One dead, 2 hurt in Palmetto Expressway wrong-way crash
One person was killed, and two others were injured, in a wrong-way crash on State Road 826/Palmetto Expressway early Monday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
It happened around 1 a.m. near Okeechobee Road.
The FHP said the driver of a white Mercedes-Benz SUV was heading north in the southbound lanes and slammed head-on into a white Dodge SUV. The impact caused the Mercedes to overturn several times.
The man sitting in the front passenger in the Mercedes was ejected and died, the FHP said. The driver of the Mercedes and the driver of the Dodge were both taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The roadway was closed for approximately five hours during the crash investigation.
This was the fifth deadly head-on crash since January 9 when a Miramar firefighter was killed. The FHP said these types of crashes could be avoided and they are doing all they can to alert drivers.
"People need to be aware that when you travel on any highway, the reflectors that you see on the road, if they are red, it means you are going the wrong way," FHP Trooper Pete Sanchez said. "Anytime you have a head-on collision, you're looking at maybe 60 to 70 miles an hour. Seventy miles per hour and 70 miles an hour is a 140 miles an hour impact, those are hard to survive."
