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NSBNEWS.net photos by Henry Frederick.
New Smyrna Beach police officer Michael Delahanty holds a liquor bottle he retrieved from this mangled Isuzu Rodeo Wednesday night that resulted in the motorist being airlifted to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach from the crash scene at 2004 N. Dixie Freeway (U.S. 1) in New Smyrna Beach.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A speeding motorist oin an Isuzu Rodeo struck two other vehicles before overturning at least three times while northbound on U.S., just north of the Skyline 1949 Restaurant, just before 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.
The SUV skidded across the median, rolled over repeatedly, then slammed into a large oak tree on the southside. The motorist was unconscious, but had a pulse when he was lifted out of the twisted steel that flattened the roof and windows all the way around.
The impact of the crash was so strong that the man's personal items from his fully loaded vehicle were strewn all over the four lanes. The clean up took nearly four hours, forcing police and firefighters to close a 1/2-mile stretch of the road in both directions with traffic diverted to side roads.
The man's identity wasn't immediately released by police, who said he was born in 1966 and he has a beachside address.
He was airlifted by the Sheriff's Air One helicopter to Halifax Medical Center asa "trauma alert" patient with life-threatening injuries.
Police estimated his speed at about 70 mph, having struck a car and then twice sideswiping a pick-up truck while northbound.
The driver of the pick-up truck, a 57-year-old New Smyrna Beach resident, who asked that his name not be published, said the injured motorist: "I kind of feel bad for the guy. It looked like he had all his possessions with him. I'm glad he's alive."
Police said they couldn't speculate if maybe the driver had been kicked out of his residence and was upset resulting in the accident or whether alcohol was involved, pending completion of a traffic investigation. An empty liquor bottle was found inside the vehicle.
Among the items strewn on the highway were a personal computer, a laundry basket with clothes and literally dozens of other smaller items.
The four-lane roadway was reopened just before midnight.