A motorcyclist died in a traffic crash on the Howard Frankland Bridge that shut down southbound lanes for nearly six hours early Sunday morning, officials said.
Shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, a motorcycle traveling at a high rate of speed collided with a trailer being pulled by a Dodge 2500 pickup truck, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The trailer was loaded with three ATVs.
The incident occurred near the center span hump of the bridge's southbound lanes. A second motorcycle operated by a 21-year-old Bradenton man collided with debris on the road caused by the first accident.
The motorcyclist involved in the first accident, who was only described as a 31-year-old Palmetto man, died of his injuries at Bayfront Health, St. Petersburg trauma hospital. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, a highway patrol media release said.
The second biker received minor injuries.
There is currently no indication the motorcyclists were associated or knew each other.
The driver of the Dodge pickup was 21-year-old Joshua Perry Warner of St. Petersburg. He was not injured in the crash.
