BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A 19-year-old Melbourne woman who died early Saturday on Interstate 95 in Brevard County had been struck by multiple vehicles after exiting a car she had just crashed into a semitruck, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The initial crash occurred just after midnight along southbound I-95 near mile marker 188 (Pineda Causeway), troopers said.
According to an FHP crash report, the woman was driving a 2010 Lexus ES 350 at what witnesses reported was above the posted speed limit, allegedly weaving through traffic while carrying three passengers: a 16-year-old boy, an 18-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl, all of Melbourne.
The woman failed to stop for a semitruck ahead of her in the outside lane — driven by a 38-year-old Palm Bay man — striking the semitruck’s rear with the front of the Lexus as a result, the report states. After the Lexus rotated and came to final rest partially blocking the outside lane and outside shoulder, the semitruck came to a controlled stop while the 19-year-old exited the Lexus, according to FHP.
The driver of a 2004 Ford F-150 traveling southbound in the outside lane — described as a 32-year-old West Palm Beach man — was unable to avoid the Lexus, swerving left in an attempt to do so yet still striking the wrecked sedan’s rear with its right-front area, troopers said.
The impact caused the Lexus to rotate, striking the 19-year-old woman before she was then hit by the Ford and propelled into the inside lane, according to FHP. The Ford’s driver overcorrected to the right, causing the pickup truck to run off the roadway where its right side hit a light pole, the report states.
A 2023 Toyota Camry traveling southbound in the inside lane then struck the 19-year-old as she was lying in the roadway, according to the report. Troopers said its driver — a 75-year-old Vero Beach man — was also unable to avoid the impact.
The 19-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. The 16-year-old boy in the Lexus suffered minor injuries and everyone else involved remained on scene, according to the report.
FHP is still investigating.
Note: This map depicts the general area of this wreck and not necessarily its exact location.
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