Driver, 84, gets ticket in wrong-way crash
Troopers ticketed an 84-year-old driver Monday night after he collided with another vehicle while driving the wrong way on State Road 417.
Porfirio Perez of Orlando was also recommended for a driver’s license medical re-examination, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The collision happened about 11:15 p.m. near East Colonial Drive as Perez was driving south in the northbound lanes.
Troopers said a Seminole County deputy sheriff was heading south in the southbound lanes and attempted to alert and stop Perez with the cruiser’s flashing lights and sirens.
That didn’t work, though, and the front corner of Perez’s 2005 PT Cruiser collided with the front of a 2005 Lexus, FHP said. Perez and the driver of the Lexus — Kevin Cannon, 55, of Winter Springs — were taken to a local hospital with serious injuries. Cannon’s 15-year-old passenger was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Troopers are still trying to figure out where Perez started going the wrong way.
Despite local law enforcement saying it seems the wrong-way crashes are happening more often, national transportation officials say the serious crashes are relatively rare.
Wrong-way crashes make up only about 3 percent of all crashes, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
They do, however, have a higher chance of causing serious injuries or death. That could be because more often than not, wrong-way crashes are head-on collisions, according to the NTSB.
Troopers say that’s what happened earlier this month when a 71-year-old Apopka woman was driving the wrong way on S.R. 528.
Nelly Su and her dog were heading east in the westbound lanes about 2:20 a.m. when her 1999 Infiniti hit the box truck head-on, causing both vehicles to burst into flames, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The box-truck driver jumped out and received only minor injuries. Troopers said the fire was too intense for him to help Su. She died at the scene, along with her dog.
Troopers said Su got onto S.R. 528 from a westbound exit ramp at International Corporate Parkway. The fiery collision happened not long after that.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority has paired with the University of Central Florida for help figuring out the best way to alert wrong-way drivers. Researchers have been testing different methods on exit and entrance ramps throughout the area, including installing an alert system at S.R. 520 and S.R. 528 — not far from where Su crashed.
Jeff Marshall, a spokesman for the authority, said some of the tested systems are flashing “Wrong Way” signs to better stop drivers and radar cameras that alert officials when a vehicle is going the wrong way.
None of the new alert technologies have been installed on the exit ramp where Su got on to S.R. 528, Marshall said. Troopers are still trying to figure out where she was headed that morning.