Wife dies, husband hurt in accident on I-275

TAMPA - A crash early Wednesday on Interstate 275 killed a North Port woman and shut down eastbound traffic near the Howard Frankland Bridge for four hours.

Barbara Whitford, 71, died after a car driven by her husband, Dewey, swerved into the same lane as a truck restriping a section of highway about 4:15 a.m., the Florida Highway Patrol said.

After striking the back of the truck, the car spun several times. Dewey Whitford, 74, was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital with minor injuries and later released.

The driver of the truck, Robert Yates of Lakeland, was taken to Tampa General Hospital with minor injuries and later released.

Officials were still investigating the cause of the crash, said FHP Lt. Sterling King.

The truck had a blinking arrow board that should have made it visible for a "country mile," King said. The car struck the truck even though the truck was pulling a "crash attenuator," which is a cushioned cart meant to absorb rear-end collisions, King said.

He said no charges had been filed.

Marta Hlavac, who lives across the street from the Whitfords' home in the Sarasota County town of North Port, said the Whitfords were driving cross-country to visit their son, who lives in Seattle. The Whitfords had been staying in North Port during the winters since 1998. They lived the rest of the year in Middlebury Center, Pa.

Hlavac, who is 88, said Dewey Whitford made a habit of bringing her newspaper, which is dropped off in her driveway, to her front door every morning.

"I'm very old, and he likes to help me," Hlavac said.

Dewey Whitford told Hlavac on Tuesday that he wouldn't be able to bring the newspaper to her for a while.

"He said they had a long trip coming up," Hlavac said. "He wanted to get an early start because it was such a long trip."

- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Michael Van Sickler can be reached at 269-5312 or mvansickler@sptimes.com

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