MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A woman was killed and two others were injured early Wednesday morning in a crash that shut down the westbound lanes of the Julia Tuttle Causeway at Alton Road for several hours.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a Honda Civic and a Porsche were involved in a crash on Interstate 195. The Honda driver and a man who was a passenger in the Porsche got out of their cars and were struck by a Hyundai SUV.
"They got out of the car to check on each other and make sure that everybody was all right," Sgt. Luis Darcia said. "That's when the third impact occurred."
A woman who was driving the Honda was killed. The man and a woman who was driving the Porsche were taken to Mt. Sinai Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Authorities said the man suffered a leg injury and the woman suffered minor injuries. The driver of the Hyundai stayed at the scene and was not injured.
Local 10 News reporter Erica Rakow spoke to the driver of the Hyundai, identified only as Steve, who said the victims were standing in the middle of the road in darkness at about 5:15 a.m.
"I work as a volunteer at the VA, and yes, I was on my way to the VA," Steve said.
The causeway was shut down for about five hours while authorities cleared the scene. All lanes were reopened by 10 a.m.
"Whenever you're involved in a crash and you are blocking lanes, you need to take your vehicles out of the road, if you can safely do so, and get to a safer place to avoid these secondary collisions," Darcia said.