Staff Reports
A 19-year-old Chiefland man suffered life-threatening injuries as part of a three-vehicle accident Friday afternoon in Levy County.
According to Florida High Patrol (FHP), the accident occurred at 3:55 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. Highway 19 and County Road 346.
The 19-year-old Chiefland man was traveling west on County Road 346 approaching U.S. 19, while a garbage truck approached the intersection traveling north on U.S. 19.
The Chiefland man, driving a white pickup truck with a 21-year-old female passenger from Bell, “failed to yield to oncoming traffic from the stop sign and entered into the path” of the garbage truck.
The garbage truck struck the left side of the pickup truck, which “split in half with the cab of the truck continuing to travel northwest,” where it struck the front of a road painting truck that was in the turn lane of U.S. 19 southbound.
The Chiefland man sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to UF Health Shands in Gainesville for treatment. His passenger also suffered serious injuries and was transported to Shands.
The other two drivers and a passenger in the garbage truck suffered minor injuries. The driver of the road painting truck, an 18-year-old Chiefland man, was treated at the UF Health Emergency Center at Kanapaha.
All five people involved were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident.