STATEWIDE – Florida’s new seatbelt law goes into effect today and the Florida Highway Patrol plans on enforcing the rule. Not buckling up will cost violators a $30 ticket for first time violators. Officials say there will be no grace or warning period. Officials are optimistic the new law can help avoid scenes like the…
SEMINOLE – A pedestrian was struck and seriously injured by a vehicle on Bay Pines Boulevard in Seminole as he crossed near the intersection of 100th Way North. Seminole Fire Rescue responded to the crash. The accident victim was rushed by SunStar ambulance to the Bayfront Medical Center as a “trauma alert” patient. Traffic was…
PALM BEACH – The Palm Beach Post (6/28, Paul) reported, “Because of the way Chrysler’s exit plan was structured, Fiat will not be exposed to pre-existing suits. Lawyers say that will remove any incentive for settlements, the most common outcome in such suits.” Lawyers for plaintiffs against Chrysler “agree they have few options left, since…
NATIONAL – In an editorial article published in the New York Times (6/29, A20), alludes to compelling stories of health insurers placing “profits ahead of patients,” argues that Congress “must impose tighter regulation of companies that clearly are not doing enough to regulate themselves. Creating a public plan could also help restrain the worst practices,…
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY – According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 16-year-old died in a single-car crash on Interstate 75 near the junction with Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. The 16-year-old was a passenger in a 2004 Ford Explorer that went out of control and overturned in the median of the interstate. The 2004 Ford Explorer was…
TAMPA – A five-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 just south of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard on Saturday afternoon left claimed the life of one and left several others injured. The FHP reported that the accident occurred at 1:50 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the interstate. A north-bound vehicle rear ended a slowing 2001 Toyota…
PASCO COUNTY – The intersection of Collier Parkway and State Road 54 has become the No. 1 spot in the county for car crashes caused by aggressive driving, according to statistics from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. A Pasco County Deputy said, “Drivers are speeding, tailgating, going off the roadway, cutting people off.” “We want…
TAMPA — Hillsborough County, which ranks No. 1 in the state for alcohol-related traffic deaths, will be the target of a Sheriff’s Office crackdown starting Saturday. Operation Heightened Patrol will include the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Tampa Police Department and the University of South Florida Police Department, according to the…
TAMPA — Slick rain-soaked roads this morning turned the Howard Frankland Bridge into a traffic-laden mess, with accident after accident piling up along the roadway. A camper that was being towed detached from the vehicle in the northbound lanes of Interstate 275 near the Kennedy Boulevard. Several lanes are blocked according to witnesses. In addition,…
SARASOTA COUNTY – A 24-year-old man, 24, died this morning after his motorcycle collided with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 75 in Sarasota County, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The biker was traveling north on I-75 in the southbound lane and hit the right front of the tractor-trailer, which was traveling south, near mile marker 194…