Motorcyclist dies in early-morning bridge crash

---

Two accidents occurred within an hour of each other early Sunday morning on the Howard Frankland Bridge, resulting in the death of one man.

Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) said 42-year-old Eric Ramirez of Tampa died when his motorcycle crashed into the back of another vehicle as he tried to merge into another lane just after 3 a.m. FHP said Ramirez was speeding excessively at the time of the crash.

No one died in the first accident that occurred just after 2 a.m.

The accidents caused major backups for drivers early Sunday morning, but the road was cleared by 6:30.

More Hillsborough County Stories

• Woman shot while attending family gathering
• Local soldier killed in Afghanistan laid to rest
• Tampa restaurant catches fire; no injuries
• Officials confirm case of TB at Plant City High
• Ida down to a depression but could re-emerge
• Dozens line Bayshore to pay respects to fallen soldier
• Tampa city council upgrades beach bathrooms, more
• Health care bill is in libraries; is anyone reading it?
• Argument leads to shooting at Tampa gas station

In-depth with Charlie Crist

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist responds to backlash from his own party, corruption in politics, critics who say he backtracked on supporting the federal stimulus, and much more. It's all Sunday on Political Connections at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.

• Listen live
• Employee blogs
• Twitter page

• Breaking alerts
• RSS news feed
• Upload video

Select the size text you want to use to view www.baynews9.com from the choices below.

Want to go green?

Going green is all the rage these days. Check out our green pages on BayNews9.com.

• Energy saving tips
• Eating green
• County by county recycling

Bay News 9's Partners