A man who was not wearing his seatbelt was killed when the vehicle in which he was traveling as a passenger crashed into a tree on Memorial Day on Interstate 75 in Sumter County.
The 47-year-old Miami man had been a passenger in a sport utility vehicle driven by a 54-year-old Pompano Beach man which had been traveling at 7:28 p.m. Monday northbound on I-75 near Mile Marker 332, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The driver of the SUV failed to maintain the center lane and collided with the right rear of a sedan driven by a 41-year-old Pensacola woman who had also been northbound on I-75.
The driver of the SUV overcorrected, the vehicle overturned and struck a tree. The man who had not been wearing his seatbelt was ejected from the vehicle and suffered fatal injuries at the scene of the crash. The driver of the SUV suffered minor injuries. He and two other passengers, who were not injured, were all wearing their seatbelts.
The woman driving the sedan was also uninjured and her vehicle came to a controlled stop at the scene of the accident. Her two passengers also escaped injury. They all had been wearing their seatbelts.
Florida is in the midst of a Click It or Ticket campaign that runs through June 6. The campaign is aimed at spreading awareness about the importance of wearing seatbelts.
