FHP Issues Report On Officer's Fatal Crash
Troopers: Seat Belt Wouldn't Have Saved His Life
POSTED: Friday, September 12, 2008
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The police officer killed last week when his cruiser hit a parked tractor-trailer in a section of state Road 9A closed to traffic was exceeding the speed limit and was not wearing a seat belt, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The FHP released its report Friday on the crash that killed Officer Christopher Kane about 3 a.m. on Sept. 4.
The report says that after Kane stopped to chat with fellow officers working off-duty in the construction zone, he drove south with his emergency lights on down a section of 9A closed to traffic. Investigators said Kane was doing 67 mph in a posted 55 mph zone when he struck the rear of the flatbed semi and was killed.
The FHP said the trailer was property parked and had its lights on.
While troopers determined that Kane's seat belt was not engaged, they said it would not have mattered, given the force of the crash.
Kane, 38, an officer for 12 years with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, was headed home after his shift when the crash occurred.
He left behind a wife and two children.
On Tuesday, family, friends and fellow officers attended funeral services for Kane, remembering him as a good man, a loving husband and father, and a youth coach.
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