A person standing on the emergency shoulder of Florida's Turnpike in Cutler Bay was struck and killed by another vehicle, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The crash shut down southbound lanes near Southwest 216th Street as troopers worked the scene.
The death was reported by CBS News Miami, which cited the Florida Highway Patrol's account that the victim had been standing on the shoulder when another vehicle struck them. Reporter Austin Carter covered the incident for the station. Beyond the location and the lane closure, few other details about the person killed, the vehicle involved, or the exact timing of the crash have been made public.
Southbound Lanes Shut Near Southwest 216th Street
Troopers closed the southbound lanes of the Turnpike at Southwest 216th Street while they investigated, per the Florida Highway Patrol's account relayed by CBS News Miami. That stretch of highway sits in Cutler Bay, in South Miami-Dade, an area that has seen other serious Turnpike incidents in recent memory.
A History of Serious Crashes Near the Same Exit
The Southwest 216th Street exit has been the site of other deadly and disruptive crashes over the years, though the available reporting does not establish that this stretch of highway is unusually dangerous overall. One earlier account, from the Miami Herald, described a pickup truck driver who had mechanical problems and pulled onto the right shoulder of the northbound Turnpike near the same exit, getting out of the vehicle around 2:25 a.m. on a Tuesday. A witness told the Miami Herald that the driver of a white box truck struck the pickup truck driver and did not stop, and that the northbound lanes were closed for about three hours afterward.
In a separate incident this past April, a motorcyclist was killed in a crash that shut down the northbound lanes of the Turnpike in Cutler Bay early on a Monday morning, according to NBC 6 South Florida, which reported the crash happened around 4:25 a.m. near mile marker 12 for Caribbean Boulevard, also known as U.S. 1, near Government Center. The station reported that a Suzuki motorcycle collided with a red Nissan sedan, and troopers diverted traffic at Southwest 216th Street, advising drivers to use U.S. 1 or Krome Avenue instead. It has not been established whether that April crash, the earlier hit-and-run described by the Miami Herald, and this week's fatal strike on the shoulder are connected in any way, or whether they represent entirely separate incidents along the same corridor.
No further details about the person killed on the shoulder this week, including their identity or the vehicle that struck them, have been released. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
