Volusia County, FL — November 12, 2024, one person was killed and two were injured following a semi-truck accident at 11:45 p.m. along I-95.
Authorities said in preliminary statements that the crash happened near the State Road 44 exit in the New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater area.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a sedan was on northbound lanes of the interstate. For reasons which aren’t clear right now, an approaching semi-truck crashed into the car from behind. The sedan caught fire as a result, and the driver was killed. Two people in the semi were taken to the hospital with reportedly minor injuries.
Right now, the cause of the crash remains unconfirmed.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Generally speaking, a rear-end collision like this raises a lot of red flags. It’s possible for a collision like this to be unavoidable. For all we know, the victim’s vehicle was disabled without lights on, or maybe the semi had some unexpected mechanical issue due to a defect. The more likely cause, of course, is that speeding, distracted driving, or following too closely led to the crash. But even in those situations it’s important investigations go beyond the crash scene itself. There may have been mistakes that happened long before the driver got behind the wheel that led to the accident.
For example, I’ve handled hundreds of commercial vehicle accident cases, and many of them involve negligent employers. One recent case involved a truck driver was behind the wheel for over 20 hours straight. As we dug into things, it came to light that the driver’s employer routinely set ludicrous deadlines, and they expected driver to cut every corner possible to meet those deadlines. It was inevitable that these drivers engaging in reckless behavior to meet these unreasonable expectations would eventually cause an accident, but the company just didn’t give a damn.
Something like that is a lot more complex than just an individual driver looking at their phone or going too fast. That’s why a crash like this can’t be approached as just some open-and-shut, run-of-the-mill accident. There’s a family out there who lost a loved one, and they deserve to know all possible factors are being properly addressed. Are authorities here taking those steps?
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