ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A man is fighting for his life after state troopers said he crashed into a retention pond.
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Crews managed to pull the car out, to the edge of the retention pond on North Alafaya Trail by the 408 exit. The 41-year-old driver remains in critical condition.
A law was passed that was supposed to put barriers at spots like that to prevent the situation from happening.
READ: Driver in critical condition after car crashes into pond in Orange County
Chloe Arena died after crashing into a pond in 2015 while on her way to take her family to the airport. Her death prompted the passage of Chloe’s Law, which states that Florida Department of Transportation was supposed to install barriers to block water near state roads by June 2018 if someone died by drowning after an accident between July 2006 and 2016.
Since Arena’s death, two other people have crashed into the same pond on North Alafaya Trail. The first happened about a month after the law passed in 2016. The second crash, a woman’s vehicle was partially submerged after she was rear-ended by a drunk driver.
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FDOT has not responded as to why no barrier exists after the law and three crashes.
The law states the rule with barriers doesn’t apply to any location where the chief engineer determines a barrier would increase the risk of injury to motorists traveling on adjacent road.
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