While no UF students were injured over the Thanksgiving weekend, four travelers were killed in accidents on North Central Florida roads.
Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Mike Burroughs said there were more fatalities this year than during the Thanksgiving holiday last year.
Stress, lack of sleep, distractions and a large amount of traffic on the roads often lead to fatalities over the holidays, he said.
Ashley Nicole Snedeker Byrd, 20, and Jolea Byrd, 1, were killed Thursday afternoon when an oncoming emergency services truck, lights flashing, hit their car at the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and County Road 55A in Dixie County, an FHP report stated.
The truck was on its way to another crash when it hit the right side of the 1992 Pontiac, which had pulled out in front of it. The car spun, ejecting both passengers.
The emergency services truck hit a culvert, which is used to enclose water underneath a road, and overturned. Driver Michael Scott Gantt, 40, of Old Town, had minor injuries.
A 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck was damaged by debris, but neither of its two passengers was hurt.
At 3:10 a.m. Saturday, another crash resulted in a death and critical injuries.
Passenger Miguel Ramirez-Arzuaga died when driver Diego Lopez-Morales, 24, lost control of a 1998 Dodge. He hit two wooden fences and a tree at State Road 40 near Southwest 85th Avenue in Marion County, an FHP report stated.
Another passenger, Wilian Lopez-Morales, 24, was not injured. Diego Lopez-Morales was airlifted to Shands.
Robert W. Weed, 48, died Saturday night after crashing into a small tree on northwest Interstate 95, flipping his 1999 Chevrolet Silverado.
