Head-on crash on U.S. 19 near Palmetto leaves two seriously injured, FHP says 

Two drivers were seriously injured in a head-on crash on U.S. 19 in Manatee County on Wednesday morning, Florida Highway Patrol said.

The wreck happened at 7:30 a.m. south of 52nd Street West, north of Palmetto.

Troopers say that a 32-year-old Bradenton woman was driving an SUV in the northbound lanes of U.S. 19. A 35-year-old St. Petersburg woman was driving an SUV in the southbound lanes.

For an unknown reason, the Bradenton woman drove off of the highway, crossed the median and entered U.S. 19 south. Her vehicle then collided head-on with the St. Petersburg woman’s SUV, traffic investigators say.

The impact sent the Bradenton woman’s SUV into a ditch west of U.S. 19, where it overturned. The St. Petersburg woman’s SUV rotated before coming to a stop on the highway.

Both women were taken to area hospitals with serious injuries. FHP says both drivers were wearing seat belts during the wreck.

The crash remained under investigation on Wednesday afternoon.

It’s the second major crash to have happened in the area in a week. Last Thursday, a Louisiana man was killed when his SUV drove off of U.S. 19 North in the Terra Ceia area, southeast of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, and hit a cement culvert.