A man was killed, a female passenger was critically injured, and a male passenger fled the scene following a multi-vehicle, head-on collision on a roadway in Marion County on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after a motorcyclist was killed just a few miles away.
The fatal accident occurred at approximately 1:48 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, on County Road 42, just east of SE 105th Avenue in Summerfield.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol accident report, a 30-year-old man from Leesburg was driving a sedan westbound on CR 42 when his vehicle crossed over the center line. The sedan traveled directly into the path of an oncoming pickup truck traveling eastbound, resulting in a head-on collision.
The Leesburg man was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Two passengers were inside the sedan at the time of the collision. A 27-year-old woman from Eustis suffered critical injuries and was rushed to a local hospital for emergency treatment. FHP troopers noted that neither the driver nor the critically injured female passenger were wearing seatbelts.
The second passenger, an unidentified male, fled the scene on foot immediately after the crash occurred.
The pickup truck was driven by a 32-year-old Summerfield man, who was traveling with a 4-year-old male passenger. Both sustained minor injuries in the crash.
A third vehicle, a sedan driven by a 38-year-old Summerfield woman, was traveling westbound a few car lengths behind the initial crash. Her vehicle struck the heavy wreckage and debris left in the roadway, causing significant damage to the car. The Summerfield driver and her four passengers, ages 19, 30, 10, and 9, were uninjured in the incident.
Following the collision, authorities closed CR 42 for approximately three hours to clear the debris and conduct a thorough homicide investigation.
The tragic incident marks the second traffic fatality in Marion County in less than 24 hours.
On Tuesday, a separate fatal accident claimed the life of a 69-year-old man from Lady Lake. In that incident, the victim was riding a motorcycle on SE 175th Street when the fatal crash occurred.