RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Four people, including two young boys, were killed in a major crash Wednesday afternoon on southbound Interstate 75 in the Riverview area, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reports.
The multi-vehicle crash happened just after 3 p.m. on I-75 South, just north of the Selmon Expressway.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, two pickup trucks were heading southbound on I-75 in adjacent lanes when one truck collided with the other in an attempt to switch lanes. The crash caused both trucks to spin out.
The first truck landed in the grass median with the driver and all three of his passengers getting ejected. The driver, a 36-year-old man, was killed along with a 34-year-old woman and their 12-year-old son. The third passenger, the boy's 14-year-old cousin, died at the hospital, FHP said in an update Thursday morning.
The driver, woman and 12-year-old boy were from Clearwater. The 14-year-old was from Texas.
According to FHP, no one in the first truck was wearing a seatbelt.
The driver of the second truck and the two young children riding in the back were not injured when their vehicle came to a controlled stop in the inside emergency lane. FHP confirmed they were all wearing seatbelts.
10 Tampa Bay talked to a Tampa Fire Rescue lieutenant who constantly responds to crashes on the interstate. Lt. Bryan Grube has seen firsthand how seatbelts save lives.
"What I like about seatbelts is you’re in control. You can’t control others on the road or what the weather is like that day, but you can always control putting your seat belt on before your car is in drive," Grube said.
According to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, in 2022, there were 85 child passenger fatalities due to vehicle crashes. Of those fatalities, almost 50% were not wearing any type of restraint.
All southbound lanes of I-75 were blocked for several hours as traffic was being diverted off Exit 254. The roadway has since reopened.