a fire can be seen beginning along the car’s undercarriage.

By far the most ghastly part of the whole scene is that a passenger, believed to be a 25-year-old individual who was sitting in the front passenger seat, is clearly seen being ejected through the front windshield and landing several dozen feet away, beside the car which is in the process of paying the toll.

Initial reports state clearly that none of the people involved in the collision suffered fatal injuries, and the driver can clearly be seen opening the front door and exiting the car in the moments after the crash.  What we do not know is how severe the injuries sustained by the driver and passengers was during the incident.

While police have ruled out the impeding influence of drugs and alcohol in the crash, they have suggested that the incident took place because the driver was either asleep or highly fatigued at the time.  He was issued a citation by the Florida Highway Patrol for careless driving.

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.