The Howard Frankland Bridge, the I-275 span crossing Old Tampa Bay between Tampa and St. Petersburg, carries more than 170,000 vehicles per day — a figure the operator describes as making it one of the most heavily traveled roadways in the Tampa Bay region. According to a sponsored Instagram post from Moody Law, a Florida personal injury firm, crash incidents on or near the bridge remain elevated during summer months, when regional traffic volumes climb further.
The claim is framed in projective language. The Moody Law post states that "according to estimates, hundreds of crashes could occur on or around the bridge this season" — language that signals projection, not a reported incident count. The post does not cite a Florida Department of Transportation crash database, a specific calendar year, or a defined study corridor. Tampa Bay Certified was unable to independently verify the estimate from this source alone.
What is not in dispute is the corridor's load. The Howard Frankland is the primary artery for commuter, freight, and leisure traffic between Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Its four-plus miles of open water leave drivers with limited alternatives when an incident occurs — a closure or lane block in either direction produces delays that back up through the interchange at I-275 and ripple onto surface streets in both counties. FDOT's seasonal traffic modeling for the region consistently records higher volumes from late May through early September, aligning with the summer pattern the Moody Law post references.
The post is framed as awareness content directed at drivers who may be involved in a crash on or near the span, pointing potential clients toward the firm's personal injury practice. It is not a government advisory, an engineering assessment, or a published crash study.
For a measurable baseline, FDOT's annual crash-data records for the I-275 segment carry actual incident counts by year. That record — when cross-referenced against lane-mile traveled — is the figure worth watching as the region tracks whether the Howard Frankland's crash rate is improving, holding steady, or trending upward alongside its rising volume.
