PORT ORANGE -- Alcohol may have been a factor in a horrific Christmas eve crash on I-95 with an Oak Hill motorist veering into the passing lane and striking a Broward County family's car, killing one of its passengers after that car flipped over, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Patsy Anne Phillips, 56, of Oak Hill, was southbound in the right lane near the Dunlawton Avenue exit at 5:25 p.m. Saturday when she crossed into the passing lane, striking the other vehicle and causing it to flip over before her own car struck a tree, the highway patrol reported. Phillips was transported to Halifax Health Center with critical injuries.
Alcohol may have been a factor in Phillips striking the other car and charges are pending the results of a homicide investigation, Florida Highway Patrol spoksewoman Sgt. Kim Montes said.
Chris Diane Goss, 54, of Weston in Broward County, a passenger in the other car, a 2011 Hyundai sport utility vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Steven Marc Hausman, 53, also of Weston, was transported to Halifax with minor injuries. Hausman's 17-year-old daughter, Elyssa, and Goss' 18-year-old son, Jeffrey, were taken to Halifax as well with minor injuries.
All four occupants in the SUV were wearing their seatbelts when it was struck by Phillips' 2001 2-door Saturn, causing the SUV to flip over before landing upright. Phillips was not wearing her seatbelt with her car sriking a tree on the passenger side.
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