Police: Girl injured after car runs light

Police say the accident was caused by a motorist with a suspended license.

By CHRIS TISCH

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001

CLEARWATER -- During a week in which law enforcement cracked down on red-light running, a 17-year-old Largo High School student was critically injured Friday afternoon in an accident caused when a motorist with a suspended license ran a red light, police said.

The crash occurred about 1 p.m. when Angela Bernardini of Pinellas Park was steering a 1989 Mazda 626 left from northbound Missouri Avenue to Belleair Road. She turned as the light was turning from yellow to red, then was struck by a southbound 1993 Mercedes driven by 34-year-old Robert Lee Knowles of St. Petersburg, according to Clearwater police Sgt. Doug Griffith.

Griffith said Knowles ran the red light before hitting Bernardini's car. He said Bernardini's injuries were life-threatening. He said her family was notified Friday of her injuries.

Bernardini was flown to Bayfront Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition at the hospital Friday evening, a nursing supervisor said.

Knowles, who was taken by ambulance to Bayfront for minor injuries, faces felony charges of driving with a suspended license, Griffith said. He also had been wanted on two misdemeanor warrants, according to Griffith.

Knowles was being treated in the emergency room Friday evening. The supervisor said it was expected he would be released later that night.

Knowles' passenger, Timothy Giezentanner, 22, of Clearwater, suffered serious injuries, including a broken jaw, and was taken by ambulance to Bayfront. He also was being treated in the emergency room Friday evening and was expected to be released, the supervisor said.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and other local law enforcement agencies have spent the last week staking out red-light runners as part of Stop Red Light Running Week.

In 1998, the last year statistics are available, there were 89,000 red-light running crashes nationwide, resulting in 986 deaths and about 80,000 injuries, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

In Florida, 126 deaths and 16,000 injuries were caused by red-light runners in 1997, according to state figures.

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