LAKE COUNTY, FL – On Monday, December 22, 2025, a fatal traffic crash occurred early this morning at approximately 5:53 a.m. on County Road 473 near Lake Eustis Drive in Leesburg, Lake County.
The crash involved a 2016 semi-truck with trailer traveling northbound and a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck traveling southbound.
The semi-truck driver, a 67-year-old male from Brinkley, Arkansas, stopped and began backing west into a private driveway. The pickup truck driver, a 57-year-old male from Leesburg, failed to stop, resulting in the front of the pickup truck striking the left side of the semi-truck’s trailer.
The semi-truck driver and his passenger, a 63-year-old male from Brinkley, Arkansas, sustained no injuries. Neither was wearing a seatbelt.
The pickup truck driver was pronounced deceased at the scene. Next-of-kin notification was pending.
The pickup truck passenger, a 27-year-old female from Leesburg, Florida, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. She was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Both directions of County Road 473 were blocked during the investigation, which remains ongoing by the Florida Highway Patrol. The driver of the pickup truck was not wearing a seatbelt; the passenger was wearing a seatbelt, according to FHP.
Nothing further at this time.
SOURCE: FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL
