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Drowsy driver crashes into toll booth

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A man remains hospitalized in Florida after a violent rear-end crash last week. It happened at a toll booth, when police say a drowsy driver slammed into the back of his vehicle.

Cameras at the toll booth captured the collision. Troopers say a driver in a GMC Envoy dozed off, then slammed into a 32-year-old driving a Chevy Silverado truck.  The Envoy was pinned underneath the Silverado.

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The driver of the truck, 32-year-old T.J. Lawson, remains in a hospital. His sister says he suffered a broken leg and a seizure placed him in intensive care. "T.J. was at the toll, pinned, and he said he looked in his rear view mirror and saw the guy coming and couldn't believe that he was not about to stop," she told WFTS.

Troopers say the man who rammed into Lawson's truck got a ticket for careless driving. "The limited access roadways like our Sun Coast Parkway, Veteran's Expressway, Polk Parkway are generally relatively safe for the number of cars that progress through there every day," said Sgt. Steve Gaskins of the Florida Highway Patrol.

FHP says statewide, more than 4,300 crashes happened last year due to drowsy driving, killing 28 people.