Highway Patrol believe drugs and alcohol may have played a role in a recent accident that killed one man and sent two more people to the hospital. Florida authorities are still investigating the car accident involving a wrong-way driver on I-275. This is the third such accident to take place this year alone, according to police.
The record shows that the driver, a male in his late 20s or early 30s, was traveling west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 4 when police received the call. The vehicle then continued onto I-275, traveling north in the innermost southbound lane. Around this time, the vehicle struck a Transcare vehicle traveling in the correct direction.
The male driver was killed on impact, according to arriving medical personnel. The two technicians driving the Transcare vehicle both suffered injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Thankfully, they were not carrying any passengers at the time of the crash. Although it has not yet been confirmed, police have reason to believe that the man, who was not carrying any identification, may have been intoxicated when the crash occurred. The investigation is still ongoing.
Wrong-way crashes account for only about three percent of all crashes recorded in Florida, and most often they are the result of drug or alcohol use. If police determine that the man was intoxicated at the time of the car accident, the injured parties may choose to file personal injury suits against the man’s estate and any additional owners of the vehicle involved in the crash. Such a case would be handled in a civil court setting.
Source: tbo.com, “Another wrong-way driver dies in crash on I-275”, , Aug. 15, 2014