A series of crashes led to the hospitalization of a Florida road ranger early on Thursday morning.
The series of accidents began at around 1:50 a.m. on October 7th in Hernando County, Florida.
According to News 10 Tampa Bay, a 62-year-old trucker was heading south on Interstate 75 along the overpass at SR-50 when he encountered slow moving traffic and was unable to stop. Instead of crashing into the line of vehicles, the driver took “evasive action to avoid a crash,” and ended up striking a concrete barrier, going over it, and breaking the trailer apart from the tractor. The tractor then burst into flames. The truck driver was able to escape the rig with only minor injuries.
A 28-year-old motorist in a pickup then collided with debris from the semi crash. No one, including his 23-year-old and 2-year-old passengers, was hurt in the crash.
A Road Ranger, an FDOT officer dedicated to managing traffic incidents and providing assistance to disabled motorists, was then setting up traffic cones to direct the flow of traffic away from the two accidents when an “inattentive” 71-year-old motorist in a minivan drove “around the traffic cones” and slammed directly into the ranger. The road ranger was then airlifted to a nearby hospital with serious injuries. He has since been deemed in stable condition.
Information regarding citations issued in response to the incident has not been released.