A car crashed into a storefront at Cortez Village Plaza in Bradenton yesterday afternoon, sending the driver to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The business that was struck, a Simply by Sunmed CBD shop, was closed at the time of the crash, and a nearby restaurant was evacuated as a precaution.
The Bradenton Police Department and Bradenton Fire Department responded to the scene at 6670 Cortez Road West, according to a statement from the Bradenton Police Department. The department said the driver was taken to the hospital, and the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Cortez Village Plaza is a roughly 37,000-square-foot commercial center that houses a mix of retail, medical, and wellness businesses, according to background compiled by McKinley Inc.
The Simply by Sunmed location that was hit belongs to Sunmed, also known as Your CBD Store, a hemp wellness chain that traces its roots to Bradenton, where it was founded by Rachael Quinn in 2018, according to the company's own account of its history. The brand has since expanded nationally, but its origin story keeps it tied closely to this stretch of Cortez Road.
BPD and the Bradenton Fire Department are on the scene of a car-versus-building crash in the Cortez Village Plaza, 6670 Cortez Blvd. The driver was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Fortunately, the business that was hit was closed at the time. However, a… pic.twitter.com/q7lgyd94Ya
— Bradenton Police Department (@BradentonPD) September 6, 2026
A Corridor With a Troubled Safety Record
Sunday's crash adds to a stretch of roadway that state officials have already flagged for concern. A Florida Department of Transportation study identified multiple segments of the Cortez Road commercial corridor among District 1's top 10 most dangerous roadway stretches due to high rates of fatal and severe-injury crashes, as reported by AMI Sun. Separate local traffic analyses have also pointed to the corridor connecting Cortez Road West to U.S. 41 as one of the most crash-heavy commercial zones in Bradenton, driven by heavy daily commuter and beach tourist traffic, per Justice Pays.
The Bradenton Police Department has previously taken part in high-visibility traffic enforcement programs coordinated through the Florida Department of Transportation, aimed at curbing severe incidents on corridors like this one, according to a report from FOX 13 Tampa Bay. Statewide, Florida logged approximately 366,300 total motor vehicle crashes in 2025, averaging more than 1,000 collisions a day, based on data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles cited by HOV Law.
Why Cars End Up Inside Storefronts
Vehicle-into-building crashes are far from rare nationally. They occur roughly 100 times per day across the United States, causing an estimated 16,000 injuries and 2,600 fatalities each year, according to research from the Storefront Safety Council. That same data shows 41% of these crashes stem from operator or pedal error, 15% involve driving under the influence, and 9% result from medical emergencies — though Bradenton police have not yet said which, if any, of those factors applies here, since the cause of Sunday's crash remains under investigation.
Florida law also places legal obligations on drivers involved in property-damage crashes. Under Section 316.061 of the Florida Statutes, a driver must remain at the scene and exchange information, with violations classified as a second-degree misdemeanor carrying penalties of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to the Florida Senate's statutory text. Separately, Florida court precedent set in Springtree Properties, Inc. v. Hammond has held that commercial property owners with head-in parking facing storefronts can bear liability for customer injuries if they fail to install protective barriers such as bollards or wheel stops, per legal analysis from Garvin Injury Law.
What Happens Next
Bradenton police have not released the driver's name or additional details about the vehicle involved, and the investigation into what caused the car to leave the roadway and strike the storefront is ongoing. The department can be reached at its non-emergency line, 941-932-9300, for anyone with information related to the incident. This is the latest in a string of serious traffic incidents Hoodline has tracked along the Cortez Road corridor, following a DUI crash that killed a local mom earlier this year on the same stretch of road.
