An 80-year-old Palm Coast woman lost her life in a crash on Belle Terre Parkway that appears to have been triggered by a medical episode Monday afternoon.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the woman was traveling south on Belle Terre, in the left lane. Not far from State Road 100, she veered left across the median and into oncoming northbound traffic. The drivers of at least three vehicles avoided the silver Toyota as it traveled south in the northbound lanes of Belle Terre Parkway. But to avoid the Totoya, the 35-year-old driver of a van ran into the ditch, crashing just north of the Target entrance off Belle Terre. The driver suffered minor injuries.
The Toyota ended up striking a sign in the median, then crossing into the right shoulder of the northbound ditch and crashing against trees on the embankment. The 80-year-old was transported to Advent Health Palm Coast on SR100, where she was later pronounced deceased.
The crash was reported to Flagler County 911 at 2:45 p.m. Traffic was not significantly impeded as both vehicles were well off the highway, and the Florida Highway Patrol’s investigation did not convert to a traffic homicide investigation until after 4 p.m. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, Flagler County Fire Rescue and the Palm Coast Fire Department all responded to the scene.
According to FHP, the crash resulted in the 18th fatality on Flagler County roads so far this year, compared to 15 all of last year (the trend is down in Florida, compared to last year), and the fourth in less than four weeks–not including the crash on I-4 in Volusia County that claimed the lives of Deputy Flagler County Administrator Jorge Salinas and his wife on Oct 4 (a hit-and-run crash that claimed three lives). Flagler County has seen over 1,100 crashes so far this year, 543 of them with injuries.
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