The mayor of Lady Lake is concerned about public safety in the wake of a multi-car crash during an event at the town’s Log Cabin Park.
The Lady Lake Chamber of Commerce was holding its yard sale fundraiser Saturday morning when a four-vehicle crash resulted in one woman being transported by ambulance to UF Health-The Villages Hospital. She suffered head and neck injuries.
Chrishada Lashauna Harmon, 38, of Lady Lake, had been at the wheel of a green 2001 Toyota Camry at 8:32 a.m. Saturday on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 when she collided with a Pennsylvania man’s silver Subaru Forrester that was parked in front of the area where the event was being held, according to an accident report from the Lady Lake Police Department.
The impact pushed the Pennsylvania man’s Subaru Forrester onto the grounds of the event where people were shopping at the yard sale.
Harmon’s vehicle set off a chain-reaction collision that caused enough damage that her vehicle, the Pennsylvania man’s Subaru and a red 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt owned by a Lady Lake woman had to be towed from the scene. A fourth vehicle that was struck was drivable.
Harmon, who was the only one injured in the crash, was ticketed on a charge of failure to maintain a single-lane.
Mayor Jim Rietz said he is grateful that the accident wasn’t as bad as it could have been. However, he is concerned that the with expansion of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 to six lanes of traffic, as well as a bicycle lane, Log Cabin Park will not be as tranquil as it has been in years past. He is calling for the construction of some type of safety abutment to protect crowds at that location, which hosts numerous outdoor events including the hugely popular Light Up Lady Lake during the holiday season.
He said he is hoping that the Florida Department of Transportation could fund the safety initiative and that the abutments could be decorative in nature.
On the same day of the crash at the yard sale at Log Cabin Park, a suspect fled from Lady Lake police and crashed into a woman’s car on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 at County Road 466A in Fruitland Park. The suspect was killed in the collision and the woman was airlifted for medical treatment at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
