Push for change after deadly crash on Immokalee Rd.

Reporter: Jolena Esperto
Published: Updated:

A woman is dead and a child is in critical condition after a crash on Immokalee Road.

We’re told the woman was driving with two kids in the car when a semi ran a red light and hit her Thursday morning. It happened on Immokalee Road and Logan Boulevard.

The people who use Immokalee Road every day want to see change. They said too many people had lost their lives on this road, and on Thursday, a mom lost her life taking her son and his friend to middle school. It’s something no one should have to deal with, and one of the boys is still fighting for his life.

Florida Highway Patrol said the semi-truck ran the red light and hit the driver’s side of the SUV, killing a woman and hospitalizing her son and his friend.

Laura Bolagno witnessed it and knew the driver who was killed.

She was a mom who used this road every day.

“It was traumatizing. My whole day was ruined yesterday. I still can’t stop thinking about it, but I was shaking. I was literally half a mile away. My son goes to Eagle’s Nest, which is right there, and I was freaking out, and after I brought him, I didn’t even want to bring him to daycare. After that, I just sat in the parking lot and cried,” Bolagno said.

She has a son who goes to school with the boys in that car. She told us she is terrified of using that road every day and that this could be anyone.

And she isn’t the only one who feels this way.

Jamie Mcintyre, a mom, who takes her kids to school on Immokalee Road, said, “It seems like every day that we’re driving on this street. People are dying. It’s once a week, and really, I feel like out of all the accidents in Naples, it’s on Immokalee.”

Beth Demos, another mom who takes her kids to school on Immokalee Road, said, “It’s heartbreaking. We’re all scared. As mothers, none of us could sleep last night. We’re all terrified, and like I said, maybe more patrolling, even if they just sit in the median with their lights on, just kind of makes people slow down and makes people more aware. That’s why we’re just trying to bring awareness to how dangerous it is driving in Naples. We shouldn’t be terrified to leave our house every day.”

FHP said the semi-truck driver in this crash is charged with running the light and has a mandatory court date.

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