HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL- The tbreporter.com reports that Ernesto Lopez Zaragoza was killed in a 3-car crash on at about 7:15 on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. The 66-year-old Zaragoza was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the collision, and was partially thrown from the vehicle he was riding in.
The accident happened at the intersection of Spindle Shell Way and U.S. 41 when Diana Hall, who was driving a 2012 Hyundai Elantra turned left and was struck by a 1995 Chevrolet Silverado, which was driven by Roberto Ortega Garcia. The impact caused the Silverado to hit a 2009 Honda Pilot being driven by Derrick Lasun Alston.
When Garcia’s Silverado collided with the Honda, the truck flipped partially throwing Zaragoza from the vehicle.
Alston, 45, was transported to St. Joseph’s South Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. No one else involved in the accident was taken to the hospital.
Two other passengers and the driver of the Silverado were not harmed. Zaragoza was the only person in that vehicle who did not have his seat belt fastened.
Rollovers are particularly dangerous to drivers and passengers. Only 3% of car accidents involve a vehicle flipping over, but these accidents cause around 30% of traffic-related fatalities. Rollovers occur more frequently with vehicles that are top-heavy, such as pickup trucks and SUV’s. The taller or narrower a vehicle is, the greater the risk of that vehicle rolling over in an accident.
Failing to wear a seatbelt puts a person at a much higher risk of dying in a rollover or of being ejected from a vehicle. Individuals who are thrown from a vehicle die in 75% of incidents.
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