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Westbound Traffic Flowing Again On I-595 After Crash

DAVIE (CBS4) - Traffic is flowing again in the westbound lanes of I-595 after a three vehicle pile-up brought cars to a standstill for over two hours Friday morning.

Chopper 4 over the scene spotted cars stopped on the roadway; the back up stretched all the way back to the Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport and where the westbound lanes of I-595 began.

"I've been stuck for 45 minutes," one driver complained, "It's taking forever."

Another driver said he had been waiting two hours. He had just come in on a flight from New York and was trying to go to western Broward when everything came to a screeching halt.

Florida Highway Patrol said around 9 a.m. the driver of a tractor trailer hauling a large generator was stopped near the State Road 7 exit when the driver of a dump truck, identified as 57-year old Emmanuel Pierre-Louis, veered to avoid hitting him.  The dump truck sideswiped a Honda Accord driven by 30-year old Ginna Bennett before hitting the tractor trailer.  The dump truck then caught fire, Pierre-Louis was able to escape unharmed.

Bennett, who received minor injuries, was taken to Plantation Hospital.

Some desperate drivers made illegal u turns, crossing the median to go eastbound on I-595.

But that backfired for some when they were met by waiting Florida Highway Patrol troopers.

Pierre-Louis was charged with reckless driving.

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