A Road Ranger from Lake County was injured while assisting with a fatal accident investigation on the Florida Turnpike.
The fatal accident occurred at 3:20 a.m. Monday at Mile Marker 239 and claimed the life of a 22-year-old woman from Orlando, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The 28-year-old Road Ranger from Groveland was assisting in the investigation of the accident at 5 a.m. with the turnpike down to one lane of travel.
As the fatal accident was being investigated, a 32-year-old Kissimmee woman failed to slow down and drove through the orange cones used for directing traffic into the one open lane. Her vehicle struck the Road Ranger’s truck which had its emergency lights activated and its arrow board was illuminated. The Kissimmee woman suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The Road Ranger suffered minor injuries.
The irony is that the crash occurred during “Move Over Month” which is well publicized each January by FHP.
“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,” said Lt. Kim Montes of FHP.
