A two-car crash sent three people to the hospital and caused westbound traffic near the intersection of Southwest Archer Road and Gale Lemerand Drive to shut down Friday afternoon.
At about 1:30 p.m., Jerome Williams was headed west on Southwest Archer Road in his white Ford Expedition.
Williams, 40, drove at a “high rate of speed” while in the center lane, said Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias, and when he tried to switch to the right-hand lane, his car slammed into the back of a red Ford Mustang.
The Mustang, driven by Coral Swiger, 67, of Belleview, Fla., spun around and crashed into a palm tree, Tobias said. Her husband, Ricky Swiger, 64, also of Belleview, Fla., was in the passenger seat.
The crash happened in front of Shands Medical Plaza, where several staff members said they heard the cars collide.
Shana Nelson, a 30-year-old residency program coordinator for UF’s Department of Radiation Oncology, said she heard the tires screeching and saw smoke outside the building.
“We heard two loud booms,” she said.
Nelson said five to six plaza staff members went to help Williams and the Swigers before police and Gainesville Fire Rescue arrived at the scene.
Police blocked off westbound traffic between Southwest 16th Street and Gale Lemerand Drive for more than an hour. Officers also redirected traffic from Southwest 13th Street to Southwest 16th Avenue.
Tobias said ambulances took Williams and the Swigers to Shands at UF for nonlife-threatening injuries.
Just after 3 p.m., police reopened all westbound lanes on Southwest Archer Road.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org.
Two cars collided near the intersection of Southwest Archer Road and Gale Lemerand Drive on Friday afternoon. The crash sent three people to Shands at UF for treatment.
