In the wake of Thursday’s fatal seven-vehicle wreck on U.S. Highway 98 near Hurlburt Field’s gate, officials say they know it is a dangerous stretch of road and that improvements cannot come quickly enough.
“Because of the geography of our area it’s the only east-west route south of the interstate, which makes it very congested,” said Sgt. Mark Raiche with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit. “What occurs a lot of the time are rear-end collisions where people aren’t allowing a safe following distance between themselves and the cars between them.”
That’s basically what happened Thursday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Read the FHP media release. >>
View a photo gallery from the scene of the wreck >>
View a video from the scene of the wreck >>
Bradenton residents Kurt and Pamela Graetzer, 66 and 63 years old, respectively, were killed when their 2008 Honda Element was rear-ended by a truck at 1:25 p.m. as they sat in westbound traffic just east of the traffic signal at Cody Avenue, the FHP reported. Five other vehicles were damaged and six people were slightly injured in the chain-reaction wreck.
Pensacola resident Devin R. Endersen, 47, was driving a 2006 Hino box truck owned by McAleer’s Office Furniture west in the inside lane when he failed to stop and hit the Graetzers, according to the FHP.
The impact sent the Honda into a 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Stephen Williams, 54, of Gulf Breeze. The pickup then hit a 1997 Buick LeSabre driven by 44-year-old James Calbert Jr. of Navarre. The Buick careened into a 2003 Ford F-150 driven by Clifford Holmes, 33, of Navarre.
The box truck also continued forward and hit Williams’ and Calbert’s vehicles.
A 2004 GMC pickup truck with a trailer driven by 48-year-old Carolyn McNew of Fort Walton Beach also was hit. Debris from the crash hit a 2011 Nissan driven by Kristi Callana, 37, of North Richland Hills, Texas.
Five people suffered minor injuries and were taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center. A sixth person also was slightly hurt but was not taken to the hospital.
Traffic on U.S. 98 was snarled for several hours after the wreck.
The FHP’s investigation was ongoing Friday.
Thursday’s crash was one of the worst in recent memory, and officials with the Florida Department of Transportation say they are trying to make that stretch of road safer. Initial work has begun to build an overpass at Cody Avenue to ease traffic flow near the base.
“Safety is always our No. 1 concern,” DOT district spokesman Ian Satter said. “We’ve got a project already started to elevate 98 at Cody Avenue because there’s a large amount of traffic. … It’s been a project that DOT has really taken a high initiative on for safety.
“ … It’s just one of those things when you’re on the road; you need to pay attention, leave room. There’s simple steps we need to take. We need to look out for each other on the highway.”
