Bus crash sends 4 injured to the hospital
Four people were taken to the hospital after a LYNX bus collided with a car.
The Florida Highway Patrol reported seven people were involved in the crash on the 6700 block of Silver Star Road around 10 a.m. Thursday.
Troopers told News 13 a gold Buick crossed in front of the LYNX bus, causing some minor damage to the back of the Buick.
The driver of the car was not seriously hurt. She had two small children in the back seat, who were also not injured.
Police said four people were hospitalized as a precautionary measure, but all seemed to be OK.
2 children killed in trucking accident
Two teenage schoolmates in a car were killed and the driver badly hurt after their vehicle struck a large grain truck that had the right of way in a western Minnesota intersection, authorities said Thursday.
The crash occurred shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday about 3 miles south of Benson, killing passengers Cody DeVaan, 16, of rural DeGraff, and Benjamin Mast, 15, of Benson, said Swift County Chief Deputy John Holtz.
The driver, Justin Moist, 17, of rural Benson, was seriously injured and taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.
DeVaan and Mast were sophomores at Benson High School. Moist is a junior.
“The tragic automobile crash … left all of us at Benson Public Schools shocked and saddened,” Superintendent Lee Westrum said, adding that all after-school activities were called off Thursday.
“We opened the school up right away [Wednesday],” Westrum said. A crisis team of ministers, counselors and teachers was assembled, and several dozen kids “came up here and gathered.”
Westrum said DeVaan played on the sophomore football team and was described by his coach as “respectful, polite, a hard worker.”
Mast, a lover of hunting and fishing, was remembered by one of his teachers as having a “great sense of humor” who enjoyed kidding around with the staff and other students, the superintendent said.
Westrum said that Moist is “responsive and recovering. Hopefully, he’ll be out in a week.”
According to Holtz:
Moist’s car was heading north on 30th Avenue SE., and approached a yield sign at the intersection with 40th Street SE. The truck had no sign or signal to observe. The car struck the westbound truck near its left rear wheel.
DeVaan and Mast were thrown from the car. Moist was buckled in and remained behind the wheel after the crash. While Holtz said he didn’t know whether DeVaan and Mast were wearing their seat belts, he added that its rare for occupants to be thrown from a vehicle while buckled up.
Trucker in I-65 crash that killed 11 was on cell phone, speeding
The Alabama truck driver who slammed into a van on March 26 on Interstate 65 near Munfordville, Ky., killing 10 people and himself, was talking on a cell phone and may have been speeding, according to a state police accident report.
The report, obtained this week by The Courier-Journal through an open-records request, says the truck’s driver, Kenneth E. Laymon, was distracted and did not have his tractor-trailer under control when it crossed the median and rammed a van carrying Mennonites traveling to an Iowa wedding.
The report says another truck driver who witnessed the wreck estimated Laymon was traveling at 80 mph.
Killed in the van were John Esh, 64, owner of a vinyl-building business in Marrowbone, Ky., and his 62-year-old wife, Sadie Esh; their daughters, Rose, 40, Anna, 33, and Rachel, 20; their son, Leroy, 41, and his wife, Naomi, 33, and that couple’s adopted infant son, Jalen. Also killed were Joel Gingerich, 22, Rachel’s fiancé, and Ashlie Kramer, 22, an Esh family friend.
The only survivors of the crash, which is under federal investigation, were two adopted sons of Leroy and Naomi Esh — Josiah, 5, and Johnny, 3, who are being cared for by their maternal grandparents.
State police also concluded that Layman, of Fayette, Ala., may have exceeded the posted 70 mph speed limit based on the impact on the van and the damage to the truck when it eventually struck a rock wall.
Scott Hester, the owner of the Hester Inc., also of Fayette, Ala., which employed Laymon as a driver, said the report was “news to me.”
“Just because somebody wrote something on a piece of paper doesn’t mean it’s true,” he said in a phone interview.
Leroy Kauffman, pastor of Marrowbone Christian Brotherhood, who is related to some of the victims, said the factors listed as contributing to the accident are irrelevant.
“It’s done, and there is nothing we can do about it,” he said. “It was God’s will.”
He said his branch of the Mennonite church doesn’t believe in lawsuits, and none will be filed on behalf of survivors Johnny and Josiah Esh.
Florida man hit by a truck
An Avon Park man was killed on Wednesday while walking along U.S. 27.
According to Florida Highway Patrol’s Lt. Chris Miller on Thursday, the victim is from another unidentified country, and more information is being withheld until the family can be notified.
The 66-year-old man was struck and killed by a black Dodge pickup around 10 a.m. while walking on the west shoulder of the southbound U.S. 27 lane near Lake Byrd Boulevard, just north of Avon Park.
The 2005 Dodge pickup veered slightly to the right, hitting the man on the grass and knocking the man’s black loafers off his feet.
The pickup’s driver, 72-year-old Tommy Tyrone of Frostproof, initially left the accident scene without stopping, but returned approximately an hour later.
Tyrone was arrested for leaving the scene of a fatal accident, Miller said.
“If he would have stayed at the scene this would have been a simple traffic offense, but since he left, it is now a felony,” Miller added.
