DADE CITY

A 25-year-old Tampa woman died early Monday after she drove the wrong way on Interstate 75 and collided with a semitrailer truck, authorities said, bringing to 11 the number of people killed so far this year in wrong-way crashes on Tampa Bay's interstates.

Jessica Rey Mahn was driving a 2012 Nissan sedan north about 4:30 a.m. in the southbound lanes near the State Road 52 exit in Pasco County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. She struck the broad side of a semi carrying food and drinks and careened across the roadway onto a concrete wall.

Mahn was taken to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point and died at 6:13 a.m., troopers said.

The truck driver, Slawomir Plonski, 42, of Port St. Lucie, said he saw the car headed the wrong way and blinked his lights and sounded the horn, but it was too late. He veered to the right to avoid a head-on crash.

"I lost my mind," said Plonski, who was not injured. "I started shaking. I lost my mind, that's it."

Monday's crash is the latest in an alarming spate of wrong-way incidents on Tampa Bay's interstates this year. Although wrong-way fatalities are statistically infrequent, four deadly crashes have happened on the same stretch of Interstate 275 north of downtown Tampa, killing 10 people. And on Sunday, authorities arrested two men they said were driving drunk and the wrong way on bay area highways.

"I can't give you an answer as to why the numbers are what they are this year," said patrol spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins. "I hate to use the word coincidence. The ones we've seen recently have been very tragic. I don't know why they're happening, but what didn't help in a lot of these cases was the use of drugs and alcohol."

Toxicology test results for Mahn will not be available for weeks but alcohol is suspected to be a factor, Gaskins said.

Mahn recently moved to the New Tampa area from Kissimmee and trained last week as a bartender at O'Brien's Irish Pub in Brandon, a manager said.

Her boyfriend, Christopher Harding, is a firefighter with Tampa Fire Rescue, spokesman Jason Penny said. A photo on Harding's Facebook page shows him in full gear responding to a deadly wrong-way crash in August.

"Tampa Fire Rescue is a big family, and we want to make sure that when one of our firefighters is grieving that we can do everything we can to help comfort them after a tragic event like this," Penny said.

Mahn's driving record shows several violations including two speeding tickets, one through a school zone. Her license was temporarily suspended in 2008 for not paying her traffic fines.

Kris Carson, a Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said the recent rash of crashes is drawing concern.

Carson said state engineers are looking to expand pilot projects into the bay area that would further increase highway safety.

Some possible changes could involve red-and-white flashing wrong way signs at exit ramps or red flashing indicators in the roadway pavement.

Several of the earlier crashes involved drunken drivers who made U-turns on the interstate, rather than using the wrong ramp — a common entry point for wrong-way drivers.

"There's lots of indicators out there that you're going the wrong way, but obviously in Tampa there's a problem," Carson said.

The state plans to increase drunken driving education and enforcement, she said, and the department could team with Mothers Against Drunk Driving as well as local authorities on additional prevention measures.

Neil Chaudhary, vice president of the Preusser Research Group, which studies transportation, highway safety and issues related to substance abuse, said alcohol is a complicating factor in crash prevention efforts.

"There's something to be said about signage and stuff, but if somebody's driving with a (blood alcohol content) twice the legal limit, I'm not sure how much they're able to pay attention to signs," Chaudhary said.

Just one day before Monday's crash, Hillsborough County deputies stopped a Chamberlain High School teacher authorities say was driving drunk the wrong way on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway and then I-75 to the Gibsonton Drive exit — about 12 miles.

Kevin Thomas Smisor, 24, faces a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence, and authorities also cited him with driving the wrong way on a limited-access roadway. He was released from jail Sunday afternoon after posting $500 bail.

He resigned Monday, said school district spokesman Stephen Hegarty. While new in his job this semester, the University of South Florida graduate had been an intern and student teacher previously at Alonso High School and Chamberlain.

Clearwater police also arrested a man early Sunday on charges he was drinking and driving the wrong way on U.S. 19.

A Sunstar ambulance and another car were headed north on the highway near Sunset Point Road about 2 a.m. when they spotted lights ahead and braked. A paramedic called police.

Officers said Nicolas Keeble, 28, of Belleair Bluffs failed a sobriety exam and refused to take a breath test.

Keeble, who could not be reached for comment Monday, told officers he had been drinking several beers and thought he was driving in Tampa, adding he was unfamiliar with Tampa roads, police said.

He was arrested on a DUI charge and booked into the Pinellas County Jail. He was later released on his own recognizance.

Police believe he might have accessed the wrong lanes of U.S. 19 at Enterprise Road.

"Thankfully, this vehicle was stopped before tragedy could occur," said Rob Shaw, the Clearwater police spokesman.

Times staff writers Skip O'Rourke, Laura C. Morel, Marlene Sokol and Elisabeth Parker and news researcher John Martin contributed to this report.