On Sunday morning, the Florida Highway Patrol reported a head-on collision that killed a 20-year-old Tampa woman. According to investigators, the 20-year-old was driving a Chevrolet northbound on the southbound lanes of U.S. 41. A 21-year-old driver from Thonotosassa was driving southbound on U.S. 41 at the same time at around 6:56 a.m. The Chevrolet and Nissan collided head-on. Detectives say the driver of the Chevrolet was pronounced dead at the scene. The 21-year-old driver suffered critical injuries and was taken to the hospital, according to troopers.
An SUV veered into oncoming traffic on U.S. 19 on Wednesday, killing two people. An 81-year-old woman from Maidens, Virginia, lost control of her SUV around 5:00 pm on U.S. 19 and veered into the median, crashing into a construction barrel and entering the northbound lanes, according to local authorities. As the SUV collided with a car, it flipped over. A 54-year-old Hudson man was driving the car that crashed into the SUV, causing it to roll over. The SUV's passenger, a 52-year-old man from Hudson, died on the scene. At the hospital, the car's driver died. The driver, 81, suffered serious injuries.
Three people in Tampa were arrested for drag racing early in the pandemic and charged with driving as fast as 85 mph in a 45 mph zone. In the following minutes, a motorcycle going at least 80 mph in a 35 mph zone struck a pedestrian, killing both of them. Is it possible that they were isolated incidents? Almost impossible. It's one of many documented instances of how driver behavior has changed dramatically since the coronavirus became a public health emergency in March. In the last 11 months, fewer Floridians have been on the roads, but the number of fatal crashes has risen. A police officer in Atlanta driving 130 mph in a 65 mph zone was pulled over by a state trooper in April after he tested positive for the Coronavirus and was supposed to be in self-quarantine. The same month, a New York City police officer on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle was killed in a hit-and-run accident on the Cross Island Parkway in Queens. You may have seen similar behavior in your neighborhood - carpoolers taking full advantage of empty lanes, suburban interstates treated as their own private autobahns - since tens of millions of Americans pulled out of their offices to work at home during the pandemic.
Two people were killed in a car crash in Miami Beach Saturday, according to detectives. Around 5:30 pm, authorities said, a crash occurred along the 3100 block of Pine Tree Drive. The crash caused the death of one man. The other three, one man and two women, were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. According to the Miami Beach Police Department, the man taken to the hospital later died as well.
An Orlando man, 27, died following a collision on Tuesday morning. As reported by the Florida Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 1:10 a.m. On Florida Avenue at Hayes Road, a 26-year-old woman from Orlando lost control of her car, collided with two parked cars, and hit a tree on Florida Avenue. Tuesday afternoon, her passenger died at the hospital. The driver suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized.
