A 34-year-old man from Eustis was killed Tuesday morning while trying to pass two vehicles that had pulled out in front of his pickup truck near DeLand.
Three children – a 5-year-old and two 3-month-old infants, were in the vehicle but not injured in the crash, which happened around 7:15 a.m. on State Road 44 less than a mile from the St. John’s River bridge.
The man, whose name hasn’t been released, was driving a 2016 Ram 1500 eastbound on SR 44 approaching Paradise Drive at around 7:15 a.m. when a semi-truck with a trailer followed by another commercial vehicle made a right turn from Paradise Drive eastbound onto SR 44. The driver of the pickup truck weaved into the oncoming lane while trying to pass the other two vehicles, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
Due to oncoming traffic in the westbound lane, the pickup driver swerved back into the eastbound lane but was unable to stop or slow down before his windshield struck a utility pole attached to the semi’s trailer and ran into the rear of the truck. The driver of the pickup was pronounced dead at the scene and the children in the truck were taken to Halifax Hospital as a precaution. The semi driver – a 25-year-old man from DeLand – was not injured and remained at the scene, the report said.
The crash remains under investigation.