A 25-year-old Tampa woman who was killed while driving the wrong way on I-75 in Pasco County in September had a blood alcohol content of more than three times the legal limit, authorities said Saturday.
Toxicology results showed that Jessica Rey Mahn had a BAC of 0.276 when she collided with a semitrailer truck around 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 22, the Florida Highway Patrol said. She had been driving a Nissan Altima north in the southbound lanes near the State Road 52 exit when she struck the broad side of a semi carrying food and drinks.
Mahn died a few hours after the crash at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point. She had recently moved to the New Tampa area from Kissimmee to be with her boyfriend, a firefighter with Tampa Fire Rescue.
Eleven people have died in wrong-way crashes on Tampa-area interstate highways since February, when a man driving the wrong way on I-275 in Tampa struck another vehicle and killed himself and four USF fraternity brothers.
Florida law presumes impairment when a BAC is .08 or higher.