"This has been one of those incidents that, if you encounter one, you hope you only encounter one in a career."

That statement was made by the Alachua County Fire Rescue Director Ed Bailey as he recounted the series of truck accidents that occurred over the weekend of Jan. 28 and Jan. 29. The accident was one of the most deadly in the area in recent history, if not even longer.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers, firefighters, rescue responders and many eyewitnesses said that they had never seen a crash as terrible as this one. As time goes on, the accident investigators have been able to piece more and more of the details of the accident together, but one thing was obvious.

The smoke in the area prevented a lot of drivers from seeing a road that was shut down after the first series of accidents but then later reopened just in time for a fatal series of crashes to occur that injured at least 20 and took the lives of another 11 people.

According to a recent report, the FHP and the National Weather Service have begun reviewing every one of the actions that were taken on that weekend to determine if the fatalities could have been prevented. Officials say that the investigation could last several months.

It was not just the weather, said some of the investigators. Many are wondering why two of the semi trucks involved stopped in the middle of the highway. It appeared as though there was never an attempt to pull to the side of the road. Another major issue has been the reopening of the interstate after the first wave of collisions and under an hour before the second more fatal wave began.

Victims injured in major accidents such as this one do not have to wait for the official investigation to close. They can begin a discussion with a personal injury attorney who is experienced in these types of accidents resulting in injury or death.

Source: Ocala.com, "Anatomy of a tragedy: I-75 crashes," Cindy Swirko, Feb. 4, 2012