I just read another sad story about a wrong way driver who caused a major crash in Central Florida. This time it was Arthur Robinson, of Deland, who found himself travelling the wrong way up State Road 417 late last Sunday night. Unfortunately, about the time he got to the crest of the overpass at State Road 434 in Oviedo, in Seminole County, he met a southbound mini-van full of adults and kids and caused an accident so severe that fire rescue personnel were shocked that anyone lived.
As I have posted before, in my experience handling Orlando car accident cases for over 17 years, wrong way driver accidents are almost always connected with alcohol, drugs, or both.
Of course, I don’t know anything about how Mr. Robinson found himself going the wrong way on this highway, but I do know that State Road 417 is a toll road and that the vast majority of its entrance and exit ramps are controlled by toll booths. Of course, most of these toll booths are unmanned these days, but one would think that a sober or unintoxicated driver might take a moment to pause before entering a toll both from the wrong direction, or might wonder why the little toll bucket is on the wrong side of the car.
The media reports indicated that the driver and front passengers of the mini-van were the worst injured — with the male being life-flighted to Orlando Regional Medical Center for treatment. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that their injuries are not debilitating or life-threatening. As an Orlando accident attorney, I am also going to keep my fingers crossed that all of the injured parties have the opportunity to be fully compensated for the injuries caused by this careless act.
I am going to hope that Mr. Robinson carried plenty of bodily injury liability coverage. Barring that, I am going to hope that the occupants of the van had the foresight to carry Uninsured Motorist coverage.
If you have any questions regarding FL car accidents, please call Kim Cullen at 407-644-4444.
