Largo couple injured in U.S. 19 accident

A truck and trailer carrying sod jackknifed and was struck by a car. Traffic was delayed for more than an hour.

By KELLEY BENHAM
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 28, 2002

TARPON SPRINGS -- A Largo couple was injured and lunchtime traffic on U.S. 19 was snarled Tuesday after a pickup truck towing a trailer load of sod jackknifed on the wet road.

A red 1997 Dodge 4x4 was headed north on U.S. 19 when it crossed the median just north of the Anclote River bridge about 12:22 p.m.

The truck and trailer slid into the path of a red 1999 Toyota Corolla driven by Ron Fleming, 58, of 12111 74th St. N, Largo. Fleming and his wife Iris, 53, were taken by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center where they were being evaluated Tuesday night.

The driver of the truck, Chadwick Edwards Sands, 26, of 301 S Kingsway Road in Seffner, was not hospitalized.

Sands was towing a two-axle trailer loaded with a pallet of Floratam sod, police said.

Morning rains had cleared when the accident occurred, but the road had not yet dried.

Traffic backed up in both directions for about an hour and a half while the state Department of Transportation swept sod off the pavement, said Sgt. Jeffrey Young.

Police diverted traffic along Beckett Way, a quarter-mile to the north.

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