Northbound U.S. 41 near Gibsonton Drive saw two people killed in separate crashes over a period of several hours Thursday evening into Friday morning.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, one person was killed in a motorcycle crash and a pedestrian was killed in a separate accident along the Gibsonton roadway.
Troopers said 26-year-old Ricardo Javier Torres was killed Thursday just after 7 p.m. when his 2012 Kawasaki motorcycle collided with a car at U.S. 41 and Saffold Park Road.
Stephen Leroy Simmons, 72, of Ruskin, was traveling westbound in a Kia sedan on Saffold Park when he attempted to make a left turn onto U.S. 41, troopers said. Simmons turned into the path of the motorcycle, which struck the driver's side of the Kia.
Torres, of Ruskin, was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he later died.
Simmons and his wife, Carol Sue, were not injured.
About six hours later, a pedestrian was killed a few miles away.
According to troopers, a 44-year-old man from Tampa was killed while standing on the shoulder of northbound U.S. 41 near Gibsonton Drive, just after 3 a.m.
Lazaro Pumarada, 43, of Ruskin, was driving his Toyota Corolla northbound on U.S. 41 when the pedestrian fell into the path of the vehicle. The car struck the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities have not released the victim's name.
Pumarada was not injured.
Both crashes remain under investigation.