A lumber truck driver was killed and a woman was seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash in the southbound lanes of I-95 early this morning (May 6), just north of the Matanzas Woods Parkway intersection.
The crash took place at 3:19 this morning. I-95 was closed in both directions shortly after that as the flatbed truck’s cargo of construction lumber was strewn all over both sides of the six-lane highway. Traffic was diverted onto U.S. 1. The southbound lanes remained closed from U.S. 1 to Matanzas Woods Parkway as crews worked to remove the debris before reopening fully at 8 a.m.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol trooper at the scene this morning, a young woman was at the wheel of a white sedan, driving south. She lost control. “It appears to be a distraction issue,” the trooper said. The woman would later tell troopers that she had been distracted by her phone. An FHP release specified that the woman is an 18-year-old Palm Coast resident.
Both the woman and the truck driver were traveling in the center lane, the woman just ahead of the trucker.
As the woman’s sedan swerved toward the outside lane, she over-corrected and veered back toward the center lane, the front of the sedan striking the rear side wheel of the truck, causing the truck to lose control. The trucker, 56, of Jacksonville, crashed and overturned along the median, according to FHP. (Troopers initially believed there had been no collision between the two vehicles, just evasive maneuvers. Further investigation indicated the slight collision.)
The trucker was ejected through the windshield and killed. The sedan ended up in the grassy shoulder on the west side of the highway.
The woman was transported to a hospital by ground with “serious bodily injury,” the trooper said.
By dawn a dumpster had been trucked to the scene and two Bobcats were sweeping the southbound lanes of debris that had stretched over the distance of a football field or two. John’s Towing, the Bunnell tower, brought out its new “rotator” (a mobile crane) to remove the truck and Bobcats to clean the highway. The crews were still working there at mid-morning, cleaning fuel spills and other issues.
In addition to FHP, the Palm Coast Fire Department, Flagler County Fire Rescue, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the Palm Coast Fire Police reported to the scene of the 15th fatality on Flagler County roads so far this year. FHP is not releasing the names of the victims.
L Shaver says
If it was “distracted driving” she should be charged with manslaughter.
Aj says
No she caused death should be murder. It wasnt that she was paying attention and messed up. She was distracted by her phone. Other articles said she was texting.
Mary Blythe says
Absolutely! We are responsible when we get behind the wheel. Period. A man’s life is lost now. :(
Concerned citizen2 says
Driver distracted? Sounds like cell phone issue. Cell phone should be confiscated, interogated, if was an issue , should be charged with manslaughter. However in our PC society can not infringe on peoples rights! Poor trucker just trying to make a living
Outsider says
Well, if this doesn’t convince everyone to stop texting and driving, nothing will. The truck driver gave his/her life to save someone else from herself. What a wasteful tragedy. My condolences to the truck driver’s family; he committed a truly selfless act. I hope the young woman recovers, but she will have to live with this for the rest of her life.
Sad family member says
Agree. And to top it all off the truck drivers’ wife’s birthday is today. What a sad way to start your birth day off.
Krystal Kunjufu says
Wow so sad my heart and prayers are with her my bf died 3 years ago tboned by a semi and my first husband died also in a car crash in 2006 also my nieces fiance worked with him was close to him said he was a hard worker and a good man !!!! RIP sir I’m so sorry your l iui feel was taken for something so stupid as a cell phone!!!! Please give her my condolences and my love!!!!
Debi says
I wish you were correct, however, this is not the first death caused by a phone. I don’t think we have learned anything…:-(
Until It's Safe says
I-95 in that area simply isn’t safe. Why do people drive on it?
Hmmm says
What are you talking about? That “area”? What area? You talk like theres a series of blind curves. And how else are you supposed to travel distances?
Until It's Safe says
Hmmm – it was said tongue in cheek! My point – “until it’s safe” means never.
Stacy says
It isn’t “that area” of I-95 that’s the problem it’s the drivers. There is nothing unsafe about “that area”
KC says
Th is accident has absolutely NOTHING to do with the ‘area’. Clearly it states the sedan driver was distracted by her cell phone, from her own confession.
