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

Three motorcyclists died in separate accidents in Tampa Bay this week after other drivers turned left in front of them.

On Saturday, the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street North was making a left turn into a shopping center on 79th Avenue North when he collided with a Yamaha motorcycle, St. Petersburg police said in a news release.

The motorcyclist, 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 accident and is cooperating with investigators, police said in the news release.

The Florida Highway Patrol also reported a fatal crash involving a motorcyclist in Pasco County early Monday morning.

At about 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 with 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 accident. The driver of the garbage truck was not injured, the press release said.

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

Around 8 p.m., a 70-year-old Land O’ Lakes woman was driving a Mazda CX-5 east on Tower Road while a 21-year-old Spring Hill man was driving a Suzuki motorcycle south on US 41.

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

The motorcyclist died at the scene of the accident.

All three accidents remain under investigation and authorities have not released any further information.

Florida law requires drivers making a left turn at an intersection to yield the right of way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.