ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A woman was killed after a car she was in was hit by a man driving the wrong way in the southbound lanes of Florida’s Turnpike near Colonial Drive in Orange County, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The severity of the wreck, which happened just before 10 p.m. Sunday caused the south lanes to be completely closed for more than five hours.
Troopers did not say how Hubert Gaye, 68, of Oakland, ended up driving his 2003 Nissan SUV north in the south lanes of the highway.
His vehicle hit a 2013 Honda Civic, driven by Dwain Byrd, 32, head-on, FHP said. Byrd received minor injuries in the crash, troopers said.
A passenger in the Honda, Vida Linton, 63, of Margate, was killed, troopers said.
A third vehicle became involved when its driver, Donald Wiggins, 41, could not avoid the crash, investigators said.
Wiggins, a musician from Wisconsin on his way to Key West, told Channel 9 that his wrist was broken in the crash.
Wiggins was behind Linton’s car and he said Gaye hit his car, too.
“All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I got hit by the car that was headed this way on my left,” Wiggins said. “I was covered in glass. I broke my wrist in a couple of places and dislocated it. Looked pretty crazy.”
Wiggins was supposed to play a New Year’s Eve show, but he's in the hospital unable to play or make a living.
“It is the way I make my living is playing music live. So, I'm not going to be able to do that for a month, if not, three months,” Wiggins said.
Channel 9 found out that Gaye had been arrested twice on charges of DUI.
In a July 2015 arrest, Winter Garden police reported his blood alcohol level was .147.
Gaye also received minor injuries in the crash and is being checked for alcohol impairment, FHP said.