1 dead, 3 seriously injured in Pasco County crash

One person is dead and three people sustained serious injuries after a crash involving three vehicles in Pasco County on Tuesday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

A 63-year-old woman from Holiday was driving east in the left turn lane of State Road 52 when she approached Hicks Road shortly before 10:30 a.m. and began to turn, according to Sgt. Steve Gaskins, a spokesperson for the Highway Patrol.

The woman had a flashing yellow left turn arrow, and she turned into the path of a sedan in the center lane that was being driven by a 93-year-old man from Hudson, Gaskins said.

The front of the 93-year-old man’s sedan collided with the right side of the 63-year-old woman’s sedan, spinning the woman’s sedan into the right lane, the Highway Patrol said. The woman’s sedan struck the rear of a sport-utility vehicle being driven by a 33-year-old woman from Land O’Lakes.

The 63-year-old driver and the 93-year-old driver both sustained serious injuries, as did an 89-year-old female passenger from Port Richey in the 63-year-old driver’s sedan, Gaskins said.

An 88-year-old woman from Hudson who was a passenger in the 93-year-old man’s sedan was taken to an area hospital and later died, he said.

The 33-year-old driver of the SUV and her passenger, a 57-year-old woman from Land O’Lakes, both were not injured, Gaskins said.

Portions of State Road 52 were closed until 3:20 p.m., he said.

The Highway Patrol did not release the names of those involved in the crash because of its interpretation of Marsy’s Law, a voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution that was meant to protect crime victims but that deprives the public of information long available under Florida’s public records law.