One man dies, four injured in “offset” collision

[File photo by Bruce Ackerman]

A 70-year-old Ocala man died and four people were injured Oct. 11 in what the Florida Highway Patrol has called an “offset” head-on collision in southwest Marion County.

According to an FHP press release the two-vehicle crash occurred on Southwest 49th Avenue around 11:10 p.m.  A sedan driven by the deceased victim was traveling north on Southwest 49th Avenue near Southwest 117th Street when a sedan driven south on the same roadway by a 35-year-old Ocala man “crossed the center lane into the northbound travel lane causing an offset head-on collision.”

The southbound vehicle driver was critically injured. Passengers in the sedan, a 22-year-old Fort Lauderdale man and 18-year-old man whose residence was not identified, were both seriously injured, the press release stated.

A passenger in the northbound sedan, a 31-year-old Ocala man, was critically injured.

Both drivers and all occupants were wearing seat belts, according to the release.

According to the FHP Crash Dashboard at flhsmv.gov, from Jan. 1 to Oct. 4 there have been 55 traffic fatalities in Marion County, preliminary information indicates.