ORANGE COUNTY, Florida—One fatal crash turned into another fatal crash early Monday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Around 3:20 a.m., a 22-year-old female of Orlando was stopped in a sedan for an unknown reason in the right southbound travel lane of Florida’s Turnpike at mile marker 269 near Winter Garden, according to FHP Lt. Kim Montes. A 22-year-old man of Port Clinton, Ohio was traveling southbound in a pickup truck and failed to see the sedan stopped in the travel lane. The truck struck the rear of the sedan, and the female was killed; the pickup truck driver received minor injuries. Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts.
At approximately 5 a.m., emergency responders were working the crash, with only the left southbound lane open. A Road Ranger was parked in the lane next to the open southbound lane with lights and an arrow board activated, assisting with the crash, Montes said. Cones were also placed in the area directing drivers to the open lane. A 32-year-old woman of Kissimmee driving a sedan, failed to slow for the emergency vehicles, drove through the cones and rear-ended the Road Ranger truck. The Road Ranger, a 28-year-old man of Groveland, sustained minor injuries and the woman was transported to Orlando Health – Health Central Hospital in Ocoee, where she later died. She was wearing a seatbelt. Both crashes remain under investigation, Montes said.
January is Move Over Month, a campaign to remind drivers they are required to move over a lane or slow down if they cannot safely move over for emergency and service vehicles. In 2021, there were 191 crashes and more than 14,000 citations written for failure to move over, according to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT.) “We remind drivers that they need to pay attention at crash scenes, as we are having more emergency vehicles struck, while actively assisting at another crash,’ Montes said.
