POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Two Central Florida men were hospitalized Monday afternoon following a three-vehicle crash that closed westbound Interstate 4 in Polk County for nearly four hours.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the incident happened around 3:50 p.m. just west of State Road 33. A Lexus sedan traveling westbound veered onto the outside shoulder, striking a disabled tractor-trailer parked along the side of the road.
The force of the initial impact sent the Lexus spinning back into the active travel lanes, where a second westbound tractor-trailer moving through the center lane hit the sedan.
The 20-year-old driver of the Lexus, a resident of Winter Haven, and his passenger, a 19-year-old man from Orlando, both suffered serious injuries. Emergency crews transported both men to an area hospital for treatment.
Neither driver of the two tractor-trailers was injured in the collision.
The crash forced authorities to shut down all westbound lanes of I-4, diverting traffic off the highway at Exit 38 while emergency teams responded and cleared the scene. State troopers reopened the roadway around 7:30 p.m.
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