Ronnie says
There is always someone who wants to shift the blame- so you are blaming it on the road?!
Until It's Safe says
OK – let me clear all of this up. We keep hearing “until it’s safe”. We won’t let people go back to work “until it’s safe”. Schools and sporting arenas can’t reopen “until it’s safe”. Airplanes fall of of the sky and kill people on the ground (perhaps even in their bed). Cars strike and kill bicyclist. According to the CDC the H1N1 (current “common” flu) killed an estimated 95,000 people between 2017 and 2019 (if you don’t believe it look it up). We HAVE a vaccine for H1N1. As for that stretch of I-95, it’s STRAIGHT and LEVEL. Safe right? If your answer is YES then why do so many people die out there each year? Because they go about their travels (and lives) knowing there are risks in almost everything they do. Do they stay home from work because the might be killed in an auto accident. No. Do they not ride their bicycle because a car might hit and kill them? No. Until it’s “safe” means never.
CB from PC says
I feel your “pain”.
Mike Biggs says
Here we go again. One of those, “We can’t do anything and we’re gonna die, so we might as well just let it happen without any attempt to make it safer, cause that ain’t never gonna happen.” Of course, they’re talking about Covid with mentioning it and we all know it. If you think it’s okay to go out and expose yourself, have at it, meanwhile many of us will work to alleviate the risks and survive.
Outsider says
That section of I-95 in Palm Coast is not safe because it is frequently travelled by drivers from Palm Coast. And no, this is not supposed to be a joke.
Tired of it says
She needs to be arrested & charged with vehicular homicide. This is getting ridiculous. PUT THE PHONE DOWN!!!!
Vicki says
You are so right! No mercy for anyone that takes another’s life by distracted driving! Condolences to the grieving family 😥
blondee says
Distracted. By. Her. Phone. Was that worth it?
Sad Sally says
Jeez! She killed a man because she was looking at her phone…what a waste.
oldtimer says
Turn your damn phones OFF while driving
John H. Yankovich says
Wanna bet she was texting! And what is an 18 yr old girl doing out at 3:19 am? One of the maxim of life is that nothing good happens between midnight and 6 am. Truck driver just trying to make a living now dead!
LawAbidingCitizen says
don’t get me wrong, I think this is a horrible tragedy. but what does where she was going at that time of the night have to do with anything. maybe she was going to work, maybe she had an emergency. We simply do not know. she made a mistake, and will have to live the rest of her life with that, and im sure she will get in some trouble. but unfortunately these things happen. WHAT IF a deer ran out in front of her car, would you be crucifying her the same way??
Pam Ricco says
That would be completely different…she had a choice to pay attention and watch the road OR look at her phone…she MADE THE CHOICE that took the life of an innocent person just trying to make a living. You are comparing apples to oranges…a deer or animal would make that an accident…HER TEXTING MADE IT MURDER through negligence, selfishness, disregard of anyone else around her…YES she WILL live with this for the rest of her life…but the key words there are SHE WILL LIVE…unlike the poor trucker….
My deepest sympathies and prayers for the truckers family and prayers for the girl that hopefully she learned her lesson and can use it to maybe deter others from making her same CHOICE —NOT MISTAKE!!!
LawAbidingCitizen says
this article never says she was texting, it says she was distracted! if she was or wasn’t texting, WE DONT KNOW. so you PAM RICCO do not know if she made a choice to do that. Her phone may have rang, and she glanced at it, and became distracted.
Again, I am not saying she is innocent, but this could definitely be accidental, and IF SO, she will live the rest of her life with the guilt of the outcome. Im sure she will still get some sort of punishment, but we are all sitting here like keyboard commando’s acting like we know exactly what happened.
WE Do NOT KNOW ALL THE DETAILS. and are speculating as to what really happened. literally the only details we know; 1. a young driver was driving her car, and was distracted by her phone. 2. a man lost his life…… that’s it
**prayers to this mans family, for their loss**
steve says
IMO Tractors going in excess of 70 MPH easily everywhere and needs to stop.
