A 53-year-old Plant City man died Wednesday night after being thrown from his electric motorcycle and struck by oncoming traffic on State Road 39 in Hillsborough County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The fatal chain-reaction crash happened around 9:25 p.m. south of Varn Road, setting off a sequence of events that investigators say began with a rear-end collision and ended with a second vehicle striking the rider in the roadway.
Troopers say a 20-year-old Wesley Chapel woman was driving a Honda Civic northbound on SR-39 when her car rear-ended the man's Zero SR electric motorcycle, according to Tampa Free Press. The impact launched the motorcyclist into the southbound lane, where a Ford Fusion driven by a 27-year-old Texas man struck him as he lay in the roadway. He died from his injuries at the scene. The Florida Highway Patrol reported no other people were injured in the crash, which remains under investigation.
The Motorcycle Involved
The motorcycle involved, a Zero SR, is a high-performance all-electric model capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in roughly 3.3 seconds, according to Cycle World.
SR-39 runs through Plant City toward Pasco County and I-4, per a Plan Hillsborough report. The stretch near Varn Road has seen severe multi-vehicle collisions before: in July 2017, a box truck driver swerved to avoid rear-ending a turning car on the same segment, crossing into oncoming traffic and colliding head-on with a pickup truck, according to the Plant City Observer.
What Florida Law Says About Rear-End Crashes
State civil case law establishes a legal presumption of fault against a trailing driver who rear-ends another vehicle, per Click Orlando.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
Wednesday's crash adds to a string of fatal incidents along the broader County Road/State Road 39 corridor in Plant City. In May, a 19-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed on South County Road 39 near Tipton Road by a pickup truck driver who fled the scene before calling 911, a case Hoodline covered in its report on the hit-and-run.
A rider thrown into an active travel lane faces extreme vulnerability to vehicles that may not stop in time.
Statewide Numbers Underscore the Risk
Statewide, Florida logged 575 motorcycle fatalities across 8,910 motorcycle crashes in 2025, down 3.8% from 598 motorcycle deaths in 2024, the same Swope, Rodante P.A. analysis found.
No arrests or citations had been announced as of Wednesday night's crash, and the investigation into exactly what led up to the initial rear-end collision remains ongoing. The Florida Highway Patrol has not released the names of those involved.
