A 61-year-old Crystal River man was killed and three people were critically injured Sunday when an Old Town man passed a vehicle in a double-yellow no-passing zone on County Road 235 and struck an SUV head-on south of Alachua on Sunday.
According to an updated Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) release, a 35-year-old Old Town man was driving a sedan south on CR 235 south of NW 204th Street at 6:04 p.m. when he illegally passed a vehicle in a no-passing zone and collided head-on with a 42-year-old Alachua woman who was driving an SUV.
Emergency responders transported the Old Town man and the three SUV occupants to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville. The Crystal River man, who was riding in the SUV’s front passenger seat, was pronounced dead.
The Old Town man driving the sedan and the Alachua woman driving the SUV, along with a 14-year-old Alachua girl who was a passenger in the SUV, sustained critical injuries.
CR 235 was closed for several hours during the investigation.
Editor’s note: FHP clarified who was at fault.