FHP: Distracted driver veers off I-275 overpass, lands on roadway below

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - A driver is lucky he escaped without injuries Thursday after veering off Interstate 275 while adjusting his car stereo, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

FHP says it only took a moment of distraction for the driver to cross the median and fly off the roadway.

Shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday, 61-year-old Thomas Highhouse, of Pinellas Park, was driving south on I-275 in his red, 2016 Chevrolet Camaro. 

As he passed the 5th Avenue exit and approached the exit for Interstate 375, Highhouse apparently turned his attention away from the road and to his stereo, FHP said.

When he looked away, he veered into the median between I-275 and I-375.

"He looked down at his stereo, just something just that quick, failed to maintain control of his vehicle, traveled off onto the shoulder," FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins explained.

Troopers say Highhouse's Camaro became airborne as it went over the concrete embankment and landed, 50 feet down, on 5th Ave. N.

Highhouse declined to do an interview with FOX 13 but said in the seconds he was heading toward the ground, he thought he was going to die.

Gaskins said Highhouse is fortunate neither he nor anyone else was hurt.

"Passers-by, they're lucky. He's lucky himself, so he's walking away with just a ticket: careless driving," Gaskins said.

The crash comes during Distracted Driving Month and law enforcement and AAA are urging drivers to view this as a lesson.

"Something as simple as changing the radio station, looking at a billboard [are distractions]," said John Pecchio, a spokesperson for AAA, adding the most recent statistics from 2016 show that roughly 4,000 people were killed and many more were hurt in distracted driving accidents. "When you get behind the wheel, it's so important that your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road and, most importantly, your mind on the task of driving."

FHP says Highhouse was wearing his seatbelt and was uninjured. Alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

No other vehicles were involved.