VERO BEACH — Four people – including three with traumatic injuries – were taken to a trauma center after a head-on, two-vehicle collision that blocked 6th Avenue for several hours Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The driver of a Jeep Cherokee, a woman, was thrown from the vehicle during the crash, according to Vero Beach police Lieutenant Matt Harrelson and Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Kyle Kofke. Indian River Fire Rescue crews had to cut open the doors of the second vehicle involved – a Volkswagen Jetta – to free the driver, a man, officials said.
Police shut down 6th Avenue between 8th Street and 20th Street. The road reopened by 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The collision happened down the street from Our Savior Lutheran Church and Christ Church of Vero Beach.
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The incident unfolded at 3:22 p.m. Wednesday in the 1800 block of 6th Avenue. The driver of the Cherokee was traveling northbound on 6th Avenue when she drove into the left lane to pass up the vehicle ahead of her, authorities said.
The driver didn’t see a Volkswagen Jetta traveling southbound in the left lane and crashed into the vehicle, Harrelson said. The wreck totaled both vehicles.
“It appears the driver of the Cherokee is at fault,” Harrelson said about the preliminary investigation.
Witnesses called 911 to report the collision. Mangled pieces of metal and shattered glass could be seen in the roadway.
The driver and passenger in the Cherokee, both women, were taken by ambulance to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce with serious injuries, Kofke said.
The Volkswagen driver, a man who was seriously hurt, was also taken to the trauma center. The man’s girlfriend, who was a passenger and did not have serious injuries, was taken to the center as a precaution, Kofke said.
Police continue to investigate the crash.
Photos by Nick Samuel
