Head-On Collision in Sumter County Leaves One Dead

A wrong-way head-on collision in Sumter County on Wednesday, April 4th, resulted in the death of one individual and the serious injury of another.  The Florida Highway Patrol working in Sumter County issued a report that discusses the details as they are currently known, although a few questions still remain unanswered regarding the situation.

We know that a 68-year-old man from Leesburg was behind the wheel of a 2014 Ford Fiesta shortly after midnight and that he was driving down the eastern lanes of County Road 470.  Another driver, a 37-year-old Ocala resident, was traveling down the eastern lanes of County Road 470 as well.  The problem was that the Ocala resident, piloting a 2015 Nissan Altima, was driving west.

The two cars were nearing the intersection of County Road 47 and North East 32nd Street when they collided head-on with one another.  The Ford Fiesta was forced off of the road and into a heavy fence near the street.  It is not known who called the emergency response services, but, according to the Florida Highway Patrol’s report, they found there was nothing they could do for the Leesburg man, and he was declared dead at the scene.

The driver of Altima, although alive, suffered from fairly severe injuries in the incident.  He was carefully removed from his vehicle and loaded into an ambulance which then drove him to Ocala Regional Hospital.  At the time of this writing, an update on his condition has not been released as an amendment to the initial report.

Preliminary investigative work revealed that both the driver of the Altima and the driver of the Fiesta were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash, a fact which possibly saved the life of the Altima’s driver.

Detectives with the Florida Highway Patrol are now searching for the reasons for why the Altima was traveling down the incorrect lane of the highway.  No inebriating factors—such as alcohol—have yet been ruled out, but neither have they been confirmed.  As the investigation progresses, and depending on what is discovered, it is likely that charges will be brought forward, but as of yet no charges are known to exist.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.