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Truck Crash Snarls Tollway

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2007

TAMPA - The westbound lanes of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway at Euclid Avenue reopened Wednesday afternoon after a midmorning accident in which an 18-wheel truck overturned.

When Tampa Fire Rescue responded at 11:15 a.m. to the single-vehicle crash, rescuers found the cab destroyed. The driver got out of the wreckage unharmed. One of the truck's saddle fuel tanks leaked about 20 gallons, a Florida Highway Patrol report stated.

Truck driver Steve Luiz, 44, was pulling an empty flatbed trailer for a Pinellas Park company, the highway patrol said. He said he wasn't sure why the truck hydroplaned, causing its left side to strike the barrier over Himes Avenue. The truck then crossed right, striking another cement barrier.

The truck's tractor exploded, with the engine coming to rest outside the engine compartment, the report stated. The truck's wheels lay several feet away, and the radiator was about 20 feet down the expressway.

Josh Poltilove

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