Tanker truck flips onto car, killing Sarasota woman and shutting down U.S. 301 for hours
A tanker truck carrying 2,000 gallons of chlorine flipped over onto a car early Thursday, killing a Sarasota woman, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
At about 4:30 a.m. Thursday, the victim was heading north on U.S. 301 approaching 44th Avenue East in the left lane while the tanker trucker was also approaching the intersection in the left turning lane. But as the driver of the tanker attempted the left-hand-turn, the tanker lost control of the heavy load, dragging the car along with it into the southbound lanes before flipping onto the car.
“It is appears we had an inexperienced driver. He obviously took that turn way to fast,”’ Trooper Kenneth R Watson said. “Whenever you have a load that heavy, the momentum is going to shift and unfortunately there was a passenger vehicle.”
The driver of the car was pronounced dead by paramedics, but remained pinned inside the car for hours as crews work to offload the 2,000 gallons of chlorine that remained inside the tanker.
By mid-afternoon, the victim was able to be pulled out of the car and troopers were able to identify her — a 60-year-old Sarasota woman. Her identity has not yet been released as troopers were working to find and notify her next of kin.
None of the chlorine spilled onto U.S. 301, according to Watson. Southbound lanes were shut down for about 12 hours and traffic was diverted at 38th Avenue East.
The 39-year-old man driving the tanker truck was not injured.
This story was originally published September 16, 2021 at 12:19 PM.
