A TV news station in South Florida is reporting that tractor-trailer drivers are wrongfully using highway shoulders for rest stops and thus pose a danger to other drivers.
After three hours of observing roughly 20 miles of Interstate 95 between Riviera Beach and Del Rey Beach, cbs12.com found that “many truckers” broke the law after failing to use their hazard lights or set up triangular caution signs when pulling over for several minutes on the side of the highway.
The news comes following the death of 23-year-old Mitchell Corzine, a passenger in a vehicle that struck the back of an 18-wheeler that had been parked along the shoulder of an I-95 onramp last November in Western Palm City.
Corzine’s father, Todd Corzine, is suing the company that owns the truck.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, three feet of the left side of the truck protruded onto the onramp at the time of the crash. The driver, who told FHP that he had stopped for about 30 minutes to check his tires, was cited “for an improper stop and failing to display warning lights and devices when stopped.”
The driver of the vehicle that crashed into the truck survived and told FHP that he had not noticed the truck because he had been looking down at the time of impact. He was cited with careless driving.
After observing trucks on I-95 for three hours, cbs12.com reported that “many truckers” were illegally parked on the side of the highway.
“In just three hours, from Riviera Beach to Delray Beach, our cameras found trucks precariously pulled off the interstate, posing a grave danger to drivers,” writes cbs12.com reporter Michael Buczyner.
Buczyner reports that trucks did not properly display traffic cones, signs or hazard lights.
Trucks that are parked for more than 10 minutes along the side of the road are required to alert drivers with devices like traffic cones or signs.
