An Ocala teenager died early Saturday morning after the vehicle he was riding in was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver from Lady Lake.
The crash took place about 4:40 a.m. when a pickup truck driven by a 37-year-old Lady Lake woman was traveling north in the southbound lanes of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 near SE 160th Lane. The woman’s vehicle slammed into a southbound sedan driven by a 19-year-old Ocala man, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
A 16-year-old Ocala boy riding in the sedan was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics from Marion County Fire Rescue. Both drivers were wearing seat belts but the teenage passenger wasn’t, the FHP report says.
The pickup spun and overturned, coming to rest on its left side facing south on U.S. Hwy. 27/441. The sedan also spun and came to rest facing west in the center median of the highway.
The teen driver and the Lady Lake woman received minor injuries in the crash. A portion of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 near the crash site was closed for several hours while FHP troopers investigated the incident.
The names of the victim and the two drivers weren’t released in accordance with a policy enacted by the FHP recently. The report also doesn’t say if the woman was arrested or whether or not alcohol was a factor in the crash.