CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – The Middleburg community is in shock following a fatal crash that killed a 24-year-old man over the weekend.
The man, who was driving, died and a passenger was injured in a rollover crash in Clay County on Sunday morning, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Officials said at 5:56 p.m., the car was travelling above the speed limit north on County Road 215 approaching State Road 21.
Investigators said the driver failed to negotiate the right curve and entered the grass median.
The car rotated and overturned and tumbled through the intersection.
FHP said the car came to a final rest facing south on the north shoulder of North Periwinkle Avenue.
They were taken to the hospital where the driver died and the passenger was treated for minor injuries.
The crash report said neither one was wearing a seatbelt.
The crash has set off a debate over traffic and growth in that area of the county, but News4JAX wanted to check if this was just an isolated case and learn more about the intersection where this happened.
“People can’t get out on the damn road and they got too much speed,” said lifetime Middleburg resident Sam Hatcher. “About every weekend someone gets t-boned. They got too many cars.”
There are two things of note that point to an isolated case: neither passenger was wearing a seatbelt and the driver didn’t navigate a curve and flipped his car. That doesn’t have anything to do with bad traffic now flooding the Middleburg area, but it doesn’t mean locals aren’t concerned about more deadly crashes. In the News 4 Clay County Facebook group commenters sounded off.
“The construction is a huge factor in all the wrecks,” one person said.
News4JAX reached out to county commissioner Betsy Condon who represents the district to ask her thoughts on traffic in the area but was told she’s out of town and unavailable.
