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NSBNews.net photos by Henry Frederick / A motorist died in a head-on collision Thursday night on S.R. 44. Troopers were trying to determine which of two vehicles was driving the wrong way in what turned out to be a multi-vehicle crash
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Two things were certain at the scene of a head-on collision that had eastbound State Road 44 at Pioneer Trail on the outskirts of the city limits closed for 4 1/2 hours until 1:30 this morning: One person died as a result of a motorist driving the wrong way on the double-lane highway, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper told NSB News on the scene.
"We can't tell you much at this point," the trooper said, "except we have a fatality -- a woman. One vehicle was driving the right way in the eastbound lanes and another was driving west in those lanes and it resulted in a head-on collision."
"We can't tell you much at this point," the trooper said, "except we have a fatality -- a woman. One vehicle was driving the right way in the eastbound lanes and another was driving west in those lanes and it resulted in a head-on collision."
The trooper said he couldn't be more specific about who was in what vehicle at that point.
One of the vehicles was a grey Ford Explorer, it's front end crushed. The other vehicle was too mangled to identify by NSB News as troopers were busy dealing with an accident reconstruction to provide further details in what was a multi-vehicle accident.
At least two people were trapped in one or more of the vehicles and the car had to be cut open with a special tool. One of the victims was flown by Sheriff's helicopter to a nearby hospital.
The Volusia County Sheriff's dispatch received the initial 9-1-1 call from the scene at 9:08 p.m. Sgt. Ted Richard said, adding once the FHP troopers arrived, the deputies turned over the crash scene investigation.
One deputy stayed on scene to direct eastbound traffic left onto Pioneer Trail.
NSB News was launched on April 7, 2008 by award-winning journalist Henry Frederick and award-winning blogger Peter Mallory as a 24/7 Internet newspaper, accessed through NSBNews.net and based in New Smyrna Beach. It can also be accessed through VolusiaNews.net. NSB News has the distincton of being the first exclusively-online newspaper in Florida.
