Westbound Traffic Flowing Again On I-595 After Crash
DAVIE (CBS4) - Traffic is flowing again in the westbound lanes of I-595 after a three vehicle pile-up brought cars to a standstill for over two hours Friday morning.
Chopper 4 over the scene spotted cars stopped on the roadway; the back up stretched all the way back to the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport and where the westbound lanes of I-595 began.
"I've been stuck for 45 minutes," one driver complained, "It's taking forever."
Another driver said he had been waiting two hours. He had just come in on a flight from New York and was trying to go to western Broward when everything came to a screeching halt.
Florida Highway Patrol said around 9 a.m. the driver of a tractor trailer hauling a large generator was stopped near the State Road 7 exit when the driver of a dump truck, identified as 57-year old Emmanuel Pierre-Louis, veered to avoid hitting him. The dump truck sideswiped a Honda Accord driven by 30-year old Ginna Bennett before hitting the tractor trailer. The dump truck then caught fire, Pierre-Louis was able to escape unharmed.
Bennett, who received minor injuries, was taken to Plantation Hospital.
Some desperate drivers made illegal u turns, crossing the median to go eastbound on I-595.
But that backfired for some when they were met by waiting Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
Pierre-Louis was charged with reckless driving.
