FDOT Road Ranger cited for careless driving in deadly Buckman Bridge crash
Three months after a deadly crash on the Buckman Bridge the Florida Highway Patrol has cited the driver of a Road Ranger truck with careless driving.
Early on February 28, a Road Ranger was headed northbound toward Orange Park when the truck hit another vehicle, sending it into the St. Johns River. The occupant, a 61-year-old Jacksonville man, died.
According to a Florida traffic crash report, FHP says 23-year-old Lydell Correia operated his vehicle in a careless or negligent manner. Correia failed to see the slower vehicle ahead of him and attempted to change lanes to avoid a collision.
He was not distracted and his vision was not obscured, according to the crash report.
Correia refused both an alcohol and drug test, and the report says troopers did not suspect alcohol use.
The crash report identifies the man who died as Wilfrid Jouquin. He was not ejected from the vehicle, which was eventually lifted out of the St. Johns River.
A 2015 FDOT study of the Buckman Bridge led to several key takeaways about safety, the height of barrier walls, and more.
The study found only a small fraction of crashes where a vehicle went into the river. As a result of that study, FDOT began a bridge safety project that includes new overhead signage.
