Blown Tire Responsible for Crash With Serious Injuries

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ A 29-year-old Lake City woman and four children, also from Lake City, went to Shands Hospital with serious injuries after an Aug. 1 crash. The 3 p.m. accident happened after the 2004 Ford sport utility vehicle blew a tire on Interstate 75, just north of the High Springs Exit at mile marker 406.

When the rear tire blew out, the driver lost control of the vehicle, which traveled onto the west grass shoulder where it overturned multiple times, ejecting one passenger. The children, all females, were 7 months old, 4, 5 and 11 years of age.

Although the driver was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the Florida Highway Patrol states the 7-month-old child as not belted in and was ejected during the crash. It is unknown whether the 4-, 5- or 11-year-old girls were wearing seatbelts at the time.

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