Seatbelt saves 68 year-old driver from serious injury

Just after 4:30 yesterday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol Troop G reported to Historic City News in St Augustine that seatbelts saved a 68 year-old woman from serious injury and may have spared her life in a collision that occurred on I-95 in St Johns County.

The driver of a 2002 Infinity Qx4, Vicki L Durst of Umatilla, was traveling alone, northbound on I-95 in the outside lane, when she attempted a lane change into the middle lane.

Due to excessive speed and adverse weather conditions, Durst lost traction and spun counter-clockwise — striking the median guardrail.

Her vehicle continued to travel in a southwest direction and then struck the west-shoulder guardrail; sustaining an estimated $10,000 in damages before troopers arrived to investigate.

Although the driver suffered minor injuries in the crash, troopers say that there could have certainly been a worse outcome had she not been secured by her seatbelt at the time she lost control of her vehicle.