No charges expected in Hernando overpass crash

RIDGE MANOR -The dump truck driver who smashed his rig into an overpass at Interstate 75 and State Road 50 on Tuesday likely will not be charged in the incident, the Florida Highway Patrol said Wednesday.

Sgt. Steve Gaskins, a spokesman for FHP, said the agency has nearly wrapped up its investigation of the crash involving driver William J. Lindsay, 56, of Brooksville. FHP was only awaiting a report from the state Motor Carrier Compliance Office on the truck's most recent inspection.

The investigation is "complete pending MCCO's report to let me know if they have any charges which right now I doubt," Gaskins said in an e-mail on Wednesday.

The FHP also determined that Lindsay was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs when he was driving the 1991 Mack dump truck east on SR 50 Tuesday afternoon. No one was injured in the accident.

Lindsay told investigators that the bed of his truck inexplicably started to rise as he passed under the bridge about 1:30 p.m. The raised bed plowed into the first and second outside concrete beams that support the I-75 overpass.

The Florida Department of Transportation was working quickly Wednesday to repair the damage and ease the burden on motorists. The FHP said more than 40,000 drivers use I-75 at that site each day, while another 19,000 travel along SR 50.

As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, traffic was flowing with little interruption in all directions at the accident scene. All lanes of SR 50 had been opened by noon, and one of the two southbound lanes on I-75 was closed.

FDOT plans to replace the damaged concrete beams and bridge deck of the overpass by Thursday. Motorists headed east on SR 50 should expect to be periodically diverted to a westbound lane under the overpass while repairs are being completed on the overpass.

Also, FDOT said by the end of the week it will create a second lane on southbound I-75 and erect a temporary barrier wall during repairs.

FDOT spokeswoman Kristen Carson said it should take about three weeks for all repairs at the intersection to be completed.

- Joel Anderson, Times Staff Writer