Woman Killed in I-4 Dump Truck Accident

A fatal dump truck accident killed a DeLand woman on Monday, April 28, 2014. The accident occurred shortly before 7 a.m. east of the St. John’s River Bridge on Interstate-4 (I-4). Other victims sustained minor injuries from the accident. Seconds before the accident occurred, the tread of the front left tire of the dump truck separated from the tire’s frame. This caused the dump truck to lose control and run off of the eastbound I-4 lane on which it was traveling. The truck ran through the guardrails separating the eastbound and westbound I-4 lanes and crashed into three westbound vehicles. Highway Accident Death The Florida Highway Patrol identified the victim as 32-year-old Logan Cool. Reports state that Cool was on her way to work when her black 2004 Honda sedan was stuck, killing her on the scene. The FHP reported that the dump truck first sideswiped a pickup truck, and a white sedan hit the guardrail after attempting to swerve out of the dump truck’s way. The truck struck the left side of Cool’s Honda, a collision which the FHP described as unavoidable. Minor Injuries The 51-year-old dump truck driver, Franklin Ramirez, was treated for minor injuries at Orange City’s Florida Hospital Fish Memorial. Fifty-seven-year-old Guillermo Rodriguez of Palm Coast, along with two other adults and a child, were treated for minor injuries at Central Florida Regional Hospital. A pickup driver named Michael Greeno, age 34, was also involved in the accident. However, Greeno was uninjured. Traffic Impact For a time, both the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-4 were closed. Due to the crash occurring in westbound lanes, westbound I-4 was closed for roughly four hours after the accident. The FHP also used this time to clean up roughly 60 gallons of fuel that spilled from the truck and onto the interstate. While the lanes were closed, hundreds of motorists were re-directed to side roads near the interstate. Side roads such as U.S. 17-92, State Road 415, and Dirksen Road were flooded with commuters attempting to travel between Orlando and West Volusia cities. Many of these commuters became stranded in hours of standstill traffic. Tread Separation The Florida Highway Patrol, as well as witnesses from the scene, have confirmed that tread separation was the cause of the dump truck’s loss of control. There does not appear to have been a “blowout” of the tire. The FHP is continuing its investigation of the accident and the truck to determine the nature of the tread separation and the exact cause of the...

read more