A 23-year-old woman who fell asleep at the wheel was killed when she was struck by a semi tractor trailer as she stood near her wrecked vehicle late Saturday night on Interstate 75 in Sumter County.
The Spring Hill woman had been southbound on I-75 near Mile Marker 324 when she fell asleep at five minutes before midnight and her Toyota Camry drifted onto the grass shoulder, according to an accident report from the Florida Highway Patrol. She overcorrected and drove toward the center median where her car struck a guardrail. Her vehicle came to rest in the outside travel lane and did not have its lights illuminated.
As the woman and a passenger, a 22-year-old Spring Hill man, were standing by the wrecked car, a semi truck hit them and their vehicle. The driver, a 45-year-old Spring Hill man, did not see the wreckage and was unable to stop in time, the report said.
The woman died at the scene of the crash. Her passenger was seriously injured and transported to a local hospital.