JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — WATCH: Action News Jax reporter Elizabeth Pace will have the latest on CBS47 at 5:
Two people are dead following a fiery wrong-way crash on Interstate 95, according to a Florida Highway Patrol traffic report.
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Troopers were dispatched to the scene just after 3 a.m. Friday.
A 23-year-old woman driving a Ford Escape was traveling north in the southbound lanes of I-95 and struck another vehicle head-on, troopers say.
The second vehicle caught fire following the collision and the Escape overturned onto its roof, the traffic report stated.
The driver of the Escape has been identified as Mary Russ, 23, of St. Augustine.
The driver of the second vehicle has not been identified at this time.
All southbound lanes were blocked as troopers investigated the crash. Traffic was snarled for hours.
TRAFFIC ALERT UPDATE: 2 left lanes now OPEN on 95 SB before Old St Augustine Rd from an earlier fatality. 2 right lanes remain blocked. Delays just starting to recover. #ANJtraffic @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/VpI0m8En4i
— First Alert Traffic (@ActionTraffic) June 21, 2019
Drivers like Jackie Schwartz said Friday morning’s traffic jam on I-95 south definitely set them back.
“I took the wrong turn and wound up in the traffic and so I ended up being late to a doctor’s appointment,” Schwartz said.
And she wasn’t the only one: Lelia Allen was trying to get back home to Orlando.
“I was stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes,” Allen said.
In 2015, Duval County reported more than 70 wrong-way crashes and St. Johns County reported about 15, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
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Florida Department of Transportation crews in Orlando and Tampa are using lifesaving technology to get wrong-way drivers off the road faster to try and prevent these types of crashes.
Here’s how it works:The wrong-way driver detection software has a sensor that if tripped will alert the driver if they are going the wrong way.
If that doesn’t stop them, flashing lights will appear and FHP will be alerted so it can stop a potentially deadly crash, like the one on Friday, from happening.
Action News Jax reached out to the local FDOT spokesperson and learned while they are always looking for ways to make the roads safer, they don’t have any cameras in place that can prevent wrong-way crashes and there are also no plans to implement any in our area at this time.
FATALITY blocking ALL SB lanes on 95 before Old St Augustine Rd. Drivers being detoured to US-1. #ANJtraffic @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/E4abpgPkvc
— First Alert Traffic (@ActionTraffic) June 21, 2019
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