An 80-year-old Minneola man has died after being struck by a car on U.S. Highway 27, the fourth pedestrian to be hit and killed on a Lake County road in less than three months. The man was standing in the outside lane of the highway, facing west, when a southbound vehicle hit him Friday night near West Pearl Street.
According to insidelake.com, the crash happened around 10 p.m. when a 2021 Toyota Corolla traveling south in the outside lane struck the man north of West Pearl Street. He was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center with critical injuries, where he later died. The driver, a 21-year-old Tavares woman, was not injured and stayed at the scene, the outlet reported. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating, and the crash remains open as of this report, per the same account.
A Pattern Playing Out Across Lake County
Friday's death is the latest in a string of pedestrian fatalities that have struck Lake County roads since summer. On Sept. 27, a 26-year-old Georgia woman was hit and killed by a motorcycle on southbound State Road 429 near mile marker 42 after she was standing in the southbound lane directly in the motorcycle's path, according to the Leesburg Daily Commercial. She was hit about 12:47 a.m.
An 82-year-old Lady Lake woman was killed while walking along Vermont Avenue near Wales Place on Sept. 1, struck by an SUV about 7:27 p.m. And on Aug. 15, a 31-year-old Haines City man was hit and killed by a vehicle on U.S. 27 south of Cagan Crossings Boulevard after he had been walking in the left turn lane and was later seen lying in a northbound lane of the highway; he was struck by a Kia Forte at about 6:39 a.m. That crash was reported by the Leesburg Daily Commercial, and a separate early-morning Lake County pedestrian death was also reported by WESH in September, with troopers saying the victim died at the scene.
A Statewide Problem Reflected in Local Numbers
The Lake County deaths mirror a broader trend playing out across Central Florida. Seven major counties in the region have logged nearly 1,900 pedestrian crashes and 86 pedestrian deaths this year, according to wftv.com. The same report found more than 1,000 bicycle crashes and 28 bicycle deaths in those counties during the same period.
Statewide, pedestrian crashes have increased each year since 2020, climbing from 12,223 in 2024 to 12,760 in 2025. Pedestrian fatalities accounted for more than 20 percent of all Florida traffic deaths in 2025, even though pedestrian crashes made up only 2.9 percent of all traffic incidents that year. Florida has ranked among the top three states nationwide for pedestrian deaths, and the state recorded 652 pedestrian crash fatalities in 2025 compared with 706 in 2024.
Where to Find Official Crash Information
The Florida Highway Patrol has not released additional details beyond confirming the crash remains under investigation. The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles agency provides official pedestrian safety guidelines on its pedestrian safety page, and the agency serves as the state's official repository for crash records, directing the public to the Florida Crash Portal for crash report information. No further details about the Minneola victim's identity have been released as the investigation continues, and it remains unclear what, if any, citations may follow.
