Another pedestrian was killed on a Marion County roadway on Saturday morning, marking the 17th pedestrian death and fifth hit-and-run fatality from approximately 1,000 local hit-and-run accidents this year.
The fatal accident occurred near the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 and SE 135th Street in Summerfield on Saturday, November 8, at around 4:06 a.m.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 63-year-old woman from Cleveland, Ohio, was walking on the inside lane of travel on the roadway.
While the pedestrian was walking in an unknown direction, she was struck by a vehicle that was traveling northbound on U.S. Hwy 441.
After the woman was struck, the vehicle fled the scene. No additional details about the accident were provided by authorities.
The latest incident in Marion County is one of at least three fatal accidents involving pedestrians that have occurred over the past two weeks alone.
In one of those instances, an Ocala man was killed after a driver veered off a local roadway and struck him while he was working on a truck.
In another instance, a 2011 Chevrolet truck fatally struck a pedestrian near Interstate 75 in Ocala. Authorities have not yet identified the drivers in those incidents.
Before Saturday, among the 67 individuals killed on Marion County roadways through October 30, at least 16 were pedestrians.
Through October of this year, at least 994 hit-and-run accidents have occurred in Marion County. In total, approximately 264 individuals have been injured in those accidents and at least four have lost their lives.