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Man killed in head-on collision

By THOMAS LAKE
Published September 13, 2006

SPRING HILL - No one can know the last thought that flashed through Tracey Moore's mind as he drove west on County Line Road Monday night, teenage daughter on board, home a mile away. But if investigators are correct, he would have seen headlights cross the center line.

He would have yanked the wheel to the right.

And he would have been an instant too late.

The other driver survived. So did Moore's 14-year-old daughter, Kelly.

Moore did not. He was 44.

"I see wrecks every day," said Trooper Dawayne Maddux of the Florida Highway Patrol. "It was one of the worst impacts I've seen in a while."

Footage from a freelance photographer shows Moore's scarlet minivan backlit by a fire truck's headlights, windshield translucent as winter ice, hood crumpled like a dinner napkin, metal parts spilled in the green-white grass.

How did it happen? Authorities say Joseph Vascellaro's truck veered into Moore's path at about 50 mph, causing a head-on collision so violent that Moore's steering wheel broke off the column.

But they don't know why Vascellaro crossed the line. He was listed in fair condition, which means he was conscious and his vital signs were stable, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa on Tuesday afternoon.

Vascellaro had not been charged in connection with the crash. But state records show he has four prior arrests in Florida, including a felony cocaine-possession charge from two weeks ago.

Anyone who saw the crash is asked to call Highway Patrol Cpl. Scott Campbell at

1-800-500-1240.

"Everything's pending right now," Campbell said, "because we're waiting for evidence and lab results."

After the crash, Kelly Moore went to Spring Hill Regional Medical Center with relatively minor injuries. She was expected to be released on Tuesday. The family declined interview requests.

Rescue workers used mechanical blades to cut through the twisted metal that trapped Vascellaro in his truck. It usually takes no more than 10 minutes, said Kevin Carroll, a district chief for Spring Hill Fire Rescue. This time it took more than half an hour.

The workers did the same for Moore. They threw a white sheet over his body.

[Last modified September 13, 2006, 01:28:17]