Hmmm says
How is your comment relevant to the story? A man gets hit by an out of control car, and dies. And your comment places blame on the truck driver, like he did something wrong?
Marcus Aurelius says
70 mph has nothing to do with it .
It’s a safe speed on a straight interstate,
but if your NOT a truck driver you wouldn’t know that!
It’s the 4 wheeler cars/drivers that don’t have enough education driving around Semi Trucks that is the clincher .
My condolences to the truck drivers family and hope the girl survives , no point in 2 senseless deaths .
People really need to focus on driving and nothing else behind the wheel.
Mary Fusco says
Why is it automatically the truck driver’s fault? I have been on 95 and going a pretty good speed and cars were passing right by me like I was standing still. The girl admitted that she was distracted by her phone, which means she was either talking or texting. She lost control, over corrected and hit the rear tire of the truck which caused him to lose his life. For what? Some kid texting “where r u” or some other idiocy. People so damn worried about this virus and it is ashats on phones driving that will kill you faster. Trucks can’t stop on a dime, especially ones that are loaded. I feel for this man and his family. Hopefully this girl learned a lesson but she should be charged. I have a cell phone and it is off and in my purse when I am driving. Nothing I will hear or say is more important than my life or someone else’s.
Robert says
She must of have been too since she ran into him. Speeding is NOT the issue here. The issue is phone addiction same as DWI.
Wayne Holmes says
Steve, the driver killed in this accident was a professional and a friend. The driver was close to 40 years in the industry as a matter of fact he was one of the most devoted and selfless employees a company could ever hope for, I know this because I worked with him. It a shame that a young person on the road in the early morning hours will now have something on her concise that will stay with her for the rest of her life. My friend was doing his job in a professional manner and unfortunately lost his life doing a job that he could not have been anymore proud of than this man was. I was honored to call him a friend.
Barbara says
I’m sorry for this terrible loss and for you friend losing his life. Please covey all of our prayers and concern to his family.
Tammy says
First, I am so very sorry for the truck driver’s family; our thoughts and prayers are with you. Second, I’m glad that so many of you were with her in the car to know that she was distracted by her cell phone! Maybe let the investigators investigate before we convict her of manslaughter. Maybe she WAS distracted by her cell phone, or maybe she just got off work and was heading home and was more tired than she thought. There are a lot of things that could have happened.
Hmmm says
Did you read the article? It says she told troopers she was distracted by her phone!!
Mary Fusco says
Tammy, if you read the article she stated to the Trooper that she was distracted by her phone. She killed an innocent may because of phone addiction. People need to put their GD phones off and away when they are driving. There is Nothing and I repeat, Nothing so important that you need to lose your life over or another person’s for your idiotic need to answer a phone, talk on one or text on one. Pay attention to the road. Or is that not necessary anymore.
PeachesMcGee says
Please cite your evidence that the truck driver was going in excess of 70mph.
Trailer Bob says
My condolences to the truck drivers family and friends, and hope for the woman. Please…drive you car and stop trying to multitask when driving. I wonder if we will ever really know just how many people have died because people feel the need to screw around on their phones/mini computers while driving. I only takes a second sometimes to take someone’s life. No one needs to know what you just did every second of the day.
Brian says
Put down the damn phones and DRIVE
frank basile says
distracted driver. see it all the time. poor victim.
Merciless says
Self driving technology in this country could not come soon enough to help prevent stupid nonsense like this. Driving is a privilege that is all too often mistaken as some sort of socialized human right. The human body is simply not built for being hurled through space and time at 70+ miles per hour, with others around us, and the interstates are a fast path to death if you don’t take the responsibility of driving seriously.
