Fruitland Park police officers were on the scene of a crash Tuesday morning within two minutes of receiving 911 calls about a vehicle striking a bicyclist.
The incident, which happened at 11:22 a.m. on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 at the intersection of Grays Airport Road, took place when the bicyclist was attempting to cross the northbound lanes of traffic. He was struck by a vehicle and airlifted to Ocala Regional Medical Center in serious condition.
The crash quickly snarled the northbound traffic on the busy highway as many motorists were heading out for their lunch hours. All northbound lanes of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 had to be closed north of Grays Airport Road so Fruitland Park Police officers could safely conduct their accident investigation.
The damaged black bike could be seen in the median of the highway and a damaged passenger car was parked nearby as officers took various measurements along the highway in front of Finch’s U-Stor-It and Phillips Buick GMC.
Traffic, which was backed up past the turnoff to Dixie Avenue, was narrowed down to a single lane and diverted to Grays Airport Road to avoid the crash scene.
