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Law Enforcement Paperwork On I-4 Pileup Begins To Flow

News Channel 8 photo by PETER MASA (Jan. 9, 2008)

Seventy vehicles were involved in a four separate crashes on I-4 the morning of Jan. 9, 2008.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 4, 2008

LAKELAND - The first installment of perhaps thousands of pages of reports and documentation of the massive pileup on Interstate 4 in Polk County in January trickled into public view this morning with narratives that laid out in detail what happened but nothing to hint at the chaos and confusion that greeted first responders.

The Florida Highway Patrol released nearly 150 pages of reports documenting a string of crashes that killed five and sent nearly 40 to area hospitals. In all, 70 vehicles were involved in crashes before dawn Jan. 9.

Fog shrouded a road that was strewn with debris over a couple of miles, mostly on an eastbound stretch of the interstate near Polk City.

Most of the reports are short, from four to six pages. The one that documents a wreck that claimed three people is 26 pages long.

That narrative says collisions ignited several vehicles, including a tractor-trailer.

Many of the reports have diagrams showing the way the vehicles came to rest on the highway.

Here's a sample of the text:

"Vehicle 16 was stopped in the inside lane, due to a previous crash. Vehicle 1 stopped behind Vehicle 16. Vehicle 3 and Vehicle 5 were stopped in the center lane. Vehicle 4 was eastbound in the inside lane and struck the rear of Vehicle 1 with its front. Vehicle 1 was propelled forward by impact, striking the rear of Vehicle 16 with its front. Vehicle 16 was propelled forward by impact, coming to rest."

Report after report reads the same way.

On the day of the crash, drivers and witnesses said fog was a major cause of the series of crashes, fog that is said to have mixed with smoke from a nearby out-of-control brush fire, cutting visibility to near zero.

One report did note that fog and smoke caution signs were posted in the area.

The reports don't mention those conditions as causes.

They do name drivers, passengers and vehicle makes and models in a stark black-and-white portrayal of what happened.

In one report, troopers list careless driving as contributing factors for four vehicles.

"The drivers of these vehicles failed to drive in a careful and prudent manner," the report states. But the report stops short of indicating whether citations were issued the day of the crash to those people.

Troopers have said some of the drivers may receive citations in the mail. Drivers in the westbound lanes, who were involved in minor crashes as they tried to get off the backed-up interstate, were issued tickets by troopers that morning. Reports of those were included in today's paperwork.

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