This is a hard lesson learned for the young woman. A man, a father, a son, doing his job, has died because of another’s blatant negligence and immaturity. Who knows why she was out at 3am on a local drive on a Wednesday morning, during a pseudo lockdown period due to a pandemic. But I think the penalty needs to be severe. If she has to spend the next 5 years in a Florida state prison, or a federal prison (interstate), that would do her some good. That’s plenty of time, in extreme bordome with her own thoughts, to really go over what has happened here and the impact she has had on likely many many other lives. She’ll be 23, maybe 25, still quite young, and then the rest of her entire life to move forward and to hopefully better herself and others around her. Her parents, friends, whomever can call, visit, whatever while locked up. They’ll all be okay. Meanwhile, the driver of the truck will not have the rest of his life. His wife, his kids, his parents, his dogs, all will no longer have any part of their lives with him directly because of the negligence of this woman-child.
We’re far too lenient and naive in this country when it comes to the responsibities required to get behind the wheel of a car. Kill someone? Go home, sleep it off. We just brush it off as “accidents”. I don’t think that’s an excuse to just forgive and forget. You senselessly took a life. There should be severe social and economic penalties beyond just a traffic citation. Negligently kill or severely maim someone while operating a moving motor vehicle, minimum manadary 5 years. Let’s finally start putting some teeth behind these empty or oftentimes non-existent traffic laws!
NA says
As tragic as this event is to both drivers, charging the 18 year old criminally does not fit statutorily. Though I’m sure FHP will conduct a thorough investigation and charge the 18 year old with the appropriate civil violations.
Listed below, for everyone’s review, is FSS for Vehicular Homicide….
782.071 Vehicular homicide.—“Vehicular homicide” is the killing of a human being, or the killing of an unborn child by any injury to the mother, caused by the operation of a motor vehicle by another in a reckless manner likely to cause the death of, or great bodily harm to, another.
(1) Vehicular homicide is:
(a) A felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
(b) A felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, if:
1. At the time of the accident, the person knew, or should have known, that the accident occurred; and
2. The person failed to give information and render aid as required by s. 316.062.
This paragraph does not require that the person knew that the accident resulted in injury or death.
(2) For purposes of this section, the term “unborn child” has the same meaning as provided in s. 775.021(5).
(3) A right of action for civil damages shall exist under s. 768.19, under all circumstances, for all deaths described in this section.
(4) In addition to any other punishment, the court may order the person to serve 120 community service hours in a trauma center or hospital that regularly receives victims of vehicle accidents, under the supervision of a registered nurse, an emergency room physician, or an emergency medical technician pursuant to a voluntary community service program operated by the trauma center or hospital.
History.—s. 16, ch. 74-383; s. 6, ch. 75-298; s. 12, ch. 86-296; s. 14, ch. 96-330; s. 9, ch. 98-417; s. 1, ch. 99-153; s. 2, ch. 2001-147; s. 5, ch. 2014-194.
hawkeye says
I agree with all these comments about this girl ,as far as I am concerned ,she should be charged with manslaughter, SHE caused this mans death. Was her BAC checked ? 18 year old at 319 AM= no good.
EDWARD L SOMERS says
Well, at least she admitted to being distracted. Now what remains is a competent investigation to determine if charges are warranted. I dislike sound judgmental…but an 18 y.o. and a cell phone…
Ron T. says
My prayers go out to the friends, family, and coworkers of this trucker. We will miss you more than you know. Rest in peace dear friend.
amazed says
55 saves lives! Reagan campaign maybe? cant remember , but how is your reaction time at 55 mph over 70 mph+? I think its time to lower speed limits for Trucks to 55 and cars to 60, on highways. And to 50 mph on Rt. 1.
marcia w. says
My condolences to the family
The young woman was definitely in the wrong. However, would the truck driver still die if he was wearing his seatbelt…just saying.
I don’t believe he would of been thrown through his windshield if he was wearing one.
FlaglerLive says
The truck driver was wearing a seat belt, according to FHP.
Tammy says
Condolences to the Truck Drivers Family and Friends!! The young lady driving the sedan will have to live the rest of her life knowing she killed someone. I do think some charges should be filled!! She should also speak at schools, pictures should be shone and she should be reminded she took a life!!
Sophia says
The driver was my long time friend from childhood. He was a good guy, and now he is gone because of a phone. My heart breaks for him and his family. Please put down your phones when driving.
