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Two women are in the hospital after their car crashed into the median on U.S. Highway 19, overturned and caught fire early Sunday morning, the Clearwater Police Department said in a statement.<\/p>\n
No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which happened shortly after 4 a.m. in the southbound lanes of the freeway near Drew Street, according to department spokesman Rob Shaw. Speed \u200b\u200bis believed to be a factor in the crash.<\/p>\n
The women were taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. Further details of his condition have not yet been released.<\/p>\n
The crash happened in a pocket of Pinellas County so notoriously dangerous that you can find bumper stickers that say, “Pray for me, I’m driving on US 19.”<\/p>\n
A safety review of Drew Street, which serves as one of Clearwater’s main east-west arteries, has been more than seven years in the making, facing opposition from the city’s chamber of commerce over concerns about the impact on businesses and traffic flow.<\/p>\n
At least 48 people have died in crashes in Pinellas County since the beginning of the year, according to preliminary data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.<\/p>\n