At approximately 1:55 p.m. on August 7, the Florida Highway Patrol was called to a truck accident accident that occurred on Interstate 95 near mile marker 195 at the ramp for Fiske Boulevard in Brevard County. A 21-year-old Orlando man was driving south on I-95 in a 1997 GMC Van in the outside lane. A 65-year-old West Melbourne man was traveling in a 2008 semi-truck. The truck driver entered the southbound lanes of I-95 at Fiske Boulevard. The first driver said later that when he turned his view to his side rearview mirror, he saw the semi about to hit his own vehicle.
Because the van driver was driving on the entrance ramp, he had to cross the safety zone and enter the outside travel lane. Apparently, the van was traveling at a low rate of speed when he positioned his vehicle directly in front of the semi truck; the driver of the truck said that a collision with the van was unavoidable. Consequently, the front of the truck hit the back of the van, causing it to spin clockwise and move toward the west shoulder, where it flipped over and stopped.
All of the riders in the van were injured. A 21-year-old New Jersey man was ejected from the vehicle and taken to Wuesthoff Hospital in Rockledge, where he and the van driver were each treated for minor injuries. Another passenger was airlifted to Holmes Regional in serious condition, while a third passenger, listed as a citizen of Costa Rica, was killed.
Large commercial trucks can cause a devastating amount of damage when they are in truck accidents. A truck accident attorney may be able to gather evidence relevant to liability, such as inadequate repair work, driver fatigue, and little or no documentation regarding their truck’s servicing that may have led to a truck accident.
Source: Space Coast Daily, “Fatal Accident on I-95 in Rockledge“, August 07, 2013