Six people died in five area crashes over Memorial Day weekend, according to reports from the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).
FHP sent out its first fatality report Saturday morning, after a Live Oak man flipped a UTV and was ejected around 2:15 a.m. on private property in Suwannee County. The man was pronounced deceased on the scene, while two passengers in the UTV suffered minor injuries.
On Saturday afternoon, an Old Town woman, 52, died while pulling into a Circle K parking lot in Chiefland. For unknown reasons, the motorcycle quickly accelerated and struck a traffic barrier in the parking lot.
First responders transported the woman to UF Health Shands, where she was pronounced deceased.
Just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday, an Old Town teen was struck and killed while standing on State Road 349 near Old Town in Dixie County. The driver of the SUV, a 30-year-old Morriston man, was uninjured.
FHP did not release any information about why the 13-year-old girl was standing in the road.
On Sunday morning, an 82-year-old Ocala man died in a single-vehicle crash in northwest Marion County. He was pulling a utility trailer on NW 80th Avenue, near NW 100th street, when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree.
At 7:50 p.m. Sunday evening, two people died in a collision with a tree in Suwannee County. The driver, a 61-year-old Clewiston woman, was traveling north on County Road 349 when the truck left the roadway.
The driver and one passenger, a 56-year-old Clewiston man, were pronounced deceased on the scene. A second passenger, a 28-year-old Clewiston man, was transported to a local hospital with critical injuries.
None of the three people in the vehicle were wearing seatbelts, according to FHP.
Memorial Day weekend is the third-most dangerous weekend of the year, according to Statista.
There should be better ways to test if someone is drinking and driving,there are to .any innocent people that get hurt,and after a set time they should stop selling it.Buy they ll never do that,it s to much of a money maker for businesses,the only time someone cares,if they lost a
Loved one.
Absolutely, Emphatically, Correct! Capitalism in America will always “Trump” humanity. Pun intended.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t think that I saw where it said that alcohol was involved 🤔, seemed like most people killed had some kind of conflict with the local trees! Just saying!
Now days it’s not as much as alcohol as it is “medical marijuana”. Almost every car you drive behind there is that smell of skunk and you know they are driving under the influence.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. Equally, people will always endanger others with their activities because folks don’t care enough about…others.
Dang, they got some Bad a#$ trees up there!
The 52 yr old woman on the trike had just picked her bike up from the shop, memorial weekend had nothing to do with it. She survived 6 or 7 strokes and there was no talking to her after those strokes. She shouldn’t have been riding but she was determined. My mother was at the stop light when it happened. No alcohol involved.
I don’t understand why some people still don’t wear seat belts. It can often make a difference between life and death. So sad.