Dunnellon man transported to Ocala hospital after crashing car into Hernando building
A Dunnellon, Florida man was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Florida, early Monday morning, May 24, after crashing a car into a building in Hernando, Florida
According to a crash report by the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash occurred at 3:11 am, as the man was driving a 2020 Kia Rio five-door passenger car, traveling south on U.S. Highway 41 (N. Florida Ave.), approaching the intersection with State Road 200 (Carl G. Rose Highway).
A trooper arrived on scene to find the driver groaning in pain, unable to describe what had happened, the report stated. At the hospital, the driver told a trooper that he swerved to avoid a vehicle that had stopped in front of him, which resulted in his vehicle traveling off the roadway onto the west shoulder of the roadway.
On the west shoulder, the front right of the vehicle collided with a power pole and a Sprint phone box, continued traveling south on the west shoulder, until the front of the vehicle collided with the north wall of the Triton Construction building, located at 2746 N. Florida Ave. The vehicle came to rest, facing south, at the building and the west shoulder of U.S. Highway 41, south of State Road 200.
Witnesses told the trooper that they observed the vehicle traveling south at what they thought was a high rate of speed, when it left the roadway and crashed into the building. None had seen another vehicle in the area. The witnesses checked on the driver, after the crash, and found that he was trapped in the driver's seat.
The driver was extracted from the vehicle and transported to the hospital by Nature Coast EMS. He was issued a citation for careless driving. The trooper reported the driver's condition as "asleep or fatigued," and reported that the driver had a "very faint odor of alcohol" and did not show any signs of impairment.