A Thonotosassa man died when the big rig he was driving left the road and struck a tree in Hardee County Saturday, authorities said.
Donald L. Carroll, 70, was pronounced dead on the scene of the traffic accident on State Road 66 west of Sweetwater Road in Hardee County, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday, Carroll was driving a 2000 Freight tractor trailer west on SR 66. For an unknown reason the rig crossed the center line, entered the eastbound lane and continued onto the grassy south shoulder of the road, a Florida Highway Patrol news release states.
The tractor trailer traveled over a culvert, thorugh a barbed wire fence then struck a tree.
There was no indication brakes were applied before the final crash, the release states.
