Pileup On I-4 Involving Tractor-Trailer Trucks Closes Highway 3 hours

POLK COUNTY, FL — A three-vehicle pileup on Interstate 4 in Polk County involving two tractor-trailer trucks and a pickup truck closed westbound portions of the highway for several hours Sunday morning.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, at 7:49 a.m., a tractor-trailer truck driven by a 32-year-old Greensboro, North Carolina, man, another tractor-trailer truck driven by a 48-year-old Pierson man and a pickup truck driven by a 71-year-old Winter Haven man were traveling west on I-4.

The pickup truck stopped for traffic ahead. Seeing this, the Pierson man began slowing down as his truck approached the congestion ahead. However, according to the FHP, the truck driven by the North Carolina man didn't realize traffic ahead was slowing down and he collided with the rear of the other tractor-trailer truck. The impact caused the Pierson man's truck to crash into the back of the pickup truck.

The North Carolina man suffered serious injuries. No one else was injured.

Portions of the highway were closed until 10:30 a.m.