JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two wrong-way crashes happened in just over 24 hours in Jacksonville and one of the crashes was deadly.
On Saturday morning around 1:15 a.m., a wrong-way crash on I-295 injured five people. Two children and one teenager suffered minor injuries.
The crash occurred after one vehicle was traveling southbound in the northbound lane of I-295. This car then struck a second vehicle, rotated clockwise and was struck by a third vehicle.
FHP identified the driver of the vehicle driving the wrong was, as Destiney Brown, 21, of Jacksonville. According to the Florida Highway Patrol incident, she suffered serious injuries. Brown was taken to UF Health for treatment of her injuries. Action News Jax Courtney Cole reached out to UF Health for an update on her status, but they were unable to tell her on Monday.
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Northbound lanes of I-295 were closed for two hours, but are now reopened.
Drivers and neighbors told Action News Jax reporter Courtney Cole they want to know if something can be done.
Cole asked the Florida Department of Transportation if they have started to look for solutions to stop wrong-way crashes from happening. A spokesperson for FDOT told Cole they can’t look for solutions until FHP completes the investigation for both wrong-way crashes.
John Humphrey told me he believes there needs to be more lights, better signage and maybe even some type of barrier to prevent wrong way crashes on the Northside.
"All you see at nighttime, you see other headlights coming toward you. You can't really tell where the lanes are at,” Humphrey told Cole.
Humphrey said the lanes can be confusing. “Because the way they narrow in-and-out, I mean, if you watch the traffic a lot, you'll see people going into the other lanes and stuff,” said Humphrey.
Another neighbor agrees, something needs to be done. "Because this (is) happening like multiple times a year. On the northside, big collisions and fatal deaths like this happen probably at least twice a year,” said Katherine Gusman.
On Friday morning, two people were killed in a fiery wrong way crash on I-95.
A 23-year-old driver hit another driver head-on causing that car to burst into flames.
Right now FDOT is already using lifesaving technology to get wrong-way drivers off the road in Tampa and Orlando.
There's software that has a sensor that alerts the driver and FHP if they're driving the wrong way.
In 2015, Duval County reported more than 70 wrong-way crashes according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Cole reached out to them to learn how many local wrong way crashes have happened in 2018 and 2019. Cole also reached out to FHP to learn if there either of the drivers are facing charges and if alcohol or drugs played a role.
She’s still waiting to hear back.
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