SUV Drove Off Howard Frankland Into Construction Zone After Crash: FHP

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — A car speeding on the Howard Frankland Bridge Wednesday afternoon caused an SUV to drive off the road into a construction zone, according to a Florida Highway Patrol news release. (Watch a video of the crash below.)

A 19-year-old Spring Hill man, Rolando Joaquin Garza, was speeding as he traveled east in the inside lane of Interstate 275 along the bridge just before 5:30 p.m.

He “was traveling recklessly, at a high rate of speed, changing lanes in between cars and making other drivers take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision,” FHP said.

Near mile marker 34, he overtook an SUV driven by a 74-year-old Sarasota woman, then moved into the outside shoulder to try to pass her.

Because of the construction zone, the concrete barrier along the shoulder shifted to the edge of the road, giving Garza no space to pass, FHP said. He was forced into the travel lane again and hit the SUV.

After the crash, the SUV rotated, hit a guardrail, and overturned off the road and into the construction zone, where she hit an unoccupied parked car and truck.

Brought drivers were brought to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, FHP said.
Garza was charged with reckless driving.

Watch a video of the incident provided by Florida Highway Patrol: