Eyewitnesses said that the driver of a car going in the wrong direction on State Road 64 was killed in a head-on collision with a pest-control truck.
The accident happened at about 9:16 p.m. in front of Braden River Animal Hospital in the 5000 block of State Road 64 East, off Morgan Johnson Road.
At the time of the accident, the car, a two-door Saturn, was heading west in the eastbound lanes and did not have its headlights on.
The driver of the car had died before the paramedics arrived.
The driver of the truck was also injured and taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
The names of the drivers were not immediately released. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.