TAMPA, Fla. – A phantom vehicle was blamed for damage done Friday morning to a semitruck on Interstate 275 in Tampa, according to its driver and the Florida Highway Patrol.
That driver — a 33-year-old Lake Wales man — told troopers he saw the phantom vehicle while traveling southbound, south of North Lois Avenue. The vehicle was allegedly parked on the outside shoulder, facing southbound, and the driver said it pulled back into the traffic lane and cut him off.
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The term “phantom vehicle/driver” is used in the vehicle insurance world to describe the party at fault in a no-contact “miss and run” situation.
According to a news release, the driver slammed on the brakes, causing two of six 5,400-pound Duke Energy poles he was hauling to break loose and impale the semitruck’s cab.
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The semitruck remained at rest in the outside southbound lane and around 85 feet of skid marks were observed at the scene, troopers said.
No other details were immediately shared.
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