One killed in crash in Lehigh Acres Florida

A 46-year-old man is dead following an accident on SR-82 near Homestead Road. The crash occurred around 1:50 a.m. and involved two vehicles.

Authorities say a silver Ford Mustang and a red Hyundai Elantra were both traveling east on SR-82 when the sedan attempted to make a left turn onto Homestead Road.
The silver Mustang attempted to pass the Elantra and the vehicles collided.The crash was so loud, Emma Gierczak says it woke her from a sound sleep.

"I live about a block and a half away and at about 2 o'clock I heard a large bang," she described.The driver of the Mustang, 46-year-old Joseph Gulluscio, Jr. was ejected from the vehicle as it flipped several times.He was taken via ambulance to Lehigh Regional Medical Center as a trauma arrest pronounced deceased.

The driver of the red sedan has been identified as John Maldonado, 54, of Lehigh Acres. He was trauma alerted and flown to Lee Memorial Trauma Center via Aeromed and remains in critical condition.

John Gierczak and his wife live just blocks from where the crash happened. They say that SR-82 can sometimes be very dangerous."The road is very busy and I see a lot of aggressive drivers. They seem to just pass you at will and I think that more caution is needed," John says.

SR-82 is not considered a dangerous road by the Florida Department of Transportation. But it is only two lanes for 27 miles from Lee Boulevard to SR-29 in Immokalee.
"Right now SR-82 really doesn't have high volumes of traffic; so if someone's behind a few cars a little patience goes a long way toward safety," said Debbie Tower, with FDOT.
There's no stop signs or lights on this road because FDOT studies show traffic flow doesn't suggest they're needed right now.