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Governor Requests Investigation Into I-75 Accidents


Posted on Feb 06, 2012

The tragic string of accidents on I-75 by Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park on Sunday morning, January 29th, has received national attention.  The spotlight continues to burn in the aftermath, as state officials attempt to determine what happened on that stretch of highway and what caused it.  The light is so bright that Governor Rick Scott last week requested the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to investigate the events leading up to the accident.  The investigation will focus on whether the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) followed its own policies.

FHP has policies with protocols to follow for fog and smoke incidents that require major road closures.  The first task is to get a forecast of the area.  The National Weather service in Jacksonville issued a smoke advisory at midnight on Sunday for Alachua County because of the prairie fire that had started earlier.  FHP shortly thereafter decided to shut down US 441 at the 9600 block and I-75 at Mile 376 north of Micanopy.  FHP reopened I-75 approximately three hours later, reporting that visibility had improved on the roadway.  Smoke and fog, however, quickly returned and covered the southern half of the prairie again.

A FHP spokesperson explained the reason for reopening the highway: “We had a three-hour window that we waited to evaluate the conditions on the road before we opened it up.  Three hours is a long time.  [W]e made a decision to open the roadway and approximately 45 minutes later, the collisions appeared.”  He added that visibility was most likely good and then the drivers suddenly hit a wall of smoke and fog.

Whether any actions or measures will be taken as a result of what happened on Sunday morning will be based in large part on the FDLE’s findings in its investigation report.  There is no estimated completion time for the investigation.

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