The Florida Highway Patrol has released additional details regarding a head-on collision involving a Marion County Fire Rescue ambulance that sent four people to the hospital on Tuesday morning.
Shortly after 8:50 a.m., a 2009 Buick sedan was traveling westbound on SW Highway 484, near the intersection of SW 83rd Avenue Road, in Marion County. The driver of the vehicle was identified in the Florida Highway Patrol incident report as a 17-year-old boy from Ocala.
At the same time, a 2018 Toyota sedan being driven by a 22-year-old Summerfield man was heading eastbound on SW Highway 484, and a Marion County Fire Rescue ambulance was traveling behind it. FHP stated that the ambulance had two occupants: a 29-year-old man (driver) and 27-year-old man (passenger), both from Dunnellon.
FHP stated that for unknown reasons, the Ocala teen’s car briefly traveled off the curved roadway and onto the north shoulder. Moments later, the teen “overcorrected (the vehicle’s) course,” and his car veered across the center line before striking the left side of the Toyota sedan.
After the collision, the teen’s car headed in the direction of the ambulance. The ambulance’s driver attempted to avoid a collision by traveling onto the south shoulder, but the car proceeded to strike the ambulance head-on, according to the report.
MCFR units were dispatched to the scene of the crash and arrived shortly after 9 a.m. Crew members observed that the ambulance and the teen’s car were on the side of the road.
The teen was entrapped in the wreckage, and firefighters immediately began the extrication process. He was freed from the vehicle at 9:23 a.m., and paramedics rushed him to a local trauma hospital for treatment of serious injuries that were sustained in the crash.
An FHP trooper noted in the report that the teen driver was issued a traffic citation for failure to drive within a single lane.
The report stated that the ambulance’s two occupants and the driver of the Toyota sedan were in serious condition. They were transported to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital for treatment of their injuries.
The names of the individuals involved in the accident were not released by the Florida Highway Patrol.