FDOT Road Ranger at fault in Buckman Bridge crash over guardrail

On Feb. 28 a state Road Ranger driver crashed into another pickup on the Buckman Bridge sending it over the concrete barrier into the river and killing the lone occupant.

The Florida Highway Patrol crash report attributes the 23-year-old motorist-assistance driver as being the one who "operated motor vehicle in careless or negligent manner." Lydell Alexander Correia on Friday officially was cited with careless driving, according to his court citation.

Traffic fatality investigations often take a couple of months or more due to the backlog of lab testing that needs to be done in such cases, according to Highway Patrol Master Sgt. Dylan Bryan, who said after the crash that the ranger was on routine patrol at the time.

The report said the 61-year-old victim, Wilfrid Jouquin of Jacksonville, was driving a Toyota Tacoma pickup about 3:30 a.m. in the outside lane of Interstate 295 north directly ahead of the Road Ranger in his truck. The younger man, also of Jacksonville, failed to observe the slower-moving pickup and tried to change lanes. The right front of his truck hit the left rear of the Toyota redirecting it into the barrier wall and a light pole before overturning into the river.

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Jouquin was not ejected from his pickup, according to the report. Crews located and pulled the vehicle from the river within a few hours.

Correia, whose injuries were listed as minor, has been a Road Ranger since October 2022 and is among 63 working in Northeast Florida, said Tracy Hisler-Pace, communications manager for the Florida Department of Transportation.

"The routes on the interstate systems in District Two are covered 24/7," she said.

To keep traffic flowing and safe, they offer roadside assistance at no cost on things like changing flat tires, jump-starting vehicles or making minor repairs, offering a phone call or gas and clearing debris or disabled vehicles from travel lanes.

Road Rangers: Learn more about the FDOT roadside-assistance program

The Times-Union reached out to Correia, who did not respond, and the Jouquin family, who did not wish to comment but said the newspaper could use some excerpts from his celebration of life service.

Jouquin was born in Haiti and is survived by his wife of 29 years, a daughter, two sons and four grandchildren, according to his obituary. He worked at Kraft-Heinz Portion Control as a processor for 24 years.

During his celebration of life service, one of his sons spoke eloquently about his legacy. He said although many of those in attendance knew him from church, work or by acquaintance, they likely didn't know "his coming to America story" integral to understanding the kind of man his father was.

"When he was born, his mother passed away at the age 29, and he grew up in a tough household under the authority of his father who was a farmer," his son told the gathering. "This forced him to grow up quickly and to learn independence from a young age. And despite the economic disadvantages, Wilfrid was extremely motivated and driven to succeed at whatever task was put before him.

"Wilfrid would rise early in the morning to tend his father's crops, and once the rest of the children of Haiti woke up, he would join them for school later in the morning," he continued. "Upon returning home from school, Wilfrid would continue to physically labor in the fields while studying for his courses. He would often tell me of times he would be sitting in the fields planting potatoes or something else while he read his textbooks that were perched in front of him. Talk about being driven."

He said at the age of 20 in 1981 his peers convinced him to join a band of Haitians who planned to sail the Atlantic to get to America. So on a rickety old boat crammed with 40 people, he spent 20 days at sea until arriving at the port of Miami. He picked up the English language, found employment and eventually got his own apartment in Jacksonville.

He was a man of faith and conviction, his son said.

For years the Buckman's guardrail and its height have been scrutinized due to vehicles toppling over the safety barriers.

The concrete barriers are built to federal standards of 2 feet, 8 inches high and are designed to redirect swerving cars back into the road lane, according to a previous story published in the Times-Union. But violent collisions have still caused vehicles to go airborne over the railing.

In 2015 the Florida Department of Transportation conducted a study after several deadly crashes and two vehicles that plummeted into the river from 2009 to 2014.

In the short term, the department called for increased police patrols on Interstate 295 over the Buckman to help reduce traffic fatalities and gridlock. The study concluded the bridge's design was not to blame for any fatalities there.

In the long term, the department called for the installation of message boards to provide real-time traffic information.

The study also concluded there was nothing wrong with the railing, which adheres to state and national standards for "crash worthiness," according to the report.

"Driver error is the clear leading cause in crashes on the Buckman Bridge," the report said.

"There is no research available to suggest that raising the railing height would eliminate the possibility of a vehicle departing the bridge," the summary said. It stated that altering the railing type would not reduce the number of crashes, "even by a single crash."

The study also reported the average speed on the bridge from 2010 to 2015 is 72 miles per hour, about 11% higher than the posted limit of 65 mph. It recommended working with the FHP to shore up the enforcement of that limit to reduce the number of crashes.