I-75 crash kills 3 including 2 young children, safety questions raised

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)— Three people are dead, including two young children, after a crash along Interstate 75.

Questions are growing about whether this tragedy could have been prevented. Where the crash happened on I-75, near mile marker 154, the center median had no guardrails or cable wires.

Because of that, safety advocates are questioning whether this stretch of road could be made safer for other drivers. The deadly crash claimed three lives, including two young children.

"It's a shame the three lives got lost, especially children," said Roger M'sadoques, a Punta Gorda resident.

The Florida Highway Patrol says a 28-year-old man was driving southbound on I-75 at a high rate of speed before crossing the grass median and entering the northbound lanes. Troopers say that's when he crashed into a Hyundai Santa Fe carrying the 25-year-old driver and two young boys, just 5 and 6 years old.

Safety advocate Stephen Eimers lost his own daughter in a guardrail crash nearly 10 years ago. He tells WINK News the wide median here may not have required a barrier, but that doesn't mean improvements aren't possible.

"Anytime you have a loss of three lives, you have to take a deep dive into this location and see if there's something that we could have done, a countermeasure, that we could have done that would have prevented this outcome?" Eimers said.

He believes a cable barrier could have helped stop the vehicle. "The Federal Highway Administration has pointed to data showing that when cable barrier center median barriers like that are deployed, especially in rural communities like what we have here, you can cut the fatality risk by 97%," Eimers said.

But some drivers aren't sure. "Guard rails would help it a lot, but if he hit that hard next speed, guard rails wouldn't help too much," M'sadoques said. 

WINK News contacted FDOT to see if they have plans to implement any median barriers and is awaiting a response. "Out of the 50 states that I have advocated in, FDOT has been, without a doubt, the most responsive DOT in the United States," Eimers said. 

Because of that, Eimers says he has no doubt that when they see this loss of life with these young children, they're going to take a closer look. FHP says the crash is still under investigation, and charges are pending.