A tractor-trailer driver was critically hurt early Friday when the 18-wheeler crashed through the State Road 84 ramp from northbound I-95 and fell next to the highway below.
The big rig landed just off I-95’s travel lanes, coming to rest between a guardrail and the massive ramp wall.
The crash happened shortly after midnight and the driver had to be extricated from the truck’s smashed cab and taken to a hospital, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said.
Because of the crash, two northbound lanes of I-95 at the crash scene were closed to drivers — and remained closed after 10 a.m. Northbound I-95 delays were persisting.
Work crews were removing the wreck’s crumpled remains.
Initially, the truck came to rest with the cab against the ground and the trailer splayed at an angle of about 45 degrees.
Industrial-type tow trucks were later used to place the shattered cab onto the bed of a flatbed truck and to lower the trailer into a horizontal position.
There was no immediate information about what caused the crash or where the truck was heading.
The truck’s cab and trailer are marked Cheema. Cheema Freightlines is a trucking company based in the state of Washington which advertises itself online as a “market leader” in supply-chain trucking.
The ramp leading from I-95 to State Road 84 has been the location of serious crashes in the past. In August of 2017, a 17-year-old boy was killed and four other juveniles were seriously hurt when the speeding Mazda they were in slammed into the ramp’s concrete barrier wall and fell to the roadway — with the car landing on its roof. Authorities said the teen’s were in a stolen car.
A 2013 Sun Sentinel report detailed several deadly crashes that have happened at the interchange of ramps and flyovers where I-95 meets State Road 84. In the six previous years, at least six fatal crashes had occurred at the interchange.
This story will be updated. Check back for more information.
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