ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol is looking for the person they say hit and killed a 48-year-old man at the intersection of East Colonial Drive and Lansing Street, then sped off.
Troopers say four cars were involved in the hit-and-run crash, which occurred overnight and led to the temporary shutdown of parts of East Colonial Drive (State Road 50).
“It’s really sad. My friend was very upset this morning,” said Chris Leivelle, a Bithlo resident whose friend was one of the drivers who stayed at the scene.
Troopers reported that the crash began when a 54-year-old man driving a Chevy pickup collided with the 48-year-old man driving a Toyota Highlander at the intersection.
The impact caused the Highlander to flip on its side, ejecting the 48-year-old driver.
A third vehicle then struck a large crate that fell from the pickup, and a fourth vehicle hit the ejected driver, who was lying on the road. Troopers say the driver of the fourth vehicle did not stop.
Residents in Bithlo expressed concerns about the safety of the intersection, noting that merging onto East Colonial from Lansing was problematic. “We’ve all lived here all our life … this is a bad intersection,” said Leivelle.
Data from MetroPlan Orlando shows there have been 16 crashes at or near this intersection from 2020 to 2025, including a deadly crash earlier this year and another in 2020.
Orange County Commissioner Kelly Semrad acknowledged the dangers of this stretch of East Colonial Drive and mentioned that safety improvements would need to come from the Florida Department of Transportation, as it is a state road.
“East of the Econ. on Highway 50 is a lethal stretch of road that we continue to advocate to get funding for,” said Semrad.
Channel 9 reached out to FDOT on Friday and is awaiting updates on planned safety improvements.
In the meantime, the Florida Highway Patrol urges anyone with information about the hit-and-run driver to call FHP at (*347) or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS.
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