A Bushnell couple escaped injury early this morning during a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 in Alachua County.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, Frederick and Karen Powell of Bushnell were traveling south on I-75 in their 2004 Cadillac CTS sedan at 1:30 a.m. when they were caught up in the crash at mile marker 407 that also involved another car and a semi-truck.
The incident started when Priscila Jose, 20, of Macclenny was driving erratically before striking a guardrail on the west shoulder, the report says. Jose’s 2014 Hyundai Sonata then crossed back over the southbound lanes and struck the median guardrail before coming to rest in the center lane with no operational lights.
Frederick Powell, 75, swerved before striking Jose’s vehicle, resulting in minor damage to the Bushnell man’s Cadillac. But Rogel Sanchez, 52, of Jasper, didn’t see Jose’s vehicle in time to keep from slamming into the right side of the Hyundai sedan with his 2016 Kenworth semi, the report says.
The two vehicles were lodged together during the collision before coming to rest on the west shoulder against a Department of Transportation fence.
The trooper investigating the crash determined that Jose had been ejected from her vehicle before it was hit by the semi. She was transported to the University of Florida’s Shands Hospital in Gainesville with minor injuries. Sanchez wasn’t injured.
The right southbound lane of I-75 was closed for cleanup but reopened a short time later.