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17-year-old driver dies in single-vehicle accident near Winter Haven

Posted on by Vaseline

A 17-year-old driver was killed Wednesday afternoon in a single-vehicle crash southwest of Winter Haven.

The crash was reported at 3:06 p.m., and units from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the scene on Spirit Lake Road, just south of the Oakwood Estates neighborhood near Rolling Oaks Drive, PCSO reported.

Emergency responders found two minors locked in a 1994 white Chevrolet pickup truck, PCSO said. The driver, Terry Lee Hines III, 17, of Winter Haven, died at the scene.

The passenger, a 15-year-old girl from Deltona, suffered head injuries, a brain hemorrhage, facial fractures, lung damage and multiple broken bones, PCSO reported. She was taken to a Tampa hospital in critical but stable condition.

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Based on evidence from the scene, investigators determined the truck was traveling south on Spirit Lake Road. As the truck rounded a bend in the road, the driver lost control of the vehicle and the truck left the west side of the road and struck an oak tree, PCSO said.

Further analysis is needed to determine whether seat belts were used, PCSO said. Detectives said wet road conditions from rain could have been a factor in the crash, but the investigation is ongoing.