A Florida couple were killed in a three-vehicle crash after a Ford pickup crossed the centre line and collided head-on with their car in Auburndale, police said.
The 54-year-old man was driving a white Honda Accord with his wife in the passenger seat on K-Ville Avenue at about 12.20pm on Thursday, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Police said a 29-year-old man was driving a Ford F350 behind another pickup in the eastbound lane when he began drifting in and out of traffic. The F350 then struck the rear of the Ford F150 in front of it.
Following the initial collision, the F350 swerved across the centre line and crashed into the couple’s Honda in the westbound lane.
The husband died at the scene. His wife was seriously injured and had to be freed from the wreckage before being taken to hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Images from the scene showed the Honda badly mangled, with debris scattered across the roadside.
The driver of the F350 and the 67-year-old man in the F150 were not injured. Neither has been publicly identified.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said the 29-year-old driver showed no signs of impairment. No custody was reported, while criminal charges remain pending the outcome of the investigation.
The sheriff’s Traffic Homicide Investigations Unit was sent to the scene at about 12.50pm. Deputies had earlier reported that a person was trapped in a vehicle, and the passenger was confirmed to have been removed at 12.54pm.
Roads around the crash site were closed for several hours before reopening. Police described their account as preliminary and said the investigation remains under way.
