Brooksville man killed when pickups collide on S.R. 54 in New Port Richey
NEW PORT RICHEY — A 34-year-old Brooksville died Sunday from injuries he received the day before when his pickup truck hopped a curb and crashed into another pickup on State Road 54, south of New Port Richey, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The collision occurred about 2:30 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Old Millpond Drive and S.R. 54. The man wasn’t wearing his seatbelt as he drove west in the inside lane of the highway. Then, as he approached Old Millpond Drive, the man lost control of his pickup truck for unknown reasons, the Highway Patrol said.
The man’s truck traveled through the highway’s median and crossed into the path of another pickup truck traveling eastbound. The out-of-control pickup smashed head-on into the passenger side of the oncoming truck, driven by a 67-year-old man from Trinity, the Highway Patrol said.
The impact of the crash sent both trucks spinning across the highway until both came to a final stop along a wooded area near the eastbound lanes. Both men were taken to a hospital, where the younger driver died from his injuries Sunday morning, the Highway Patrol said.
The older driver remains hospitalized with serious injuries, troopers said. He was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.
The Highway Patrol did not release the names of the drivers because of its interpretation of Marsy’s Law, a voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution that was meant to protect crime victims but that deprives the public of information long available under Florida’s public records law.
