On the eve of an extended Independence Day weekend expected to break a travel record in Florida, Palm Coast and Flagler County roads were the scene of a succession of three unrelated crashes in the space of a few hours this morning, resulting in two deaths and two men transported to hospitals.
The first crash was reported to 911 at 7:47 a.m. as a vehicle-versus-pedestrian on Pine Lakes Parkway and Wellington Drive, near the golf course.
A minivan driven by a 91-year-old Palm Coast man was traveling toward Belle Terre Parkway when it struck an elderly man who had apparently been crossing the road. The collision threw the man against the hood and the middle of the windshield of the minivan. “That kind of injury you can see on the windshield, we call that spidering,” Palm Coast Fire Department Battalion Chief Patrick Juliano, who was at the scene, said. “You can see the significant damage on the front end of that vehicle.”
The victim was reported to 911 to be non-responsive and not breathing and had died before firefighter-paramedics arrived. Firefighters secured the area, mitigating other risks–including disconnecting the car’s battery to prevent secondary incidents–then turned the scene over to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, which then turned it over to the Florida Highway Patrol for its traffic homicide investigation.
FHP and 911 dispatch notes had initially referred to the victim as a woman, whose identity FHP said was not yet known. FHP later corrected the victim’s sex to a man.
Traffic was closed in both directions on Pine Lakes, with traffic from Belle Terre diverted to Wynnfield Drive and traffic toward Belle Terre diverted at Wellington Drive.
The investigation was still ongoing when a driver who’d taken Wynnfield had a medical episode, Juliano said, and crashed against two mailboxes and a utility pole in the front yard of a house between Warner Place and Waters Drive. That crash took place at 12:08 p.m.
Paramedics helped the man out of his car and to a rescue unit. “One patient was transported, no significant damage or significant injuries,” Juliano said, though the crash caused some congestion on Wynnfield due to the increased traffic from the diversion.
The second fatality was reported to 911 at 8:21 a.m. from State Road 100 at Black Point Road, just west of Deen Road. The crash involved a semi truck and a pick-up truck, and resulted in the death of the semi truck driver, according to Flagler County Fire Rescue Chief Michael Tucker
The semi was a loaded logging truck. As FHP described the collision, the Chevrolet pick-up was traveling onto State Road 100 from Black Point Road. The Mack semi was traveling westbound 100. The Chevrolet pulled in front of the Mack, causing a t-bone collision, sending both vehicles off the road and colliding with a tree.
The cab of the semi was separated from the rest of the truck after logs had crashed into the cab, which ended on its side.
The 52-year-old driver of the semi truck, from Palatka, was pronounced deceased at the scene at 8:30 a.m. The 31-year-old driver of the pick-up truck, from Bunnell, was flown by Flagler County FireFlight as a trauma alert to Halifax hospital in Daytona Beach. State Road 100 was closed in both directions, causing considerable congestion.
The two fatalities today bring the total number of deaths on Flagler County roads to 12 so far this year, including two pedestrians.
Juliano cautioned holiday travelers. “Be patient, give enough time to travel, be aware of parking especially if we have construction going on,” he said, referring to driving in Palm Coast especially. “There is going to be be a lot of heavy traffic on the south end of the city on July 4, so really be patient, allow traffic to move.” The July 4 fireworks are scheduled at the county airport at 9 p.m. on July 4. Scores of public safety personnel and volunteers will be regulating the event’s traffic. “Just listen to their instructions,” Juliano said.
AAA, the auto club. projects that more than 4.6 million Floridians will travel at least 50 miles from home for the Independence Day period, which AAA considers to be from June 27 through Sunday, July 5. More than 4 million will drive to their destination, with the rest flying or taking cruises. The numbers will set a new travel record.
Leave a Reply