One Injured In Highway 95A Deputy Involved Crash

September 22, 2012

One person was injured in a three vehicle accident involving an Escambia County deputy early Saturday morning in the Quintette community.

The accident happened on Highway 95A just south of Quinette Road about 1:30 a.m. The Florida Highway Patrol said 17-year old Zachary P. Gravitt of Cantonment was traveling north on Highway 95A in a  1995 Chevrolet Blazer when he attempted a U-turn because he thought his turn had been missed.

Samantha N. Flaherty, age 16 of Cantonment, was traveling south on Highway 95A in a 2013 Hyundai Elantra and was unable to see the Chevy Blazer on the dark, unlit roadway, FHP said. After the Blazer and Sonata collided, Deputy Jeff Gardner took evasive action in his 2009 Ford Crown Victoria and struck a ditch to avoid the original crash.

A passenger in Gravitt’s Blazer, 16-year old Danielle R. Fuller of Molino, was transported to Baptist Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. There were no other injuries in the crash.

Gravitt was cited for an improper U-turn, the FHP said.

The Cantonment and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, Escambia County EMS and additional units from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the accident.

NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.


Comments

17 Responses to “One Injured In Highway 95A Deputy Involved Crash”

  1. Art on September 25th, 2012 1:20 am

    One was on their way home from work. Teens have jobs, also.

  2. am on September 25th, 2012 12:29 am

    Glad your ok, Sam !

  3. DJ on September 23rd, 2012 6:34 pm

    To my knowledge this young man works nights at McDonalds so my guess is he was on his way home from work. So legally he would have been okay with his driving curfew.

  4. Vicesecurity on September 23rd, 2012 7:03 am

    I thought about the teens being out late also but then it hit me. The parents are responsible for their kids not the cops. Cops can only write them a ticket. The parents can take the car keys.

  5. curious on September 22nd, 2012 11:09 pm

    Great Job LEO! I’m glad no one was injured. Just curious to know why the 16 and 17 year olds driving so late? I thought teenagers under a certain age couldn’t drive after a certain hour much less be out without an adult.

  6. eeyore on September 22nd, 2012 3:26 pm

    …ok nice job deputy for avoiding further injuries to the wreck…but then again…why is a 16-17 year old doing out after 12pm? i dont care if it is a weekend or not but nothing good ever happens after midnite…just look at those girls that got run over at 4am…

  7. BarrineauParkDad on September 22nd, 2012 2:11 pm

    16 years old, 17 years old, 1:30 AM ?????

  8. Carmen on September 22nd, 2012 1:13 pm

    Thank goodness no one was seriously injured. Just wondering what 3 teens were doing out at 130 am?

  9. I'm Watching on September 22nd, 2012 11:52 am

    There have been more accidents reported on, possibly not more accidents occurring. There are approximately 400 deputy sheriffs with ECSO. If each of those deputies drove 20,000 miles per year (not a large amount considering many of them are on the road 10 hours per day) that would be 8 million miles per year. In 8 million miles there would be plenty more accidents if the ECSO did not have as much training as they do. Factor in the conditions they must drive where other people would chose not to (night, dark alleys, torrential rain) and the fact that some of the calls require lights and sirens and you see how rare the accidents truly are.

  10. Randy on September 22nd, 2012 10:43 am

    1. Great job Deputy Gardner of avoiding a situation that could have been much worse. You, sir, are a credit to the uniform and department. Keep up the great job that you and the other outstanding deputies do on a daily basis of serving and protecting the citizens of this county….

  11. ronda on September 22nd, 2012 10:35 am

    A 17 yr old and two 16 yr olds at 1:30am? Thought we had a curfew in Escambia County. Maybe I’m wrong. ?????

  12. Joe on September 22nd, 2012 10:29 am

    Why are such young drivers out on the road at this time of night?

  13. JustSayin on September 22nd, 2012 10:24 am

    What is with all the leo involved accidents lately? Good evasive manuever by Deputy Gardner. He put himself in danger while protecting the safety of others. Great job! Be safe

  14. Driver's ed on September 22nd, 2012 9:58 am

    Glad no one was hurt seriously. Could have been much worse. But, I’ve noticed that in general people don’t know how to drive. This is another example. This young gentleman attempt a U-turn in the middle of the road because he thought he missed his turn. How about going to the next intersection or find another road to turn around. I this type stuff all time, people cutting across 2 and 3 lanes of traffic nearly hitting other drivers because they’re not paying attention and miss a turn. Seems like no one knows how to use medians correctly. Or my favorite: not knowing difference between blinking lights and nonworking lights. You can look up on state website. Blinking light=treat the light by coloring blinking. Nonworking= treat as 4 way stop. Use common sense people and you’ll drive better.

  15. countywide on September 22nd, 2012 7:47 am

    Glad no one badlly hurt.

  16. Jane on September 22nd, 2012 7:17 am

    Hope everyone will be OK. It could have been so much worse.

  17. in cantonment on September 22nd, 2012 6:42 am

    have you noticed that there has been a lot of accidents lately involving the police. not saying that it was there fault. hope everyone involved is doing well.

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