An 83-year-old Lake Butler man died Friday night after his car reversed rapidly from a parking spot, crossed Lake Avenue and slammed into two trees near Union County High School, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The crash happened around 9:33 p.m. near Lake Avenue and Southeast 11th Street, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The vehicle had been parked at Lake Avenue and Southeast 11th Street before it reversed rapidly, crossed the road, struck a palm tree and then hit another tree, according to a report by News4JAX. Troopers said the man was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, and no other people were injured. Florida Highway Patrol said the reason the man reversed so fast was unclear, leaving the exact sequence of events under investigation.
Family Points to a Medical Emergency
While troopers have not determined why the car suddenly shot backward, a family member told Action News Jax that the driver suffered a sudden heart attack and medical emergency prior to or during the crash on September 11. That account has not been confirmed by investigators, and Florida Highway Patrol's own statement stopped short of identifying a cause for the vehicle's rapid reversal. The formal crash investigation has been assigned to Florida Highway Patrol Troop G.
Because Union County has no municipal police departments, crash investigations like this one fall entirely to the Union County Sheriff's Office and Florida Highway Patrol Troop G, according to a breakdown from Fight Your Ticket. That arrangement is typical for the rural county, which covers just 245 square miles and counted a 2020 Census population of 16,147, per figures from the U.S. Census Bureau cited by Wikipedia. Lake Butler serves as the county seat.
Seat Belt and Licensing Rules for Older Drivers
Florida law requires drivers and front-seat passengers to buckle up under the Florida Safety Belt Law, Florida Statute § 316.614, which is enforced as a primary traffic offense, according to RTRLAW. Troopers noted the Lake Butler man was not belted when his car struck the trees. Separately, state law under Florida Statute § 322.18 requires drivers 80 and older to renew their licenses in person every six years and pass a mandatory vision screening, a rule outlined by Florida Today.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research cited by The Legal Examiner shows that drivers 76 and older are significantly over-represented in crashes involving pedal misapplication errors, a pattern sometimes seen in sudden, unexplained acceleration or backing incidents among senior motorists. The dossier does not indicate that investigators have attributed this crash to that pattern; it remains one possible behavioral factor discussed generally in safety research.
A Second Fatal Crash in Union County This Year
Friday's crash marks the second traffic fatality to hit Union County's small community in recent months. In February, a 17-year-old Lake Butler teenager died in a multi-vehicle collision on State Road 121 in the county, according to a report from News4JAX archives.
Statewide, Florida recorded 366,300 total motor vehicle crashes and 2,930 traffic fatalities in 2025, a 5.4% drop from the 3,098 fatalities logged in 2024, according to data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles cited by Swope, Rodante P.A. Neighboring Alachua County logged 4,862 crashes in 2024, a rate of 1,629.5 per 100,000 residents that nearly matched the statewide rate of 1,654.2 per 100,000, per the Florida Department of Health's FLHealthCHARTS data. No further details on the Lake Butler man's identity or the status of the investigation have been released.
