Palm Coast, FL – A 53-year-old Ormond Beach man is in critical condition following a rear-end crash that closed an Interstate 95 exit ramp for around 2 hours.
The Florida Highway Patrol says it happened around 10 AM Saturday on the northbound exit ramp to State Road 100 in Palm Coast.
FHP Sergeant Andrew Litzell says James Austin – the driver of a 2007 Honda Accord – was rescued from that vehicle before it completely sunk in a retention pond after rear-ending a 2015 Chevrolet Sonic driven by 40-year-old Seamus O’Connor.
“The driver of [the Accord] veered across all the northbound lanes of I-95 and traveled through the grass area between the interstate and exit ramp,” Litzell stated. “[The Accord] then entered the exit ramp [and] the front then collided with the rear of [the Sonic].”
The crash sent the Sonic in a counter-clockwise spin through a grassy area west of the exit ramp, smashing into a metal guardrail before coming to a complete stop.
FHP’s accident report shows the Accord hit the northbound overpass wall after rear-ending the Sonic and then drove right into a retention pond east of the exit ramp.
“[Austen] was removed from the vehicle by bystanders and deputies from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office,” Litzell added.
Austen was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center for treatment and will be cited for careless driving and failing to have his driver’s license on him at the time of the crash, per FHP.
More charges are pending as troopers try to determine if alcohol or drugs were in Austen’s system at the time of the crash.
O’Conner – a resident of Blackwood, New Jersey – wasn’t injured, according to the FHP report.
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