Fort Meade, FL — April 3, 2023, one person was killed and ten were injured due to a truck accident involving a migrant worker bus along U.S. 98.
Investigators said that the incident happened in the morning hours of Monday at the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and Adams Road. Polk County officials say that the incident happened when a bus carrying migrant workers crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed into a semi-tanker.
Due to the crash, statements say one person on the bus died as a result. At least ten others had unspecified injuries. The truck driver’s injuries were described as minor.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Authorities said the bus was on the way to Plant City strawberry fields at the time, and it appears the bus may be owned by Overlook Harvesting. Statements from them aren’t available right now.
Beyond this, there isn’t much information about what happened here. Early in the morning, people may be quick to assume something like fatigue caused the crash. That’s common enough, but all kinds of potential factors are worth considering. I’ve seen situations like distraction lead to this kind of crash. Maybe a tire blew out after the bus hit something in the road. Maybe the bus driver had some kind of medical emergency. It’s even possible this was all a highly unusual, unavoidable situation involving a manufacturing defect.
One way or another, something obviously went very wrong here. It’s going to take thorough investigations to find out what that was, how it could have been avoided, and what steps if any will help to avoid future accidents of this nature. A lot of hard working people nearly lost their lives here, and at least one of them did. It’s vital their families get some answers.
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