Motorcycle rider killed when he hits semi on Causeway Blvd., troopers say

PALM RIVER/CLAIR-MEL — A 38-year-old Winter Haven man riding a motorcycle was killed when he ran into the back of a semitruck tractor at “a very high rate of speed,” the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The collision occurred about 2:25 a.m. Sunday on Causeway Boulevard near 86th Street.

The man was headed west on Causeway Boulevard, also known as State Road 676, when he failed to slow and collided with the truck in front of him, driven by a 48-year-old Winter Haven woman, troopers said. He was ejected from the motorcycle and landed on the north shoulder of the road.

The Highway Patrol did not release the names of the victim or the truck driver because of its interpretation of Marsy’s Law, a voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution that was meant to protect crime victims but that deprives the public of information long available under Florida’s public records law.