A Spring Hill woman was injured in a Thanksgiving Eve collision that claimed the life of her teenage passenger. Two other women, also from Spring Hill, were uninjured in the incident.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Sgt. Steve Gaskins said that shortly after 8 pm. on Nov. 22, a 48-year-old woman from Spring Hill driving a Nissan Armada Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and her 18-year-old female passenger from Port Richey were traveling north in the outside lane of County Road 587, Mariner Boulevard approaching the intersection of Casa Grande Circle while a Toyota Tacoma pick-up truck driven by a 29-year-old woman from Spring Hill containing her 32-year-old female passenger also from Spring Hill was traveling south in the inside lane of County Road 587 approaching the same intersection.
When the SUV driver veered out of her lane, the vehicle crossed the grass center median and collided with the left rear side of the pick-up truck.
As a result, the SUV overturned several times before coming to a halt on its right side, facing west on the northwest corner of County Road 587 and Casa Grande Circle.
Both the driver of that vehicle and her passenger were ejected from the vehicle. Neither woman was wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision.
The driver sustained serious injuries in the incident and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Her passenger was taken to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, where she died on Nov. 23 from the injuries that she sustained in the collision.
Meanwhile, the driver of the pick-up and her passenger were uninjured in the incident. Both women were wearing seat belts at the time of the incident.
According to the responding Trooper, the driver of the SUV exhibited signs of impairment when he spoke to her at the hospital shortly after the incident, Gaskins said.
“Charges are pending further investigation,” he said.
Days earlier, on Nov. 20, a fatal single-vehicle crash occurred on Mariner, north of Casa Grande Circle, when the driver failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. The passenger was ejected from the vehicle and suffered fatal injuries at the scene of the crash. Neither the passenger nor the driver were wearing seatbelts.
