By Luis Perez, Times Staff Writer
Monday, August 30, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — A pickup driver was seriously injured after his vehicle collided with a city sanitation truck Monday afternoon, authorities said.
The crash happened minutes after 4 p.m. at the intersection of 25th Street and 22nd Avenue N. It was not clear who was at fault.
The driver of the pickup was taken to Bayfront Medical Center as a trauma alert patient, meaning his injuries were severe, authorities said. A passenger in the pickup was also hospitalized with undisclosed injuries, police said. The city sanitation employee was not injured and remained on the scene as police investigated.
Though traffic investigators had not completed an accident report, an officer at the scene said it appeared the pickup was headed eastbound on 22nd Avenue N. The sanitation truck had been going westbound and began making a left turn to go south on 25th Street when it hit the pickup's left front end, the officer said. Police said there were several witnesses to the crash.
City sanitation director Ben Shirley, who was on the scene, said the sanitation truck was entering a garage operated by the city and the driver was going home after his shift.