Wrong way driver caused crash on SR-408, troopers say

LAKE MARY, Fla. - A wrong-way driver crashed into another vehicle on State Road 408 in Orange County on Monday, according to investigators.

Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol said there is wrong-way driver alert technology on the highway in that area, but the wreck happened just two minutes after they were given the alert by the system.

It happened in the morning hours around 4:49 a.m. near Kirkman Road and left traffic backed up for miles following the crash.

Troopers said the wrong-way driver, a 36-year-old male from Apopka, was behind the wheel of a 2002 Lexus ES300 when he began traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of SR-408. He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition.  The driver of the second vehicle, a 2006 Mitsubishi Galant, went to the hospital with serious injuries.

This crash remains under investigation.