Ron says
In my opinion, if the driver of the car lives, and/or gets out of prison, she shouldn’t be allowed to drive ever again! I drive truck also and can see down into peoples cars, and I’ll bet that at least 75% of people driving cars have got their phone in their hand or texting as they go past me.
palmcoaster says
I am so sorry for the truck driver and his family!! May God help them!
Maria Darcy says
Driving is a privilege. At eighteen years old, at that hour of the morning, an unsuspecting person loses their life because of another person’s lack of responsibility. It would not be unreasonable to revoke this young person’s driving privileges for the next ten years. Perhaps by that time they will have grown up, realize the pain and loss to the truck drivers family, and drive responsibly.
Bc. says
Distracted driving with cell phones is completely out of hand and the hundreds or thousands of death caused by this could be stopped with a four dollar part that car manufacturers can install where it would block any signal coming in or out of a running car into a cell phone. In the meantime there should be very stiff fines if caught. Five hundred first offense and second offense one thousand and loss of license for one year. I think this is worth a life even the idiot on the phone. I do hope the state police should check her phone and if she was on it she should be charged. The law needs to crack down on distracted driving.
Beth says
Exactly! 18 years old lady does not have the common sense when it is surrounding with trucks and cars then it should be never pick up the phone!! When the trucks and cars are (NOT SURROUNDING) then pick up the phone. That is the key. Use the common sense. I am deaf driver with eyes to see the cars and trucks that are surrounding me and my car. It should never pick up the cell phone. The road is clear. Please use the common sense!!!
Concerned Citizen says
My condolences to the victims family. Another life lost needlessly to distracted driving.
As a retired Public Safety professional I have seen my share of deadly accidents. And agree that if she was driving distracted then the appropriate charges should be filed. And she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. She killed a human being by her reckless behavior.
As I have mentioned before I drive a lot for my job. I have a territory that ranges from Southside Jax to Daytona Beach Shores. Several years ago before the state did their thing my company insituted a zero tolerance policy for distracted/aggressive driving. We are not allowed to use our phones in a company vehicle except for hands free calling. And only when we are stopped. Our usage is monitored. And if you are the cause of an accident or are issued any sort of citation it’s automatic termination. No questions asked. This has made me a much safer driver and I carry these habits in my personal vehicle.
I have worked as a Deputy Sheriff and then retired out of Fire Rescue. Every part of my career required Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC). As such I know a good bit about driving. When you are behind the wheel of a vehicle you should be doing NOTHING but DRIVING. if an incident occurs and you have to react you have priceless seconds to do it. As soon as you take your eyes off the road you loose that safety margin.
I get behind distracted drivers every day. When you are on the phone you speed up then slow down. You change lanes with no warning,tailgate or nearly run stop signs. and lights. And that also includes the drivers who aren’t distracted but are just asshats.
In Florida it is now a Primary offense to text and drive. Sadly it isn’t being enforced. And neither is aggresive driving. How many more deaths do we need to have on our roadways before Law Enforcement “stops being busy” and dedicates some time to make the roads safe?
Put the phones and devices down. I promise it can wait.
PeachesMcGee says
“She told troopers that she was distracted by her phone”.
Sadly, a man lost his life due to her negligence.
ASf says
I hope they also did a TOX screen on the driver of the Sedan.
Resident says
This is a Heart Breaking for the driver and a horrible incident. But I like how many on here are the judge and jury of what has happened. I hope you are never on a murder trial like I have been on without knowing all the facts.
There is nothing that says this lady was texting just distracted. What if you were driving this early in the AM and your phone rang and you glanced at it tired and over corrected. Im not saying she is innocent, Im saying we don’t know the facts and if it was more of something, then the FHP would of arrested her.
Its a tragedy, and unfortunately things happen. Our Lord decides when its our time, so sometimes you have very little control. Don’t Judge as you do not want to be judged until you know the whole facts. I sat in on a murder trial years ago and was asked not to judge until I heard all the facts.
Jarred Tazewell says
Very sad. You never know when it’s time. Prayers go out to both families