{"id":294192,"date":"2026-06-03T09:47:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294192\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T09:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:47:27","slug":"it-was-so-fast-witness-describes-deadly-wrong-way-crash-on-i-275","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294192\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It was so fast’: Witness describes deadly wrong-way crash on I-275"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 A woman who witnessed Friday night\u2019s deadly wrong-way crash on Interstate 275 says everything happened in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n

Florida Highway Patrol says the crash happened Friday night near Busch Boulevard after a 21-year-old Tampa man drove south in the northbound lanes of I-275.<\/p>\n

WATCH: ‘It\u00a0was so fast’: Witness describes deadly wrong-way crash on I-275<\/p>\n

‘It was so fast’: Witness describes deadly wrong-way crash on I-275<\/p>\n

Troopers say the driver had already been involved in two separate hit-and-run crashes earlier in the night before colliding nearly head-on with a Toyota Corolla driven by a 24-year-old Tampa man, who died at the scene.<\/p>\n

Fran Lin, who works for Tampa Bay 28, was only a short distance away when the crash unfolded in front of her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so fast. It was all of a sudden. I saw a car flip over,\u201d Lin said.<\/p>\n

Lin said at first, she could not process what she had just witnessed.<\/p>\n

\"I-275<\/p>\n

Fran Lin<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, I felt like I was in a movie or something,\u201d she said. \u201cThe first thing that went through my mind was, \u2018Is this a movie? My brain is probably glitching, because I can\u2019t believe this is real.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida Department of Transportation officials say interstate exit ramps across the Tampa Bay area already include multiple wrong-way prevention measures, such as \u201cWrong Way\u201d and \u201cDo Not Enter\u201d signs, pavement markings, and reflective markers to help drivers stay in the correct lanes.<\/p>\n

FDOT also says dozens of interstate off-ramps in the area are now equipped with Wrong-Way Vehicle Detection Systems, with additional locations under construction or planned in future projects.<\/p>\n

The systems are designed to detect wrong-way vehicles, activate flashing warning lights, and alert the public and law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Still, officials say the technology depends on drivers making safe decisions behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

\"Wrong<\/p>\n

Fran Lin<\/p>\n

The department says drivers who see a wrong-way alert should slow down, move to the right side of the roadway, and pull over immediately if they spot an approaching vehicle traveling the wrong direction.<\/p>\n

Lin said she did not even realize at first that the driver had been traveling the wrong way and had very little time to react.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car that was hit \u2014 I felt so bad for the person,\u201d Lin said. \u201cThey were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Crash<\/p>\n

Fran Lin<\/p>\n

FHP says charges are pending against the 21-year-old wrong-way driver.<\/p>\n

Share Your Story with Chad

Chad Mills calls Polk County home and has witnessed the area\u2019s growth firsthand. He is focused on sharing stories from his neighbors in Lakeland. You can use the form below to connect with Chad.
.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Clearwater Beach businesses frustrated with teen takeover<\/p>\n

Clearwater Beach businesses say teen takeovers are now costing them money. On Sunday night, a 17-year-old was injured during a takeover that broke out in gunfire.<\/p>\n

Clearwater Beach businesses frustrated with teen takeover<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 A woman who witnessed Friday night\u2019s deadly wrong-way crash on Interstate 275 says everything happened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[94877,6130,1618,618,22067,276,35546,135,5910,108336,3670,137,136],"class_list":["post-294192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-busch-boulevard","tag-driving","tag-fla","tag-florida-highway-patrol","tag-fowler-avenue","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-i-275","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-tampa-bay-28-news","tag-tampa-bay-local-news","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}