On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at 11:12 a.m., a PSTA bus carrying 10 passengers collided with a pedestrian on an electric scooter at the intersection of 22nd Avenue North and the Pinellas Trail.
Police traffic investigators said Deanna Leigh Grayston, 53, of St. Petersburg, was the PSTA bus driver involved in the fatal traffic crash.
Grayston was transporting 10 passengers in a public transit bus headed westbound in the 7000 block of 22nd Avenue North. The PSTA bus was traveling in the curb lane as it approached the Pinellas Trail crosswalk.
A pedestrian activated the trail crosswalk signal on 22nd Avenue North and started to cross south to north.
About the same time, a second pedestrian on a motorized scooter, identified as a 65-year-old man, was traveling southbound on the Pinellas Trail approaching 22nd Avenue North.
He then attempted to cross the trail crosswalk north to south and was struck by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus.
Traffic investigators said the PSTA bus failed to yield to pedestrian traffic at the trail crosswalk on 22nd Avenue North.
The victim, who turned 65 on Tuesday, was transported to St. Petersburg Hospital – HCA Florida Healthcare, where he died of his injuries.
His name is not being released, pending notification of next of kin.
No injuries were reported on the transit bus.
The investigation remains open and active.