EUSTIS, Fla.—A tractor-trailer driver who caused a deadly crash Wednesday and left the scene told the Florida Highway Patrol he did not know he hit anyone, according to a press release.
Just after 1:45 p.m., a 58-year-old Miami man was driving a 2017 Volvo tractor-trailer eastbound on State Road 44 and attempted to slow down for traffic. The driver lost control of the trailer, causing it to veer into the westbound lane of State Road 44 near Forest Ridge Road in unincorporated Eustis.
The trailer struck a 2014 Nissan Sentra being driven westbound by an 89-year-old Eustis woman, and the impact sent the Nissan into the eastbound lane of State Road 44 where it struck a 2018 Ford E-450 head-on.
The tractor-trailer driver continued traveling eastbound and left the scene, FHP said. The tractor-trailer, with damages consistent with the crash, was located traveling westbound on State Road 44, east of County Road 42, and troopers conducted a traffic stop. The Miami man told troopers he did not know the trailer collided with the Nissan, FHP said.
“Troopers are now processing (the tractor-trailer) as evidence. Charges are pending,” FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi said.
The driver of the Nissan was airlifted to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford, where she was pronounced deceased. The driver of the Ford, a 72-year-old man of DeBary, was not injured, but four of his 12 passengers were transported to an area hospital with minor injuries. The passengers were three females, aged 76, 79 and 81, and one male, 81, all of Orange City in Volusia County.
The crash shut down an extended portion of State Road 44 for nearly seven hours.
