Investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) continue to investigate a crash that killed two people. The crash occurred at the Kennedy Boulevard exit along the northbound lanes of I-275 at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Monday, July 18, 2022.
According to troopers, the crash involved six vehicles. The first vehicle, a pickup truck , was operated by a 51 year-old male from Clearwater. He was traveling northbound on the Kennedy Boulevard exit ramp approaching the five other vehicles involved that were stopped in traffic.
According to troopers, the driver of the pickup truck looked down at his phone, failed to observe the stopped traffic, and collided with a sedan. The sedan was then propelled forward and along with the pickup truck both collided with Vehicles 3 through 6.
Both occupants of sedan, a 53 year-old female from Lakeland and a 39 year-old St. Petersburg man suffered fatal injuries at the scene of the crash.
The driver of the third vehicle, a 38 year-old female from St. Petersburg suffered serious injuries and was transported to a trauma center. Her passenger, a 6 year-old girl suffered less serious injuries and was transported to a local trauma center for evaluation.
The occupants of the other three vehicles, two SUVs and one pickup truck all suffered minor injuries
The initial driver in the first vehicle also suffered minor injuries, according to FHP.
The preliminary report did not mention any citations yet issued as the investigation continues
Exit lanes onto Kennedy Boulevard began to reopen at approximately 12:35 p.m.
Additional information will be posted here at IONTB once released by the FHP.
The Florida Highway Patrol’s policy is to withhold the names of all parties involved in crashes due to Marsy’s Law. This law, passed by the voters in 2018, was law was meant to protect crime victims. FHP has expanded and provided this protection even to those that have been arrested and caused the death of others in past DUI cases. Their interpretation deprives the public of information that had always been available as part of the state’s public records law