Fort Lauderdale truck driver killed crossing I-75 after crash

A truck driver from Fort Lauderdale died on Interstate 75 on Friday after his rig was in a crash and he tried to cross the highway on foot in the predawn darkness. Lucas Joseph Folino, 36, was driving south around 6 a.m. when his truck hit the back of another tractor-trailer and jackknifed into the median, the Florida Highway Patrol said. After leaving his cab, Folino was hit by a northbound car and died at the scene, investigators said. It is the fourth time in recent months that motorists have exited vehicles on busy South Florida highways and were fatally struck by fast-moving traffic. for more information please visit: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-04-08/news/fl-interstate-75-accident-20110408_1_truck-driver-busy-road-early-morning-crash

"Deadly Alligator Alley Crash"

WESTERN BROWARD (CBS4) – One person was killed, two others injured in a pre-dawn accident on Alligator Alley. Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Mark Wysocky said the accident happened around 2:30 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-75 near Mile Marker 31. Nineteen year old Bartley Gorman, who was driving a red Dodge pick up truck, rear-ended a Toyota 4Runner being driven by 51-year old Harry Dontfraid from North Ft. Myers. On impact Dontfraid lost control, went off the road and plunged into a canal. “The two occupants of the vehicle that went into the canal were both able to get out of the vehicle however one was able to get to the bank, but the second wasn’t able to and drown,” said Wysocky. According to Dontfraid, his passenger did not know how to swim. Dontfraid and Gorman, who is from Auburndale, were taken to the Cleveland Clinic in Weston to be treated for their injuries. The FHP has not released the name of Dontfraid’s passenger. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. “We’ll get some blood drawn to see if alcohol was involved, we’ll see if somebody may have fallen asleep,” said Wysocky, “That will all be part of our investigation.” for more information please visit: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/03/23/one-dead-two-hurt-in-alligator-alley-crash/

"Tampa woman, 19, killed in rollover crash on I-75"

Russell Colleran, 19, was driving a Dodge Caliber north on I-75 shortly after 10 p.m, the report said. Five passengers were in the vehicle with him at the time.

The vehicle was about six miles south of State Road 50 when, for unknown reasons, he drove off the road and onto the grass shoulder, the report said.

The vehicle overturned several times, and Tessa Byers, 19, who was in the rear seat, was thrown from the vehicle and onto the shoulder, the report said.

Byers died from her injuries at the scene of the crash.

Colleran sustained serious injuries and was taken to Pasco Regional Medical Center for treatment.

The other four passengers, ranging in age from 20 to 22, sustained minor injuries.

The Florida Highway Patrol said Colleran and the other four passengers were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash. However, Byers was not, the report said.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash.

For more information please visit: http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2011/march/215282/Tampa-woman-19-killed-in-rollover-crash-on-I75

"Truck driver arrested two days after rig hit I-75 bridge"

WESLEY CHAPEL — The semitrailer truck driver who crashed into a bridge on Interstate 75 Monday and left the scene was arrested Wednesday afternoon, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Troopers said Kenneth E. Cannon, 45, of Ruskin, was hauling a large backhoe north on I-75 when the piece of equipment struck the overhead span at Overpass Road at about noon Monday. The collision caused debris to fall onto the road, damaging two cars and creating a backup that stretched to State Road 56, the FHP said.

A passenger in the one of the vehicles suffered minor injuries and was hospitalized, the Highway Patrol said.

On Wednesday, investigators received an anonymous tip that led them to the backhoe Cannon delivered 30 minutes after the collision. Then they found Cannon at his job, Got Trucking, on U.S. 41 in Ruskin, troopers reported.

Cannon was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail on one count of leaving the scene of a crash with injury, three counts of leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and providing false information for a crash report. He was being held at the jail Wednesday night in lieu of $3,000 bail.

for more information please visit: http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/troopers-truck-driver-arrested-two-days-after-rig-hits-i-75-bridge/1154932