Man dies after driving car into canal
A Cape Coral motorist died last week after he reportedly ran a stop sign and ended up in a canal.
David Scott King, 32, of 2668 Bellingham Court, was pronounced dead on Thursday at Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after the accident at Beach Parkway, West, and Surfside Boulevard.
According to the Cape police, King was headed west on Beach Parkway from Aqualinda Boulevard in a Ford Explorer SUV. Witnesses and evidence indicated that the vehicle swerved on and off the roadway several times, with the SUV striking a speed limit sign in the area of Beach and Southwest 25th Place.
King was reportedly traveling 70 mph to 80 mph in a 35 mph zone.
At about 11:30 a.m., he ran a stop sign at Beach and Surfside. Police reported that King attempted to pull to the right but was unable to negotiate the curve in the roadway. The vehicle exited the road.
The SUV struck a wood utility pole, then drove off the raised canal bank into the canal.
Divers with the Cape fire department extracted King from the vehicle.
He was trauma-alerted via an ambulance to the hospital, where King died at 12:18 p.m., according to reports.
The intersection was shut down for several hours, according to police.
A report indicates that alcohol use is suspected to have been a factor in the accident.
This is not the first traffic fatality to occur at the intersection.
On Sept. 24, 2012, Alexie Rai Krill, 24, of Cape Coral, died after driving into the canal. She was also traveling west on Beach Parkwat, when she reportedly ran the stop sign and entered the waterway.
Krill was apparently unable to exit the submerged vehicle.
On Oct. 26, 2005, Phillip Kinney, 21, of the Cape, was headed south on Surfside Boulevard when he came to Beach Parkway and drove into the canal. Reflective signs in the area were down due to a recent hurricane.
Following Krill’s death, family and friends pushed the city to make improvements to the L-shaped section of roadway to enhance drivers’ awareness of the conditions in the area. City staffers were instructed to hire a consultant to review the intersection and the current traffic control devices for two weeks.
At the time, southbound traffic on Surfside had a sign that warned of the approaching curve at Beach Parkway. Westbound drivers on that parkway had a sign that alerted them to the stop sign at Surfside, then the sign.
On Tuesday, Cape officials reported that changes were made as a result of the study.
“The city made some additional improvements to the intersection in 2013,” Connie Barron, the spokeswoman for the city, said. “This included more signage, lighting, reflectors and rumble strips.”
At the time, Krill’s family wanted a solid barrier constructed to protect drivers.