WINTER PARK, Fla. – A 32-year-old Davenport woman was killed and a 50-year-old Orlando woman was seriously injured early Tuesday in a wrong-way crash that prompted the closure of Interstate 4 in Orange County, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The fatal wreck happened around 4:35 a.m. on I-4 east at Lee Road near Winter Park.
“Honestly it’s just tragic all the way around, especially because it’s something that can definitely be avoided,” Trooper Migdalisis Garcia said.
The FHP said the Davenport woman was driving a 2021 Nissan Altima west in the eastbound center lane of I-4 when she struck a 2019 Kia Optima driven by the Orlando woman head-on.
The Davenport woman was pronounced dead at the scene, according to troopers, who said the Orlando woman was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Both women were wearing seat belts, according to an FHP crash report.
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“Someone has to be distracted, impaired or pretty careless to get on the road the wrong way,” said News 6 Traffic Safety Expert Trooper Steve Montiero.
The FHP said it’s believed the woman got onto I-4 at Maitland Boulevard, where there is not a wrong-way detection system to alert authorities. A driver spotted the woman heading the wrong way on I-4 and called 911, troopers said.
News 6 was instrumental in making those detection systems happen.
After our reports earlier this year on wrong-way crashes and pressing state leaders, the Florida Department of Transportation moved up the installation of those wrong-way detection systems by a year, putting them on all direct connect ramps on the express lanes in the center of the I-4.
“A lot of people don’t know when that activation happens a picture is sent to dispatch and to the troopers showing them where that is,” Montiero said.
But those systems aren’t at every ramp. FDOT said it has installed 19 wrong-way detection systems along I-4 in Central Florida since 2019 and plans to put them in place at 16 more ramps on I-4 from Kirkman Road to Ivanhoe Boulevard.
FDOT said every ramp on I-4 already has wrong way and do not enter signs posted on exit ramps to try and prevent drivers from going the wrong way.
Eastbound lanes of I-4 were closed for hours before reopening.
The names of the woman who died and the woman who was seriously hurt have not been released.
Troopers said they’re still looking to see what could have caused the driver to go the wrong way, including if impairment was a factor.
*** FATAL CRASH ***
— “Trooper Steve” Montiero (@TrooperSteve_) December 19, 2023
⛔️ I-4 CLOSED ⛔️
EB I-4 at Lee Rd - shutdown
- all eastbound traffic must exit at: Lee Rd, Fairbanks or Princeton.
- EB express is OPEN
- if attempting to head further east, 408 to NB 417 could be beneficial #crash #tuesday #orlando pic.twitter.com/dNUI11OuTl
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