A routine Saturday drive turned deadly in High Springs when a 69-year-old Sarasota woman was killed in a three-vehicle crash that troopers say started with a rear-end collision on U.S. Highway 27.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a pickup driven by a 61-year-old man from Branford slammed into the back of the woman's SUV while she was stopped in traffic, shoving her vehicle off the roadway. The pickup then continued forward and struck a second pickup. The two pickup drivers were not injured, and authorities reported that everyone involved had been wearing seatbelts.
FHP said the crash happened at about 12:44 p.m. The agency release, summarized by Alachua Chronicle, notes that the second pickup was driven by a 68-year-old man from Walhonding, Ohio, and that the Sarasota woman later succumbed to her injuries.
Regional outlets also picked up the incident. WDBJ7 reported that the Branford pickup driver is from Suwannee County and that Florida Highway Patrol troopers are leading the investigation. Troopers temporarily shut down lanes on U.S. Highway 27 so they could document the wreckage and process the scene.
Where It Happened
The collision took place near the intersection of U.S. Highway 27 and NW 174th Avenue in High Springs, a rural but well‑traveled stretch of western Alachua County. Emergency crews remained on scene for several hours, working to clear the vehicles and debris while troopers gathered evidence and managed traffic around the closure.
Investigation
FHP's traffic homicide unit has taken over the case, treating it as a full-scale fatal crash investigation. State officials, as cited by local media, say additional information will be released as it becomes available. So far, investigators have not publicly identified any specific contributing factor in the wreck or announced any potential criminal charges.
Local Safety Context
Alachua County has been tracking serious crashes and flagging what it calls high‑injury corridors, including rural highways similar to this stretch of U.S. 27. The county's draft safety action plan points to engineering changes aimed at cutting down on lane‑departure and rear‑end collisions, such as wider shoulders and clearer signage. Planners and traffic safety advocates say those long‑term projects are intended to drive down the number of severe wrecks on rural state routes.
