Checking On Wife, Husband Run Over

By CHRISTIAN M. WADE and LISA A. DAVIS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 17, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - One more run down to Thonotosassa, he told her, before they went on vacation.

The Blinns, Jack and Barbara, husband and wife for 27 years, were headed to pick up telephone books to deliver to a Clearwater warehouse Thursday morning. It was something the retirees did for extra money.

Next week they planned to drive their RV to Fort Myers.

However, work came first. On Thursday they were driving south in separate vehicles on Interstate 75, near the Pasco-Hillsborough county line. It was about 6:30 a.m., and traffic was getting heavy.

He was a few cars ahead of her, towing a trailer.

She was behind him in a Toyota pickup.

As Barbara Blinn changed lanes near the busy junction of I-75 and I-275, she collided with a 2005 Chevrolet SUV driven by Jorge Miranda, 34, of Wesley Chapel. The vehicles ended up on opposite sides of I-275. Neither driver was injured.

Jack Blinn saw what happened and pulled to the side of the road.

He walked back to his wife's car to check on her. She was OK.

"The last thing he said to me was that he was going over to turn his truck off and check on the guy in the other car," she said.

He turned and walked away.

Then she heard the crash.

"It sounded like two cars colliding," Barbara Blinn said. "I had no idea he had been hit."

Jack Blinn was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where he later was pronounced dead. It wasn't until hours later, when his wife arrived at the hospital, that she learned he died. "If I'd known he was going to cross the highway I would have told him 'no way,'

" she said.

Jack Blinn, who ran a towing and service station business with his wife until they retired, was to celebrate his birthday Aug. 27. He would have been 68. He leaves two daughters, Jacke and Holly; a stepson, Michael Salanitri; and an 18-month-old grandson, Nunzio. The family had moved to Florida from Ohio.

"He was a happy-go-lucky guy; he joked a lot and loved to dance," Barbara Blinn said Thursday afternoon, clutching a gold engagement ring and wedding band on a chain around her neck and fighting back tears. "When your number comes up, that's it."

The "apex" (as it is commonly called in Pasco County) of interstates 75 and 275 can challenge even seasoned commuters, authorities and motorists said. It is where, in June 2006, a two-car collision in I-75's southbound lanes killed a 9-year-old girl and injured seven other people, including five children.

Motorists headed south have a choice to make when they get to the apex, also called "the split." They either steer left to remain on I-75 or veer right onto I-275. The speed limit is 70 mph. Many drivers don't abide by it.

Jeff York, a Verizon Data Services systems engineer, traverses the junction daily on his trek from Land O' Lakes to his Temple Terrace workplace.

"What I see on a daily basis scares the stuff out of me," said York, 48. "There're so many people just trying to pigeonhole into the area."

The Florida Department of Transportation last month put the finishing touches on an $8.2 million highway project, including resurfacing each direction of I-75 from a half-mile south of County Line Road to a mile north, said department spokeswoman Marian Scorza.

An overhead sign's arrows directing southbound traffic to merge right and stay straight for I-75 were moved a few feet to better line up with the interstates, she said.

She said state highway officials haven't received any complaints about the changes.

"We monitor our interstates regularly," Scorza said. "We have not had any concerns in this area at this point."

Trooper Larry Coggins, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, said troopers continue investigating Thursday morning's accidents. He wouldn't comment on the investigation.

Blinn was hit by a southbound Toyota sport utility vehicle driven by Dwight Wood, 58, of Land O' Lakes, Coggins said. Wood and his passenger, Darryl Givens, 56, of Land O' Lakes were not injured.

Coggins said pedestrians trying to cross a roadway often don't realize how quickly a car will reach them.

A car traveling 55 mph moves more than 80 feet a second, he said.

"So by the time you've identified that oncoming traffic," Coggins said, "it's too late."

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082. Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.