3 Tampa Bay motorcyclists killed this week after drivers turn left in front of them

Three motorcyclists were killed in separate Tampa Bay crashes this week after other drivers turned left in front of them.

On Saturday, the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee was turning left into a shopping center at 79th Avenue North from southbound Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street North when it collided with a Yamaha motorcycle, the St. Petersburg Police Department said in a news release.

The motorcyclist, who was identified as Benjamin Gallaugher, 28, was taken to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, where he died from his injuries Monday.

The driver of the Jeep remained at the scene of the crash and is cooperating with investigators, the police department said in the news release.

Early Monday morning, the Florida Highway Patrol also reported a fatal crash involving a motorcyclist in Pasco County.

Around 6:45 a.m., a 35-year-old Spring Hill man was driving a Waste Management garbage truck west in the left turn lane of State Road 54, the Highway Patrol said in a news release. At the intersection of Monmouth Drive, the garbage truck driver turned left into the path of a motorcycle, and the vehicles collided.

The motorcyclist, a 51-year-old man from Lutz, died at the scene of the crash. The driver of the garbage truck was not injured, the news release states.

On Tuesday evening, the Highway Patrol reported another deadly motorcycle crash in Land O’ Lakes.

About 8 p.m., a 70-year-old woman from Land O’ Lakes was driving a Mazda CX-5 east on Tower Road as a 21-year-old Spring Hill man was riding a Suzuki motorcycle south on U.S. 41.

At the intersection, the woman failed to yield, turning left into the path of the motorcyclist, the Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The motorcyclist died at the scene.

All three crashes remain under investigation, and authorities did not release any further information.

Under Florida law, drivers intending to turn to the left at an intersection must yield the right of way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.