Two die in separate traffic crashes in Marion County

[File photo by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

The  Florida Highway Patrol responded to two fatal traffic crashes on Marion County roadways on April 1st,  2026. 

The first crash occurred around 6:40 p.m. at Northwest 118th Street Road and Northwest 55th Court Road, according to an FHP press release. 

The press release states a pickup truck driven by a 51-year-old Inverness man was traveling south on Northwest 118th Street Road when the pickup truck “failed to negotiate a sharp right curve in the roadway.”

The victim, a 73- year-old Reddick man, was “riding a John Deere lawnmower traveling from west to east on the shoulder of the roadway. (The pickup truck) exited the roadway and the front of (the pickup truck) struck a traffic control sign…then struck the lawnmower and then a large tree,” according to the press release.  

The victim was pronounced deceased on scene and the pickup truck driver, who wore a seat belt,  suffered serious injuries and was transported to a hospital, the press release stated.    

The second fatal crash occurred around 8:30 p.m. on U.S. Highway 27 north of Northwest 160th Avenue, according to an FHP press release.  

The victim, a 73-year-old Williston woman, was a passenger in a sedan driven by a 69-year-old Williston man northbound in the outside lane of U.S. Highway 27 as a large farm tractor also traveled north in the outside lane ahead of the sedan, according to the press release. 

“(The sedan) rear-ended (the farm tractor). Both occupants of (the sedan) were transported to an area hospital where the passenger was later pronounced deceased,” the press release stated.  

The operator of the farm tractor, a 28-year-old Ocala man was not injured and the sedan driver, who wore a seatbelt, was critically injured, according to the press release. 

The FHP Crash Dashboard at flhsmv.gov states that according to preliminary data there were 15 traffic fatalities in Marion County from Jan. 1 to March 19, 2026.