October 27 Head-On Collision Seriously Injures 3, One a Child

On behalf of Terence Gross of Gross & Schuster, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, October 28, 2010.

A wrong-way driver caused a car accident yesterday that resulted in serious injuries to three people, one of whom was a child. The Florida Highway Patrol is still investigating the cause of the head-on collision on Fairfield Drive.

According to the Pensacola News Journal, the driver of a Jeep sport utility vehicle was traveling southbound on Fairfield Drive at about 3:30 on Wednesday, October 27. In the Jeep SUV were two passengers: an 18-year-old and a child.

When traffic in front of the Jeep SUV on the southbound lane came to a stop, the driver apparently entered the northbound lane, according to Florida Highway Patrol trooper Mike Black.

When the Jeep entered the opposing traffic lane, it collided head-on with a Pontiac Montana van that was travelling in the northbound lane. The car accident occurred near the intersection of Fairfield Drive and Pond Valley Drive in Hidden Lake Estates.

The driver of the van was evacuated by helicopter to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola.

“She had some pretty serious injuries,” said Trooper Black.

The 18-year-old passenger and the child were also injured in the car accident and were taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola by ambulance.

It is unclear whether the driver of the Jeep SUV was merely impatient with the traffic slow-down or had been unable to stop and was attempting to avoid a rear-end collision with the stopped cars. No mention of traffic or criminal charges was made in the Pensacola News Journal report. The FHP investigation into the car accident is continuing.

Source: Pensacola News Journal, “Head-on collision on Fairfield Drive injures 3,” October 28, 2010