UPDATE - Child dies: 3 others seriously injuried as result of 4-vehicle, Nov. 23 crash, CR 491
According to a press release by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the first vehicle, a sedan, driven by a 17 year old girl from Ocala, FL, was traveling south on CR 491, north of W. Hampshire Blvd. The second vehicle, a sports utility vehicle (SUV), driven by a 60 year-old woman from Ocala, was stationary on CR 491, ahead of the first vehicle, and the 17 year-old girl failed to slow and struck the rear of the SUV.
A third vehicle, also an SUV, driven by a 30 year old Summerfield, FL woman, was traveling south on CR 491, traveled left in an attempt to avoid a collision with the first vehicle, but collided with the left rear of the first vehicle, which then collided with the fourth vehicle, a sedan, driven by a 66 year-old Ocala woman that was traveling north on CR 491.
The first vehicle and second vehicle rotated to final rest along the west grass shoulder. The third vehicle came to rest in the northbound lane of CR 491, and the fourth vehicle came to rest on the east shoulder.
The drivers of the first and second vehicles were not injured; each was wearing a seatbelt, and neither carried a passenger.
(SEE UPDATE BELOW): The driver of the third vehicle (SUV) and one of her two passengers, a 30 year-old woman from Beverly Hills, suffered serious injuries, and the third passenger, a 5 year-old girl from Beverly Hills, suffered critical injuries; none of the passengers in the third vehicle was wearing a seatbelt.
The Ocala woman in the fourth vehicle also suffered serious injuries. She also was not wearing a seatbelt and carried no passengers.
Citing Marsy's Law, the FHP no longer gives identifying information in its press releases regarding traffic crashes.
UPDATE: The five-year-old passenger in the third vehicle, an SUV, has expired from injuries sustained during the November 23 traffic crash. The two adults in the same vehicle remain in serious condition. FHP troopers are investigating the traffic crash.