Man dies after car veers off Turnpike ramp into retention pond in Tamarac
A man has died after driving off Florida’s Turnpike and landing in a retention pond in Tamarac early Friday morning, troopers say. The stretch of the Turnpike remained shut down hours later.
A little before 5 a.m., the man, who was not identified, was traveling south on the exit ramp from the Turnpike to Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. As the road began to curve west, the man’s silver Hyundai Sonata continued going straight, off the roadway and a median section of the exit ramp.
The Sonata crashed into a sign, continuing southwest through the median, before approaching an uphill embankment. The car then headed northwest toward the entrance ramp lane from Commercial Boulevard onto the Turnpike, flying off the embankment and moving, airborne, over the entrance ramp and the grass shoulder before landing in a retention pond that was in the grass shoulder.
The Sonata then fully submerged in water. Broward Sheriff’s Office divers were searching for the car Friday morning, but referred questions to the Highway Patrol.
At some point, the car and man were located, but the man had died. Lt. Indiana Miranda, a spokesperson for the Highway Patrol, did not know when he was found, but sent out an update a little before 9:30 a.m. with the information about his car.
The crash marks the second case in less than a week in which a man has died after his car landed in a body of water in Tamarac.
On Monday, first responders found a man dead in a car that landed in a canal in the area of North University Drive and Southgate Boulevard, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He had been reported missing over the weekend.
Friday’s investigation is active and ongoing, Miranda said. The entrance and exit ramps to and from the southbound stretch of the Turnpike at Commercial Boulevard were closed as of 8:30 a.m.
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