Four Vehicle Collision Kills One on Florida Turnpike in West Boca, Florida

WEST BOCA, FL- Valliantnews.com writes that four vehicles crashed on the Florida Turnpike earlier this week. The morning crash killed one person.*

Three pickup trucks and one box truck were involved in the crash. The victim died at the scene, and one other person suffered injuries. Responders transported the injured individual to a nearby hospital for treatment. The crash appears to have been a chain-reaction.

Officials say that the roadway was backed up past the Sawgrass Expressway. 

One problem with chain-reaction collisions is that multiple impacts mean that vehicles are often not in the position to protect occupants after the first impact. This is a problem because these types of crashes are common, especially on busy roadways. A car may slow down and get hit by the car behind it, which in turn is struck by the car behind that, and so on. If the airbags deploy in the first impact, then they will not be there for the second impact, and the people in the vehicle can sustain serious injuries.

About 30 percent of crashes do involve multiple impacts. This could also happen if a car spins and strikes a car in another lane, or crashes and gets knocked off the road into a fixed object.

Car manufacturers are now working on a solution to help better protect people in these common scenarios. Hyundai is making airbags that will deploy multiple times in a row if the car is involved in multiple impacts. Designing these airbags is challenging in part because it is not always clear where the airbag should deploy after the initial crash has jostled occupants around. 

While not yet available, vehicles may have this additional safety option in the near future, and it could help reduce car accident fatalities.  

Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes.  To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.

Sources:

https://valliantnews.com/2019/12/05/one-dead-in-four-vehicle-crash-on-floridas-turnpike/

http://bestride.com/news/new-smarter-airbags-will-deploy-during-secondary-crash-impacts-to-keep-you-safer