A 76-year-old man was fatally injured while traveling on State Road 200 last night after his SUV crashed head-on into another vehicle.
The fatal accident occurred near State Road 200 and SW 137th Court, near Stumpknockers Restaurant in Dunnellon, at around 7:34 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11.
According to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol, the 76-year-old man, who was from Inverness, was driving a sport utility vehicle south in the southbound lane of SR 200.
For unspecified reasons, the SUV entered the path of a sedan that was traveling north in the northbound lane. That sedan was being driven by a 37-year-old woman from Inverness.
After the SUV entered the opposite lane, the front ends of the vehicles collided with one another.
After the collision, the sedan traveled in a northeasterly direction and rotated clockwise until overturning and coming to a final rest on the east grass shoulder.
The SUV continued in a southeasterly direction before rotating counterclockwise and into the path of a third vehicle that was also traveling northbound. That action caused the SUV to collided with the front end of the sedan while in the northbound lanes of SR 200.
The SUV came to final rest facing southwest, blocking the north and southbound lanes of SR 200 at the time.
The driver of the SUV suffered fatal injures in the crash. He was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident.
The 37-year-old driver from Inverness sustained minor injuries and was also not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
The driver of the third vehicle, an 85-year-old man from O’Fallon, Missouri, sustained minor injuries in the crash. The report notes that he was wearing a seatbelt.
The accident on Wednesday marks at least the second fatality on State Road 200 this year. Less than two weeks prior, a bicyclist was killed after he was struck by a vehicle on State Road 200 in Ocala.