The accident report from FHP Corp. Albert Middleton stated that alcohol was not a factor in the driver’s actions, and the driver was wearing his seat belt.
One southbound lane near Lake Byrd Boulevard was closed as troopers investigated the incident.
No other charges were pending at press time, according to Miller.
Truck accident involving jackknifed big rig blamed on heavy fog
A major injury accident on Highway 101, north of Paso Robles, blocked both lanes around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, leaving authorities to determine which party was at fault.
A pick-up truck and another vehicle crashed into a big rig, which jackknifed and blocked the southbound lanes.
Emergency crews reported that the driver of the truck was found inside the cabin of his vehicle trapped and unresponsive. He was immediately taken to a local hospital with major injuries.
The Highway Patrol has since reopened both lanes, and believes a major factor in the accident may have been poor visibility due to heavy fog. Investigators have not yet determined which party is at fault.
If you have been injured in a Florida truck accident, or need the representation or legal advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer, contact the Shaked Law Firm at (877) LAW-0080.
Truck Accident Slows I-95 Traffic, No Reported Injuries
A tractor trailer jack-knifed on Interstate 95 southbound around 9:15 a.m. Thursday.
The roads are snow-covered and traffic southbound has come to a stop. It appears the truck is upright, but is facing the wrong direction. Emergency crews are on the scene.
Traffic is being diverted off the highway at exit 21.
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One dead, two others injured in car truck crash
One person is dead, and two others injured when a pedestrian attempted to cross Interstate-5 near milepost 81, in Lewis County on Wednesday.
Michael J. Wingert, 29, of Centralia, died when he was struck by a semi-trailer, driven by Andrew Napolean, of Vancouver, while crossing the Interstate on foot. The semi swerved to avoid hitting Wingert, side-swiping another vehicle, a 1999 Honda minivan, driven by Guicheng Yang, 46, of Coquilam, British Columbia.
The drivers, Napolean and Guicheng were not injured, but passengers in both vehicles sustained neck injuries and were transported to Centralia Providence Hospital.
All of the passengers were using seat belts, and it is unknown at this time if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.
At the Shaked Law Firm, we represent people involved in all types of accidents including car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accidents. Contact us today.
Accident on I-15 claims 2
A Colorado couple died instantly after a Dodge pickup crashed into their minivan near Beaver exit 112 of southbound Interstate 15 at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Utah Highway Patrol’s Public Information Officer Cameron Roden said a blue minivan driven by Robert E. Moore, 77, of Aurora, Colo., was traveling northbound on Interstate 15 when it slid into and across the median to the southbound lanes and was struck on the passenger side by the pickup. The Dodge Ram pickup was pulling a fifth-wheel trailer.
UHP said a passenger in the minivan, Bednonna M. Moore, 80, also of Aurora, died at the scene.
Exit 112 was closed off until midafternoon because of the accident, Roden said.
The occupants of the pickup sustained minor injuries and were transported to Beaver Valley Hospital. The truck’s driver was not identified.
Truck accident leaves spilled tomatoes behind
A California trucker could face charges after his semitrailer rolled on Interstate 70 in Utah, scattering a load of tomatoes about two miles from the Colorado border.
Utah Highway Patrolman Cameron Roden says 36-year-old Daniel C. Cox of Riverside, Calif., was driving east around 4 a.m. Tuesday when he descended a hill too fast and couldn’t negotiate a curve in the road. He says Cox suffered minor injuries.
Contact us if you or a loved one have been envolved in a trucking accident.
Roden says the wrecked semitrailer was struck later by another eastbound vehicle. Roden says an adult and child in that vehicle were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Roden says Cox was hauling tomatoes from California to Loveland. He expected Cox to be cited for undetermined traffic violations.
Doctors Amputate Part Of Leg After Truck Rollover
The female driver of a garbage truck lost part of a leg after surgeons needed to amputate the limb to extricate her from being trapped under the truck’s cab Friday.
Police said Gwendolyn Hightower, 36, of Miami, flipped the truck while making a turn in a residential area at 140th Avenue and Taft Street.
It took firefighters and surgeons one hour and 20 minutes to free Hightower, who is now in critical condition at Hollywood’s Memorial Regional Hospital.
A large tow truck was brought in to lift the truck off of Hightower and wood blocks were placed under the cab to pull the truck up in order to allow rescue teams to extricate her.
Fire and rescue could be seen from Sky 10 cutting off sections of the roof of the truck to peel it back in order to extricate the woman.
The crash happened just after 11 a.m. inside the gated Pembroke Falls community. Police said Hightower was steering from the passenger side of the truck when it flipped; the garbage truck has controls on both the passenger and driver sides.
A passenger inside the truck, 24-year-old Alex Wright, of Fort Lauderdale, was not injured, police said.
Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue would only describe the amputation as a surgical procedure, but Local 10 learned that part of Hightower’s leg was removed at the scene.
Hightower was airlifted by a Broward County Sheriff’s Office helicopter. She was immediately rushed into surgery at Memorial Regional Hospital, Local 10 reported.
The truck belongs to All Service Refuse of Fort Lauderdale.
Pembroke Pines police Sgt. John Gazzano said speed may have been a factor in the crash.
