from CLJNews.com
MIDWAY, FL – A 79-year-old Quincy man who was driving the wrong way on US 90 was killed early Thursday morning when he swerved to avoid a garbage truck and then collided with a box truck, according to the report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The deadly crash happened around 5:30 a.m. near Commerce Boulevard in Midway.
The driver, who was traveling west in the eastbound inside lane of US 90, drove up on an eastbound garbage truck coming toward him in the same lane. When he swerved to his left to avoid a head-on collision, the left front of his pickup struck the left side of a box truck traveling in the eastbound outside lane.
The collision sent both vehicles rotating counterclockwise. The right front of the garbage truck then hit the right-rear corner of the pickup inside the eastbound inside lane.
After the second collision, the pickup truck stopped in the eastbound outside lane facing west. The box truck came to final rest on the south grass shoulder facing north, and the garbage truck came to a stop in the eastbound inside lane facing east.
The Quincy man was pronounced deceased on scene.
The driver of the box truck, 48, of Perry, was transported to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The driver of the garbage truck, 41, of Tallahassee, was uninjured.
Both of the truck drivers were using their seatbelts; the man in the pickup was not.
The Florida High Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Midway Police Department, the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office, Midway Fire and Rescue, Gadsden County Volunteer Workers, and the Florida Department of Transportation.