News

11 Deaths on Sunday's I-75 Tragedy


Posted on Feb 01, 2012

Three days after one of the state’s worst traffic accidents in history, the number of people killed has reached 11.  In the meantime, some of the victims’ identities have yet to be discovered because the charred remains from the accident are beyond recognition.

The accident occurred early Sunday morning on both the northbound and southbound sides of I-75 south of Gainesville across from Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.  The Florida Forest Service on Monday continued to investigate the cause of the 62-acre brush fire sparked on Paynes Prairie on Saturday afternoon, giving off smoke that impaired visibility on nearby highways and caused the string of collisions.  Investigators have ruled out lightning and believe that burning is a possible starting point for the fire, meaning it was more than likely caused by a human act, either accidentally or intentionally.

Both I-75 and U.S. 441 had been closed before the crashes occurred because of visibility concerns and later reopened, though authorities did not immediately have a timeline.  The accidents began to occur approximately one hour after the roadways were reopened at 3:00 a.m. due to improved visibility.  But smoke and fog quickly descended over the southern half of the prairie again.  Florida Highway Patrol troopers reported that they were tending to crashes while new ones were occurring.

The primary accidents began at 4:00 a.m.  Crashes in the southbound lanes of I-75 involved six vehicles including two semis.  Due to the poor visibility, one semi came to a stop in the right lane and the other semi in the middle lane.  A car then hit the back of the semi in the right lane and a SUV hit the back of that car immediately after.  Immediately following these two crashes, a Dodge truck slammed into the back of the semi in the middle lane and a car ran into the back of the Dodge.  A massive post-crash fire destroyed all of the vehicles except for the semi cabs, which had been unhooked from the trailers.  A total of three people died as a result of the southbound crashes.  It appears that all three deceased were riding in the Dodge.

Accident details about the northbound crashes are still being investigated, though it is known that 10 vehicles were involved, including two semis.  Although reports are incomplete, it would appear that eight people died as a result of the northbound crashes.

A total of 21 patients were transported to local hospitals for treatment, including 18 to Shands at the University of Florida and three to North Florida Regional Medical Center.  A Gainesville Regional Transit System bus was brought to the scene to provide comfort for survivors who were stranded at the scene. “It was 36 degrees, and you had people traveling in shorts and T-shirts. They got an RTS bus out to give them a place to keep warm,” said sheriff's Lt. Steve Maynard. “This is the worst (string of crashes) I've seen in 16 years on the job.”

For more information:

Nightmare on I-75 - what can we learn from it?  Gainesville and Ocala accident attorney gives his advice to motorists and the State of Florida
 
Four Potential Parties for Liability in the Tragic I-75 Accidents

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