Death and Serious Injury After Wrong-Way Crash Near Tampa

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on October 18, 2019

A wrong-way crash that happened within Hillsborough County, close to Tampa, early on the morning of Saturday, October 12th, led to the death of a single individual. Reports from the Florida Highway Patrol within the area indicated that the incident took place close to 5:00 in the morning, when a 39-year-old was driving their vehicle down the northern lanes of I-275. Unfortunately, the individual was driving southbound down these lanes, meaning that she was headed directly towards oncoming traffic.

It is not known when the 39-year-old entered the highway, and it is not clear if any reports arrived at emergency call centers in Hillsborough County to report this presence of a car traveling the wrong direction down the highway. What we do know is that at the same time this person was traveling the wrong direction down the road another individual, a 30-year-old, was driving the correct direction down the same lane.

It was as the two vehicles neared mile marker 59 that they collided with one another. The force of the collision caused the 39-year-old driver suffer fatal injuries, and emergency response crews declared this person dead at the scene of the crash. It is not known if the driver was alive when the response crews reached the area, but it is clear that there was nothing that the EMTs and paramedics could do in order to assist them.

The 30-year-old driver was also seriously injured in the crash, although it is believed that their injuries were not fatal. At the time of this writing, it is believed that they remain in serious condition at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

It is not known how the emergency response crews were contacted in relation to this incident. It is possible that the accident had witnesses who called 9-1-1, and it is also possible that the accident was only noticed after it took place by a passing motorist or member of the Florida Highway Patrol. The accident remains under investigation, and no information exists on whether or not the authorities believe alcohol, excessive speed, or a medical emergency played any role in the crash.

Sources:

• Wrong-way driver killed in head-on crash on I-275

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.