One Gainesville man killed, one seriously injured in Hawthorne Road accident
May 15, 2024
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 64-year-old man was seriously injured and a 74-year-old man was killed today in a single-vehicle accident on SE Hawthorne Road (SR 20). Both men were from Gainesville.
According to a release from the Florida Highway Patrol, at about 12:20 p.m., the 64-year-old man was driving a pickup truck eastbound on SE Hawthorne Road in the area of SE 38th Court when the truck veered off the roadway into the grassy center median and hit a tree.
The driver and passenger were extricated with the Jaws of Life and transported by Alachua County Fire Rescue to UF Health Shands, where the passenger was pronounced deceased. According to the release, it is unknown whether the two men were wearing seatbelts.
Looks like an ugly collision with a large palm tree that had been unceremoniously removed from its natural location and replanted by the DOT in the median of the highway to “Florida-beautify” the place, but ended up being just another deadly highway obstruction. Anyway, may the deceased rest in peace.
They call such trees ‘silent policeman’ in the Bahamas.
True, but if no tree the result could have been head on into vehicles going opposite direction resulting in more deaths.
Agreed, still old fashioned guard rails (or even heavy guard cables) could have been safer for everybody, albeit less picturesque than palm trees.
How is it unknown if they were wearing seat belts?