One Dies in Head-On Car Crash Close to Tampa

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on January 21, 2019

A fatal auto accident took place close to Tampa inside of Hillsborough County on Tuesday, January 15th, and officers with the Florida Highway Patrol are currently working to discover just what happened and who, if anyone, is primarily responsible. According to the reports that emerged shortly after the initial incident took place, the accident happened sometime close to 5:45 in the morning, just before the morning rush hour traffic was beginning to gather.

An unnamed individual was behind the wheel of a 2013 Nissan Altima as it drove north down U.S. 41. At some point along U.S. 41, close to the intersection of Gulf City Road located within Hillsborough County, the driver of the Altima left northern lanes, crossed the median, and entered the southern lanes while still traveling in a northern direction. At the time of this writing, the reasons for this are not entirely clear, and it is not known if the driver lost control of the vehicle due to some sort of medical emergency, a problem with the road, or if they were swerving in order to avoid something.

Regardless, after entering U.S. 41 the Altima was directly in the path of a 1999 Dodge Ram. The driver of the Ram, a person who was named in the initial report, was unable to avoid the oncoming Altima and the two cars collided with one another. The nature of the crash resulted in the two cars continuing to travel along the outer shoulder of U.S. 41. It was only after colliding with a guardrail separating the shoulder from the slope that the two cars came to a halt.

The impact with the guardrail caused the Nissan to crumble, and large chunks of this vehicle struck the Dodge. It is not clear exactly why, but due to the spread of debris the Dodge wound up erupting into flames.

Emergency response crews rushed to the scene to subdue the fire as well as tend to those involved in the crash. Sadly, the driver of the Nissan was injured beyond medical help and they were declared dead at the scene of the accident. The other driver, a 59-year-old Dover resident, was also injured, and they were rushed to South Bay Hospital for treatment.

Sources:

• DRIVER DIES IN U.S. 41 CRASH

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.