A chain of accidents, all within about a minute, shuts down northbound traffic on the Howard Frankland Bridge.
By LEANORA MINAI and TOM ZUCCO
Published June 23, 2004
NUMBER OF CRASHES: 9; FRUSTRATED MOTORISTS: COUNTLESS
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
As commuters headed east across the Howard Frankland Bridge on Tuesday morning, the fast-moving traffic suddenly turned into a morass of crashed cars and frustrated drivers after nine separate accidents. For those caught in it, "all hell broke out."
TUESDAY'S TRAFFIC MAYHEM: BY THE NUMBERS
NUMBER OF VEHICLES: 29
NUMBER OF INJURIES: Three
NUMBER OF TOWED VEHICLES: 15
NUMBER OF $80 CARELESS DRIVING CITATIONS: 10
DURATION OF DELAY: 21/2 hours
LENGTH OF BACKUP: 6 miles
NUMBER OF FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL INVESTIGATORS: Eight
Source: Florida Highway Patrol
[Times photo: Dirk Shadd]
Investigators and accident victims try to sort out the details after a series of wrecks tied up the Howard Frankland Bridge for 21/2 hours Tuesday morning.
[Times photo: Ken Helle]
For commuters sitting in stalled traffic Tuesday morning, the northbound approach lanes to the Howard Frankland Bridge probably looked more like a parking lot than an interstate highway.
The glare of the rising sun beamed into Aaron Bruckler's eyes as he drove north onto the wet Howard Frankland Bridge.
He was headed to an emergency medical technician class in Tampa on Tuesday morning when, suddenly, a driver in front of him slammed on his brakes.
Bruckler swerved into another lane, missing the car, but was sideswiped by another vehicle.
"I look in my rear-view mirror and all hell broke out," said Bruckler, 19. "There were cars going everywhere, just spinning, hitting each other, hitting the wall. One on top of another one."
Bruckler's accident was the first of nine crashes that involved 29 vehicles and brought the morning rush hour on the Howard Frankland to a standstill for 21/2 hours.
Three people were taken to area hospitals for minor injuries, said Trooper Larry Coggins of the Florida Highway Patrol.
"That's just a miracle in itself," Coggins said. "We're just very, very thankful nobody's seriously injured. Cars can be fixed."
Coggins said the causes of the crashes were rain and drivers either speeding or following too closely for conditions. Ten motorists were cited for careless driving. Two motorists struck vehicles and drove away.
The 6-mile backup was a huge disruption, leaving commuters stranded in the northbound lanes of the interstate.
"I hope my boss reads the newspaper," said David Glass, 29, a carpenter who was headed to a job in Tampa. "He may not believe me when I tell him why I was late. I mean, stuck in traffic for two hours? I wish I had my cell phone."
* * *
Rain started to fall at 6 a.m. around the portion of Old Tampa Bay that includes the Howard Frankland Bridge.
About the same time, scores of commuters were getting on the slippery bridge and driving toward Tampa. Vehicles started slowing down, braking fast and hard in the rush-hour traffic.
"I just don't think people are used to the showers because we haven't had them in a long time," said Bruckler, the motorist headed to an emergency medical technician class.
His red Ford Explorer was involved in the first crash, a three-vehicle wreck at 7:30 a.m.
"All of a sudden, the guy in front of me locks his brakes up," said Bruckler, a Seminole resident. "I find a way out and go to the next lane. I thought, "Thank God I got out of that,' and then all of a sudden, I hear a bang, and then I get sideswiped."
The right rear side of Bruckler's Explorer was struck by a Nissan Altima driven by Robert Cabino, 56, of St. Petersburg.
Cabino then hit another car, investigators say. Cabino got an $80 ticket for careless driving.
Coggins, the FHP trooper, said investigators ticketed 10 people for careless driving because they should have been able to stop in time, like most of the other motorists faced with the same road conditions.
"Just because it rained doesn't give people the free option to have crashes," Coggins said. "You still have to maintain control of your vehicle."
The chain of accidents occurred within 60 to 80 seconds of each other, 500 to 1,000 feet apart, Coggins said. Some vehicles sustained up to $10,000 in damage.
Brent Walkoviak, 41, of St. Petersburg was in the second crash, the largest wreck, involving six vehicles.
He was in his Dodge pickup, 30 to 40 yards onto the bridge, when "traffic was all of a sudden stopping, and I couldn't tell why."
Several cars ahead of him had rear-ended one another.
Walkoviak, a computer programmer driving to work in Tampa, slammed on his brakes and heard squealing tires behind him.
"Some people had no clue who they hit," he said. "I knew who hit me because I saw who was behind me. I saw it coming."
James Towle, 82, of Bradenton, one of the drivers in Walkoviak's accident, was cited for careless driving after investigators say he caused the six-vehicle pileup by slamming into stopped traffic.
The remaining clusters of accidents occurred like falling strips of dominoes, one after another.
"I was bummed, but I looked at all the cars around me that were really damaged, and I was one of the more lucky ones," said Michael Borden, a 25-year-old St. Petersburg resident whose 2000 Corvette was hit twice.
Some commuters didn't feel so lucky. They were ticketed for illegal maneuvers - improper U-turns - to avoid the traffic jam.
"Obviously, I broke the law," said Ted Newill, 50, of St. Petersburg, who got an $80 ticket for a U-turn before the Fourth Street N ramp to Interstate 275.
Other people were stranded on the clogged interstate for several hours as tow trucks hauled away 15 vehicles.
"I'm just glad I brought my biochemistry books," said Shelby Kent, 31, a University of South Florida student from St. Petersburg who was headed to Tampa. "At least I can do a little studying."
Richard Agosto, a 33-year-old trucker from St. Petersburg, was driving north on Fourth Street toward the ramp to Interstate 275 when he saw a line of stopped traffic on the horizon. He pulled over and called his boss at a trucking company in Lakeland.
