Man dies in crash on I-75 in Ocala

[File photo by Bruce Ackerman]

A May 6 crash involving two tractor trailers and a pickup truck on Interstate 75 claimed one person’s life and left another injured, the Florida Highway Patrol reports.

According to an FHP press release, the crash occurred at mile marker 358  around 10:35 a.m. about two miles north of U.S. Highway 27 as a pickup truck northbound in the left lane with two occupants “made an improper lane change into the center lane.”

The pickup truck  collided with a tractor trailer in the center lane and then rotated and struck a second tractor trailer in the right lane and the pickup truck was pushed to the right shoulder.

One occupant of the pickup truck, a 59-year-old man, was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected and was pronounced deceased at the scene, according to the press release.

The other occupant of the pickup truck, a 38-year-old man, was transported to a hospital with serious injuries, the press release stated. 

The press release indicated investigators had not determined which of the occupants was driving the pickup up truck and both occupants were apparently from Monroe, Georgia.

The drivers of the tractor trailers, a 63-year-old Bowling Green man driving in the center lane and a 27-year-old Jacksonville man in the right lane, both wore seat belts and were not injured, the press release stated.

According to the FHP Crash Dashboard at flhsmv, gov, there have been 32 traffic fatalities in Marion County from Jan. 1, to April 30, based on preliminary data.