An alligator wandering onto Interstate 95 in Florida set off a chain of events that somehow managed to get worse with every step.
First, a driver hit the alligator. Then a woman behind him swerved, lost control of her pickup and was thrown from the vehicle.
And the crash still wasn’t over.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, another vehicle then struck the woman as she lay in the interstate and kept going. The 20-year-old victim, identified by her family as Cassi Taylor of Palm Bay, died at the scene.
It Started With An Alligator In The Highway
The crash happened shortly before midnight Sunday on southbound I-95 near mile marker 214 in Brevard County.
According to an FHP crash report described by WESH, a 58-year-old man from Canada was driving a 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-350 in the center lane when he encountered an alligator in the road.
The driver couldn’t avoid it. The front left side of the Mercedes hit the animal.
A 2004 Toyota Tacoma driven by Taylor was approaching behind the Mercedes. Troopers said Taylor swerved in an attempt to avoid the Mercedes, lost control and overturned.
Taylor was ejected from the pickup and landed in the center lane.
Then Another Driver Came Along
The crash still wasn’t over.
FHP said an unidentified vehicle traveling south struck Taylor after she had been ejected into the roadway.
That driver did not stop.
Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene. The Mercedes driver was not injured and remained there, according to troopers.
FHP’s report also says Taylor was not wearing a seat belt when her Tacoma overturned.
That detail immediately became one of the biggest topics among people reacting to the crash.
“Can’t get ejected if you’re wearing a seat belt,” one YouTube commenter wrote.
“Believe it or not seat belts save lives,” another said.
Another commenter put it less harshly: “I can’t imagine driving without your seatbelt. I’m sorry for her family’s suffering.”
It’s impossible to work backward from that one fact and say exactly what would have happened if Taylor had been belted. There were a lot of moving pieces in this crash, beginning with an alligator sitting in a highway lane at nearly midnight.
But ejection is precisely the kind of danger seat belts are designed to prevent, and FHP made Taylor’s restraint status part of its crash report.
Troopers Are Looking For The Driver Who Left
Other commenters focused less on what happened inside the Tacoma and more on the person who allegedly drove away afterward.
“How can you run over another human and just LEAVE?????” one wrote.
FHP has not publicly provided a make, model, color or license plate for the unidentified vehicle.
Troopers are asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has information that could help identify the driver to contact FHP at *347 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
Taylor’s family identified her Monday as the woman killed in the crash, according to WFTV.
The investigation remains open.
One commenter, trying to summarize a crash involving an alligator, a rollover, an ejection and a driver who allegedly fled, managed it in five words:
“That alligator is to blame.”