One person is dead after two separate crashes on the Howard Frankland Bridge Friday morning.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the first crash occurred around 6:44 a.m. An 18-year-old man from Greenville, Ohio, was riding a Honda motorcycle north on I-275 in the outside land while a 65-year-old man drove a Chevy Equinox in the outside center lane.
The motorcycle and Chevy began to approach a Road Ranger Ford F-150, which was stopped along the outside northbound shoulder to assist a disabled BMW X3. The vehicles then crashed into each other, and the motorcycle was redirected to the shoulder, where it collided with the barrier wall.
The 18-year-old was thrown forward from the motorcycle and collided with the back of the Ford. He passed away at the scene of the crash.
The Chevy's driver and the Ford's 29-year-old driver were uninjured. The BMW's driver was not present during the crash.
The second crash occurred in the southbound lanes and involved four vehicles around 7:18 a.m. One person was left with non-life-threatening injuries.
FHP said a GMC Yukon traveling south on I-275 when they made a complete stop due to traffic ahead of it. A Ford Escape then slowed to stop behind the Yukon, but a Volkswagen Tiguan failed to stop and collided with the rear of the Escape.
The impact caused the Escape to rear-end the Yukon and spin into the left middle lane. A Ford van attempted to swerve to avoid colliding with the Tiguan but was unable to do so and crashed into the back of the Tiguan.
FHP said the front of the van struck the right side of the Escape that was now in the left middle lane, and the collision caused the Escape to face the wrong way and make contact with the van's passenger side.
After the collision, the Tiguan swerved right and struck the driver's side of a Ford F150. The 54-year-old woman driving the Tiguan said her brakes malfunctioned after the crash, so she could not stop the vehicle until it came to a final rest around 1,000 feet away.
FHP said the Escape left impact marks on the left wall and the van left around 40 feet of skid marks.
The Tiguan's driver and the 52-year-old man driving the van were taken to Bayfront Medical Center for minor injuries. They were both issued citations for careless driving.
The three other drivers, a 23-year-old man, 30-year-old man and 44-year-old man, had minor injuries. All vehicles were towed from the scene due to damage that left them undriveable.
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