BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A fatal crash Wednesday morning on Interstate 95 in Brevard County forced the temporary shutdown of all southbound lanes in Melbourne, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred around 7:51 a.m. in the area of mile marker 183, near West Eau Gallie Boulevard, troopers said.
According to an FHP crash report, four vehicles — a 2024 Hyundai Elantra, a 2022 Ford Explorer, a 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis and a 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan — were all stopped in the southbound outside lane of I-95 when the wreck happened. Behind them, a 2022 Kenworth semitruck was traveling southbound in the outside lane, the report states.
The semitruck — driven by a 23-year-old man from Kernersville, NC — failed to stop for the vehicles ahead, troopers said. The driver attempted to swerve to the left, but the semitruck still struck the rear of the Hyundai, according to the report.
The semitruck and the Hyundai crossed the southbound lanes, causing the Hyundai to strike the inside shoulder guardrail and become engulfed in flames, troopers said, adding the initial impact caused a chain-reaction crash among the Ford, Mercury and Volkswagen.
The Hyundai driver — identified as a 22-year-old Melbourne man — was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said.
Each occupant of the other passenger vehicles — a 44-year-old man driving the Volkswagen, a 33-year-old man driving the Mercury and the two people inside of the Ford, a 44-year-old man driving and a 14-year-old boy riding as passenger, all of Cocoa — were hospitalized for treatment of minor injuries, according to FHP.
The semitruck driver was not injured and remained at the scene, the report states.
Around 12:30 p.m., the FHP said that the roadblock had been cleared. The update came after southbound traffic largely stood still for several hours, having to be diverted several miles back at exit 189 (Pineda Causeway).
FHP is still investigating.
Note: This map depicts the general area of this crash and not necessarily its exact location.
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