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Tate Student Hit By Car On Highway 29 Upgraded To Stable Condition
September 27, 2009
A Tate High School student remains has been upgraded to stable condition after being hit by a car while trying to cross Highway 29 in Cantonment Friday night.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Tyler J. Spear, 15, of Cantonment, was critically injured when he was hit by a 1997 Honda Accord driven by Robbin Gerich, 42, of Molino. Gerich was not injured in the crash. Her passenger, Lawrence C. Gerich, 35, of Molino, received minor injuries in the crash, according to the FHP report.
The accident happened at 9:05 p.m. when Spear was attempting to cross Highway 29 near North Tate School Road near the Winn Dixie grocery store. The front of Gerich’s vehicle struck Spear, forcing him over the hood and into the windshield of the Honda, according to the FHP report.
Spear came to rest in the southbound lane of Highway 29. He was transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition.
Charges are pending in the accident, and the crash was not alcohol related, according to the FHP.
According to the FHP, Spear was wearing all-dark clothing at the time of the accident and was crossing the roadway in an area without artificial lighting.
The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the call. The southbound lanes of Highway 29 were closed for over an hour following the accident.
Comments
9 Responses to “Tate Student Hit By Car On Highway 29 Upgraded To Stable Condition”
People need to SLOW DOWN period. People are in such a big hurry all the time. These trucks are the worse.
My husband and I were just talking the other day how alot of people don’t understand, that YELLOW FLASHING LIGHTS mean slow down and/or yield, it doesn’t mean stop, the RED LIGHTS that stay RED no matter where they are mean STOP. It is so frustrating when all of a sudden someone at a Yield sign slam on their brakes and wait until its clear to go. That is called MERGE.
And anyone crossing that area where this accident happened is crazy for crossing anyway. And if you do, don’t play chicken and think you can out run a vehicle.
My heart goes out to both that were involved, I can’t imagine hitting anyone. It would ruin me for the rest of my life. I hope the young man recovers and the woman that hit him recovers also. This has got to be devasting to all involved.
The traffic needs in and around Tate High School have been neglected for too long. The main road leading into the school is in terrible condition, including the railroad crossing. Morning traffic into the school is extremely challenging and a 3- or 4-way stop should be installed at the main gate to the school. Young drivers, and probably some older drivers, make poor choices in that challenging intersection of Tate Road and Tate School Road as school starts each day. The area around North Tate is a problem due to student pedestrians after school and before school-related functions crossing Highway 29 to shop or eat. Attention by both our District 5 school board member and county commissioner might lead to some much needed changes. As a class of 1980 Tate graduate and the parent of current Tate students, I can tell you there hasn’t been many improvements in 30 years.
Heads-up!!! Hwy 29 in Century has over 600 vehicles per hour; with NO LIGHT OR PEDISTRIAN CROSSWALK. It is a matter of time until someone crossing to visit the Library gets hit.
In a twinkling life can change for the worse. When the risk isn’t worth the reward, just don’t do it. Kids think they’re bullet proof until something like this occurs, I hope the young man recovers completely.
That’s a privately paid off duty deputy sheriff in front of WFH.
Last week I was going down Hwy 29 just before getting to the entrance to Tate High school and traffic was very thick. The light was green for traffic to proceed and a teenage girl started running across the hwy in the traffic, someone could have hit her without even seeing her, because she was running in between cars.
Doesn’t these kids know to go to the light for their on safety. I hope and pray that he is OK and not saying it was his fault, because I don’t know the situation, I only know what I witnessed last week. I could not stand it if I hit a child, so my thoughts and prayers are also with the people that did.
I saw this accident happen. The boy was wearing dark jeans and a white tshirt. He was with a friend and the friend knew that the car was too close and waited, but Tyler darted across. The poor woman had no time to stop.
There were several other motorists who stopped to help. I want to express my appreciation to all those. There was a woman who kept wanting to lift his head to put something under it. Just in case anyone out there does NOT know this: whenever someone is injured, the very LAST thing you want to do is move their head or neck in any way. One of those who stopped is a medical graduate student and she was appalled that this woman was so intent upon doing this. When there are injuries such as this, there is no way to tell what has happened to the vertebrae or spinal cord. If you move the head or neck, you risk severing the spinal cord and causing paralysis or even death. PLEASE do not ever move anyone who has been injured by an impact such as this or a fall.
I am very grateful that the fire dept, paramedics and FHP were so fast getting there and handled everything in such a professional and courteous manner. They were all awesome. Great job, guys!!!
The driver’s husband was NOT injured in the accident. They were on their way to the hospital because he had fallen and injured himself and was having breathing difficulties. He was taken by ambulance because his wife, the driver, needed to stay at the scene of the accident to aid the investigation.
Btw, she was NOT speeding. I saw the entire thing and this poor young boy just darted across right in front of her. There was a flash of white and that was it. This was a very tragic accident and this poor woman will have nightmares for a long time over it. It’s such a pity.
Parents: PLEASE teach your kids NEVER to cross a road if there is ANY traffic coming. It’s just not worth it. It’s the same concept as racing the train. Common sense tells you that the train will win out every time that they come in contact, so WHY chance it?
Please be in prayer for everyone involved in this.
i was on hwy 29 friday it is so bad and i no it is bad on a fri i seen a lady trying to cross the street it does not help her from getting hit thay will not slow down
if eney police officers read this will youl please help this is crazy also some one need to keep and eye on thes red lights when thay dont work we are the one that
gets the ticket i no it a stop and go this light is in cantonment in front of the pape rmill fix it please
I agree speeding is a HUGE problem on this stretch of road. This coupled with the semi-truck and cement truck drivers who like to race side by side on that road. Another part of the problem is everytime they put a crosswalk signal up in on the corner of 29/Old Chemstrand, some non-driving idiot truck driver knocks it over again. This coupled with the fact that between the paper mill and Winn Dixie the speed changes from 40 MPH to 55 MPH to 45 MPH in a span of less than 2 miles. Why not just keep it 45 MPH until traffic gets past the papermill? Funny thing is on my way to work almost daily I see 2 State Troopers parked behind the West Florida clinic parking lot just past the Shell station shooting the breeze. Maybe if they parked out in open view on Hwy 29 side instead of hiding in the shadows, people would slow down a little.
The only place to cross that hwy is at the light and I have yet to see one pedestrian walk to it and cross there, most just make a mad dash across and hope for the best. And let’s not forget just because the posted speed limit is 45 MPH people don’t think it applies to THEM. I have had people pass me doing 70 after all the speed limit is just a suggestion, right? The FHP needs to have several cars along the highway during rush hour everyday. Just like they have one on Davis in front of the Hospital, but of course they won’t until someone actually does get killed.