Florida Keys man killed in truck crash as police handle two separate accidents on U.S. 1
A 39-year-old Florida Keys resident was killed Saturday after crashing a truck into a tree off U.S. 1 at mile marker 10, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
“According to multiple witnesses, the truck was improperly passing,” the FHP report stated.
FHP, which handled two crashes in the Lower Keys on Saturday, said the Summerland Key man was driving a red 1991 Chevrolet Silverado pickup at about 5:32 p.m. in the southbound lane.
The pickup swerved left, ran off the road and struck a tree. The impact caused the driver to be ejected from the truck, troopers said.
The driver was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he died at about 10:05 p.m.
The report states the driver was not wearing a seatbelt and that alcohol was not a factor.
FHP no longer identifies people involved in crashes.
In a separate crash Saturday at 3:10 p.m. at mile marker 13, a 4-year-old Key West girl was critically injured, police said.
She and two others who were inside a 2010 Toyota Cruiser were airlifted to mainland hospitals. The 4-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy were taken to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami-Dade County.
The 42-year-old driver of the Toyota was taken to Jackson South Medical Center in Kendall.
The Toyota was in the southbound lane making a left turn onto the grass past the northbound shoulder when it came into the path of a 2018 Isuzu TK truck, FHP said.
The truck hit the right side of the Toyota, pushing it into bushes on the side of the highway.
The 41-year-old Key West man driving the Isuzu suffered no injuries, the FHP report stated. A 39-year-old passenger, also of Key West, suffered minor injuries.
Alcohol was not a factor and seatbelts were in use in both vehicles, police said.
