ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – To honor a fallen Florida Highway Patrol trooper, a busy stretch of road in Orange County was officially named after him Friday.
FHP Sgt. Tracy Vickers was killed in a crash along State Road 408 nearly two years ago while driving home from an overnight shift. A portion of the interstate between South Crystal Lake Drive and South Semoran Boulevard was renamed after him during a ceremony Friday.
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More than a year after his death, authorities said multiple factors led to the crash. A traffic investigation report released in 2020 shows Vickers was driving 73 mph in a 55 mph zone in a lane-closure area where a sign warning drivers of the closure had already been taken down.
Vickers, 31, was a Navy veteran who worked for the FHP for about four years. He served as a field training officer, meaning he trained new recruits, and he served on the agency’s quick response task force, which is activated during hurricanes and other large-scale events.
“He was a trooper’s trooper. He was passionate about the patrol. He took care of his own partners. He did what was needed,” Col. Gene Spaulding with the FHP said during Vickers’ memorial service in 2019. “He will truly be missed.”