Traffic was blocked for more than three hours early Friday morning on Interstate 75 in Sumter County after a semi jackknifed thanks to a driver distracted by a cell phone.
Semi driver Richard W. Brook, 46, of Brooksville had been traveling south on I-75 at Mile Marker 309 when the driver of an older model Saturn traveled into the trucker’s lane, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The semi traveled onto the outside paved shoulder in an attempt to avoid colliding with the Saturn. The semi jackknifed and overturned at 6:20 a.m.
Brook told FHP that the driver of the Saturn was either texting or talking on the phone as he could see the light of the phone in the early morning darkness.
The Saturn driver was not located.
Brook escaped injury.
