Tampa Woman Dead, Three Injured in U.S. 301 Crash

A violent three-car crash that happened along a stretch of U.S. 301 in Pasco County left one Tampa resident dead and several other individuals suffering from minor injuries. According to reports from the Florida Highway Patrol, the incident took place on Wednesday, January 2nd, close to 6:30 in the morning, as many drivers were making their ways back to work after a long holiday weekend.

The initial statement on the incident from the Florida Highway Patrol suggests that the crash took place while two of the cars involved were driving down the northern lanes of U.S. 301. A 25-year-old Tampa resident was behind the wheel of a 2011 Nissan Altima when they began to slow their vehicle down in preparation for the turn off of U.S. 301 onto Chancey Road. For reasons that are not clear, a car traveling behind the Nissan, a 2001 Mitsubishi SUV, did not notice the slowed pace of the car before them. As a result, the driver of the Nissan failed to slow their car down as well, and this resulted in the initial collision.

After the rear-end crash, the Altima was pushed from the northern lanes of 301 into the southbound lanes of 301 and directly into the path of a 1995 Nissan pickup truck. The driver of the pickup truck, a 32-year-old Tampa resident, was not able to avoid the sudden intrusion of the Altima into their lane and a head-on collision occurred as a result. The Altima overturned after the crash, inflicting fatal injuries on the driver of the car.

Emergency response teams rushed to the scene in order to provide medical aid to those involved, and the driver of the Altima was airlifted from the location and taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital for advanced medical treatment. Sadly, the extent of this driver’s injures was too severe for any medical attention to rectify. They were declared dead sometime after arriving at the hospital.

Among the other two vehicles were three individuals, all of whom were transported to hospitals for treatment of injuries that were reportedly minor.

At the time of this writing is not known if any charges are currently pending against the driver of the Mitsubishi.

Sources:

• U.S. 301 CRASH KILLS TAMPA WOMAN

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.