Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Head-on crash kills one, injures another

The collision mangles three vehicles and throttles traffic along U.S. 19.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 4, 2007

Clearwater firefighters cover the body of Michael Porter, 68, who lost control of his Mustang on a U.S. 19 frontage road near Drew Street on Monday. He crossed the median and hit a Hummer before crashing head-on into a Jetta, police said. The driver of the Hummer wasn't injured.
	[Douglas R. Clifford | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] The driver of the Jetta, Richard Bishop, 52, of Clearwater, was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg with injuries, police said. [Douglas R. Clifford | Times] Traffic backs up on the Drew Street overpass after Monday's fatal accident left the southbound Drew Street exit, left, closed while Clearwater police conducted an investigation.

CLEARWATER - A Clearwater man died Monday after losing control of his silver 2003 Mustang and colliding head-on with a Volkswagen Jetta on a U.S. 19 frontage road near the 2600 block of Drew Street.

Michael Porter, 68, of 2623 Hemlock Drive was declared dead at the scene.

The driver of the Jetta, Richard Bishop, 52, of Clearwater, was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg with non-life-threatening injuries, Clearwater police said.

Porter was traveling north on the frontage road and approaching Drew Street about 2 p.m. when he entered the left turn lane. Instead of making the left turn, Porter drove over a raised median and entered the southbound lanes, police said.

Porter struck a Hummer then veered off and crashed into the Jetta, Clearwater police said.

A witness, Tony Millett, said he was sitting at the intersection on his way to Best Buy when he saw the silver Mustang convertible heading north on U.S. 19.

Millett, 35, said the driver of the Mustang appeared to be having a seizure or some sort of medical emergency.

"It was a pretty severe impact and very loud," Millett said.

The driver of the 2003 black Hummer H2, John Accardi of Palm Harbor, was not injured, police said.

Chris Hopper, an employee at Kanes Furniture, was outside smoking a cigarette when she saw the Mustang heading the wrong direction on the one-way access road.

"I was horrified," she said. "I'm still very, very rattled."

The impact took out the Hummer's right front wheel. The front of the Volkswagen was smashed into the back seat. The silver Mustang was a mangled mass of steel. A red and blue umbrella poked through what was once a black convertible top.

The wreck shut down access to Drew Street and Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard via the frontage road for hours.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at dalee@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

[Last modified December 3, 2007, 21:01:12]