Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Officials think that a medical problem may have caused the crash, which sent another motorist to a hospital.
By JENNIFER FARRELL
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 7, 2001
Michael Carnean was headed home from work Monday when he saw his wife's convertible smashed on the side of the road.
Pulling off to the shoulder of State Road 50 just east of Shoal Line Boulevard, he saw the mangled wreckage of another car up ahead. As rescue workers prepared to take his wife to Oak Hill Hospital, he managed to steal a few words with her and was relieved to find she was conscious and talking.
But what he learned was terrifying.
According to her husband, LeeAnn Carnean, 52, was driving home from her first week on the job as a school bus driver in Pasco County when she noticed a car behind her on rural State Road 50, headed west.
Seconds later, the man driving the car rear-ended her, then crossed the median and landed in a stand of trees on the other sided of the road.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"She saw him coming at a high rate of speed behind her," said Carnean, 50. "She couldn't get out of the way."
Authorities said the man driving the car may have suffered a medical problem that caused the crash.
On Monday evening, the yellow sedan he was driving was in two pieces several feet apart in a wooded area just off the road. His identity was not available, but Carnean said authorities told him the man may have had a heart attack.
Carnean and his wife, who live in Palm Colony, are from Illinois and have lived in the area only a short time. Carnean moved here in January after taking a new job, and his wife joined him two weeks ago.
The crash, which was reported at 5:21 p.m., is under investigation by Florida Highway Patrol.
-- Staff writer Jennifer Farrell covers Spring Hill and can be reached at 848-1432. Send e-mail to farrell@sptimes.com.