A 23-year-old Leesburg woman on Wednesday became the second passenger in a sport utility vehicle to die as a result of injuries suffered in an April 2 crash in Orange County that involved two other vehicles that may have been street racing.
The other fatality in the Toyota Rav4 was an 11-year-old girl who hadn’t been wearing a seat belt. She died at a hospital after the crash, which also left the 35-year-old female driver, also of Leesburg, with serious injuries, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
The crash took place shortly after 11 p.m. on U.S. 192 near Secret Lane Drive when the SUV, a 2013 Dodge Charger, and a 2015 Kia Optima were traveling westbound on U.S. 192. The Dodge Charger was traveling behind the SUV in the inside lane and the Kia Optima was in the center lane, the FHP report says.
The driver of the Charger failed to slow down and struck the rear of the SUV, sending it into the median into a warning sign. The Charger left the roadway and collided with a speed limit sign and the Optima was struck by debris from the collision, according to the FHP report.
The 19-year-old male driver of the Charger, of Davenport, received minor injuries and his 19-year-old male passenger, of Clermont, wasn’t injured. Neither of them were wearing seat belts, the FHP report says.
The 17-year-old male driver of the Optima, of Loughman, was traveling alone and wasn’t injured, the report says, adding that he was wearing a seat belt.
Multiple witnesses told FHP officers that the drivers of the Charger and the Optima were “actively engaged in a street race” prior to the crash. The incident remains under investigation and charges are pending, the report says.
