INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. — A 26-year-old Fort Pierce woman was killed after driving the wrong way on Florida's Turnpike in Indian River County late Saturday night, triggering a crash involving three vehicles and injuring several others, including two young children.
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) responded to the crash at mile marker 173.5 on the northbound side of the Turnpike at 10:05 p.m. on Saturday, just hours before Mother's Day.
According to FHP, a white 2025 Kia K4 sedan was traveling south in the wrong direction in the inside northbound lane when its front left corner collided head-on with the front left corner of a northbound black 2023 Kia Pacifica. The wrong-way vehicle was redirected into the center grass median and came to rest facing south.
The Kia Pacifica was redirected into the outside lane and began to rotate, striking the left side of a third vehicle that was traveling north in the outside lane.
The driver of the wrong-way Kia K4, a 26-year-old woman from Fort Pierce, was pronounced dead at the scene by St. Lucie County Fire Rescue.
Two children were also in the wrong-way vehicle — a 5-year-old boy and a 3-year-old boy, both from Fort Pierce. The 5-year-old suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The 3-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries. Both were transported to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital.
Three passengers in the Kia Pacifica — a 24-year-old woman, a 50-year-old woman, and a 74-year-old woman, all from Royal Palm Beach — were transported to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Pacifica, a 22-year-old man from Margate, also suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to the same hospital.
The driver of the third vehicle, a 48-year-old man from Mount Dora, was not injured. A 23-year-old male passenger from Mount Dora was also not injured. A 46-year-old female passenger from Dora suffered minor injuries.
All lanes reopened at 6:15 a.m. Sunday.
