INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Two men were killed – and a third has critical injuries – after a wrong-way driver slammed into another vehicle late Friday, officials said. An update on the third man’s condition was not immediately available Saturday.
“The driver of (vehicle 1) was traveling in the opposite lane of travel causing (it) to collide with (vehicle 2),” Florida Highway Patrol troopers said.
The towns where the men lived were not released.
The head-on collision happened about 11:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of southbound U.S. 1 at Highland Drive Southeast in unincorporated Indian River County, troopers said. The wreck involving a black Ram 1500 and a black 2023 Cadillac Escalade sports utility vehicle occurred at the base of the bridge near the south county line.
The Ram’s driver, a 33-year-old man, was headed northbound in the left southbound lane on U.S. 1, approaching Highland Drive Southeast, troopers said. The driver of the Cadillac, a 34-year-old man, and his passenger, a 26-year-old man, were traveling southbound in the left southbound lane.
The two vehicles collided, troopers said.
The driver of the Ram was taken by ambulance to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, where doctors pronounced him dead, according to troopers and fire rescue crews. The Cadillac’s driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The passenger in the Cadillac was taken by ambulance to Lawnwood, where he was last listed in critical condition, troopers said. Troopers continue to investigate the deadly collision.