FL: SC430 involved in accident in Davie on I-595/I-75 interchange
07-18-05, 10:20 AM
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FL: SC430 involved in accident in Davie on I-595/I-75 interchange
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines
Sports car plunges into pond; man dies in I-75 accident
Deputy, five motorists unable to reach sinking vehicle
By Michael Turnbell
Transportation Writer
Posted July 17 2005
Sunrise · Dennis James' instincts kicked in instantly Saturday when he saw a black Lexus sports car plunge into a pond off Interstate 75.
The off-duty Broward Sheriff's deputy pulled to the side of the road, took off his shirt and shoes, and jumped into the water to rescue whoever was inside the sinking car.
But it was too late.
Neither James nor five other motorists who also stopped to help could reach the car before it overturned and quickly sank in 35 feet of water about 3:45 p.m. The driver, Douglas D. Tran, 40, of Fort Lauderdale, was killed in the crash.
"It's a feeling of helplessness," said James, a 15-year Sheriff's Office veteran. "You're not able to do too much to help."
The Lexus was driving at a high rate of speed when it swerved off the road, hit a tree and lost its rear bumper before it entered the water, witnesses told troopers. It took divers from Sunrise and Davie fire departments and Broward Sheriff's Fire Rescue several hours to find the car and tow it to shore. Special air bags were used to raise the car to the surface.
James said he realized soon after he entered the pond that the car was a lot farther away. The murky water made it impossible to see anything.
"I got so tired that I felt like I was going to drown," said James, whose water-logged jeans weighed him down.
The crash backed up traffic on the southbound Sawgrass Expressway from I-595 to the Sunrise toll plaza.
No guardrails exist where the crash occurred. The state requires at least 60 feet from the edge of the road and the edge of the water before it will install a guardrail.
The man-made pond, created when the sprawling I-75/I-595/Sawgrass Expressway interchange was built, sits between the northbound and southbound lanes of I-75 in a median that stretches more than 100 feet wide.
The same pond was the scene of a string of accidents in 2000 and 2001.
In September 2000, a 70-year-old Weston man flipped his car into a shallow canal on the west side of I-75 and drowned. The car was in the water six hours before it was discovered.
In March 2001, a 56-year-old Sunrise man blacked out and wound up in the water. Three men dove in and saved him.
In June 2001, a 21-year-old Coral Springs man died when his car careened into the water after a tire blow out.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Ferrell said the cause of Saturday's crash is being investigated.
Sports car plunges into pond; man dies in I-75 accident
Deputy, five motorists unable to reach sinking vehicle
By Michael Turnbell
Transportation Writer
Posted July 17 2005
Sunrise · Dennis James' instincts kicked in instantly Saturday when he saw a black Lexus sports car plunge into a pond off Interstate 75.
The off-duty Broward Sheriff's deputy pulled to the side of the road, took off his shirt and shoes, and jumped into the water to rescue whoever was inside the sinking car.
But it was too late.
Neither James nor five other motorists who also stopped to help could reach the car before it overturned and quickly sank in 35 feet of water about 3:45 p.m. The driver, Douglas D. Tran, 40, of Fort Lauderdale, was killed in the crash.
"It's a feeling of helplessness," said James, a 15-year Sheriff's Office veteran. "You're not able to do too much to help."
The Lexus was driving at a high rate of speed when it swerved off the road, hit a tree and lost its rear bumper before it entered the water, witnesses told troopers. It took divers from Sunrise and Davie fire departments and Broward Sheriff's Fire Rescue several hours to find the car and tow it to shore. Special air bags were used to raise the car to the surface.
James said he realized soon after he entered the pond that the car was a lot farther away. The murky water made it impossible to see anything.
"I got so tired that I felt like I was going to drown," said James, whose water-logged jeans weighed him down.
The crash backed up traffic on the southbound Sawgrass Expressway from I-595 to the Sunrise toll plaza.
No guardrails exist where the crash occurred. The state requires at least 60 feet from the edge of the road and the edge of the water before it will install a guardrail.
The man-made pond, created when the sprawling I-75/I-595/Sawgrass Expressway interchange was built, sits between the northbound and southbound lanes of I-75 in a median that stretches more than 100 feet wide.
The same pond was the scene of a string of accidents in 2000 and 2001.
In September 2000, a 70-year-old Weston man flipped his car into a shallow canal on the west side of I-75 and drowned. The car was in the water six hours before it was discovered.
In March 2001, a 56-year-old Sunrise man blacked out and wound up in the water. Three men dove in and saved him.
In June 2001, a 21-year-old Coral Springs man died when his car careened into the water after a tire blow out.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Ferrell said the cause of Saturday's crash is being investigated.
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