Two High School Students Killed During T-bone Collision in Tampa

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on December 15, 2021

Authorities with the Tampa Police Department are diligently working to determine the cause of a deadly motorcycle accident that claimed the lives of two high school students last Friday along Bay to Bay Boulevard in Hillsborough County.

Although many details surrounding this tragic accident have yet to be uncovered, detectives with the Tampa Police Department have managed to put together a partial reconstruction of the collision. According to their preliminary findings, it was determined that during the early afternoon of December 10, 2021, close to 1 p.m., 17-year-old Benjamin Francis and his 15-year-old passenger Taylor Koulouris were traveling on a motorcycle at a high rate of speed in the eastbound direction of Bay to Bay Boulevard. Simultaneously, a yet-to-be-identified male individual behind the wheel of a Kia Sorento was driving north on Lois Avenue and approaching the road’s intersection with Bay to Bay Boulevard. It was right after the Sorento had stopped at a stop sign and was proceeding through the intersection that the motorcycle T-boned the side of the car.

Local emergency response teams and officers with the Tampa Police Department were dispatched to the scene within a matter of minutes after the collision occurred and upon their arrival, they quickly discovered that the 17-year-old motorcyclist had suffered fatal injuries during the accident and had already passed away. EMTs immediately stabilized the 15-year-old female passenger for transport and she was taken to a local hospital for additional medical assistance. The young teen managed to survive the weekend, however, her life-threatening injuries proved to be too severe for her to recover from, and she sadly died on Tuesday.

The unnamed driver of the Kia Sorento sustained minor injuries during the collision and is expected to make a full recovery.

A candlelight prayer vigil for the two Plant High School students was held by the community at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church over the weekend. “To lose any person in this community is a tragic thing, so young, to hear that Taylor was in such serious condition was difficult, it just felt surreal,” said youth pastor Kenny Hubbell in a statement to the press.

It is unclear at this time if any legal charges will be filed against the sole survivor of the accident.

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.