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A couple driving through Florida crashed their car preventing a couch from falling off a truck, only to receive a ticket for failing to stay in their lane.
A couple driving home from Florida flipped and crashed their car while swerving to avoid a couch that fell from a truck. And although they both escaped serious injuries, a traffic fine of $ 166 (NZ $ 229) that was left at the hospital where they were treated could not be avoided.
Jake Singer told the SunSentinel of South Florida that his girlfriend was driving on Interstate 95 on February 20 as they returned to Washington, DC, after a month-long visit with her family in Boca Raton.
Singer said his girlfriend swerved to avoid the couch and that his 2006 Toyota Corolla hit the median and rolled over, and the truck continued on its way.
The car was wrecked and both were taken to the hospital in ambulances, he said, fortunate to have survived. But then a Florida Highway Patrol officer showed up at the hospital to issue the traffic ticket for “not driving in one lane,” according to the agency’s accident report.
“He gave us a ticket for basically deviating from lanes while trying to avoid a couch that was flying toward us on the highway,” Singer told the newspaper.
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Singer and his girlfriend were hanging upside down, and bystanders helped them out of the vehicle, according to the newspaper report. She asked not to be identified.
A Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, Lt. Yanko Reyes, told the newspaper that while it is a difficult break for the couple, officers have discretion when issuing traffic tickets. He added that drivers are supposed to maintain control of their vehicles.
“You have to look at the totality of the circumstances,” Reyes said. “Remember, in Florida it is recommended to have at least a distance of two vehicles between your vehicle and the vehicles in front of you because that way you have enough time to react in case something like this happens, in case someone brakes, in case the debris falls on the road “.
Singer said he tried to reason with the police officer who brought the summons to the hospital.
“But the starting point is that it’s giving us a safe path to drive, and that’s the kind of contract we have, and I’m pretty sure airborne couches break the contract, and we have to do what be it for Stay Alive, ”he told the newspaper.
