Hit-And-Run Crash Leaving Road Ranger With Serious Injuries Highlights Job's Dangers

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL — Working as a Florida Department of Transportation road ranger has become an increasingly treacherous job over the past two decades.

The Florida Highway Patrol regularly reports road rangers getting struck by passing vehicles, resulting in serious injuries and sometimes deaths.

The latest victim is a 38-year-old road ranger who was struck and seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver Wednesday. Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the driver.

At 12:02 a.m., troopers were investigating a crash on southbound State Road 93, north of Overpass Road in Wesley Chapel.

A road ranger was walking inside the closed portions of the roadway, designated by traffic cones and flares to indicate the center and outside lanes were closed.

A car traveling south in the inside lane partially entered the center lane and struck the road ranger, fleeing away at a high speed.

The car was a silver or light gray Toyota Camry or Corolla, with a partial license plate number of "F90."

Created by the FDOT in 2000 and sponsored by State Farm, the Road Ranger Service Patrol provides traffic accident management services and highway assistance to drivers to improve highway safety for emergency responders and drivers.

Since the program's inception, road rangers, who are paid about $25,000 a year, have made more than 6.1 million service assists, helping more than 4,000 drivers a month.

Easily identified by their uniforms and white vehicles with road ranger logos affixed to the rear and sides of the vehicles, road rangers patrol from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week 365 days a year.

Drivers needing assistance can simply call *347 on their mobile phone to summon a road ranger for help.

• Road rangers also stop to help drivers they see pulled over that need help including:
• Change flat tires
• Jump-start vehicles and make minor repairs
• Provide stranded motorists two free local calls
• Clear disabled vehicles from travel lanes
• Clear debris from travel lanes
• Supply emergency gasoline, diesel, water
• Monitor abandoned vehicles and notify FHP

Road rangers are included in Florida's "Move Over" law requiring drivers to move over a lane when they see law enforcement vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks and utility workers stopped on the side of the road. If they can't safely move over, they must slow down 20 mph below the posted speed limit.

The Florida Highway Patrol an increasing number of road rangers are getting struck by drivers who aren't heeding the "Move Over" law.

• On Feb. 27, a pickup truck driver who failed to obey Florida’s "move over" law crashed into the back of a stopped road ranger vehicle on Interstate 4. The 38-year-old ranger was cleaning up debris on the roadway, troopers said.
• On April 14, a 27-year-old road ranger was struck by a car while picking up traffic cones from an emergency lane along Interstate 95 in Jacksonville. The road ranger suffered a laceration to the head and numerous cuts.
• On May 19, the driver of a Tesla crashed into a road ranger's truck on I-95 in Miami. Two road rangers, who had put out traffic cones, emergency lighting and an arrow board to clean up following a previous crash, were injured.
• On June 28, the Florida Highway Patrol said a road ranger was struck and critcally injured while responding to a crash on Interstate 95 in Palm City. State troopers said the road ranger was helping with lane closures in the area due to a jackknifed tractor-trailer when his vehicle was struck by a car.
• On July 23, a hit-and-run driver crashed into a road ranger on the Howard Frankland Bridge. The 28-year-old road ranger was stopping to assist a disabled vehicle.
• On Oct. 7 on I-75 in Brooksville, a road ranger who was setting up a detour following a crash on I-75 early was hit by an inattentive driver who went around the traffic cones. The ranger was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Mike Rodriguez was the road ranger involved in the July 23 accident on the Howard Frankland Bridge.

"I wanna start by saying I am beyond grateful to be alive as this could’ve ended much worse than it did," he said to TowForce, a website promoting the road ranger and towing industry.

"This has been one of the scarier experiences in my life for certain," he said. "Shortly after stopping to assist a disabled vehicle on the right shoulder of the Howard Frankland Bridge, before I can exit, my patrol truck was struck by a negligent driver traveling at approximately 70 mph.
Instead of slowing down and or moving over, she veered off the roadway and struck my truck, destroying the side of the truck and ripping off the front wheel and bumper.

"I was not restrained, obviously, because I was about to exit the vehicle. I was thrown into the door, steering wheel and roof of my truck as it was pushed about 5 to 10 feet off the shoulder. Her vehicle spun and hit the concrete barrier wall. I attempted to exit my truck to go check on the female driver of the other vehicle and, after taking about two steps, I collapsed in excruciating pain on the shoulder."

Rodriguez said a passerby stopped to help him while a man driving another car, who apparently knew the driver who caused the accident, fled with her, leaving her car crashed into the concrete barrier.

You can learn more about the program and share your story at www.AssistPatrol.com.

Anyone with information about Wednesday's hit-and-run crash who wants to be eligible for the cash reward is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), report anonymously online at www.crimestopperstb.com, or send a mobile tip using the P3 Tips Mobile application.