Telephone Pole, Lines Collapse During U.S. 41 Crash: FL Highway Patrol

SARASOTA, FL — A single-vehicle crash Sunday morning on U.S. 41 north took down a telephone pole, collapsing the phone lines across the road, according to a Florida Highway Patrol news release.

A 70-year-old Ohio man leaving a parking lot at Couver Drive turned the SUV he was driving onto U.S. 41 just before 10 a.m.

The driver violated the right of way of the oncoming traffic and when he overcorrected, he hit the curb on the right shoulder and then a telephone pole, FHP said.

The pole was cut in half and phone wires fell across all six travel lanes of U.S. 41, which were eventually removed by Verizon repair crews.

The driver suffered minor injuries in the crash.